In our rushing around and stressing out and worrying over and panic creating, we fall into ruts. Go on auto-pilot and zone out. Lose all presence and awareness. Fall into deep belief with our thoughts.
And then shit happens and we're too caught up in our rushing and stressing and worrying and panic to see the shit for what it is. We yell, blame, finger-point...avoid, disconnect, deny...struggle against, resist, fight.
What about: feeling your feelings with your whole body? What about: being audacious enough to see yourself for who you truly are? What about: living alongside the fires?
Sometimes the fires look like sheer exhaustion, deadlines, the bank account, cats peeing on the carpet, overdue library books, and a broken oven. Sometimes the fires look like business-is-so-good-I-can't-keep-up, over-eager children with slam-packed schedules, planning a party for a group that proves to have unbridled dietary restrictions/wants/needs, overly crowded yoga classes, and not knowing whether it's really time to say *go* on the next adventure. Sometimes the fires are hot and burn the house down.
...we people can make fires outta anything...
The human experience is a messy, labyrinthine, fierce thing to fully participate in. All along the crooked path, fires appear and there is a pull to douse them, whack-a-mole style. But extinguishing these fires is at best unnecessary and at worst unnecessary and utterly depleting. Nothing has gone wrong here. Everything is happening exactly as it should. Living alongside the fires and going there fully, with every fiber of your being, is an experience worth having. No yelling, disconnecting, or fighting required.
Lean in. It's cozy by the fire..