Tuesday, March 8, 2011

When Life is Hard---Get Off It!!!

I remember attending a personal growth workshop about ten years ago in which the facilitator talked about "getting off it." What I understood him to mean by this phrase was, when you've tried everything to make something work and it still isn't going the way you want it to, let go, take the leap, surrender.

That's the lesson I am learning in my life right now. So many different aspects of my life feel like they are crumbling before my eyes--relationships, old beliefs, identities, possessions, career direction, health. This is a year full of big change, according to astrological predictions. It's also a year of following one's heart and true desires. As I face what seems like huge obstacles in my life right now, I still take time each day to commune with my inner guidance, that soft inner voice of intuition--my heart. It is yearning for change, but that doesn't mean it will come easily. Change is scary because we don't know if there will be a soft place to land when we take the leap off the cliff. But sometimes the cliff has become so intolerable that we see no other choice. Ultimately, I must listen to my heart's yearnings and follow them step-by-step, no matter how scary taking those steps is.

So, today, I am going to try to let go, surrender, stop trying so hard, stop blaming myself and simply "get off it." Maybe the very efforts I've been making --doing all the "right" things---are the exact things that have kept me stuck.

Let go, let God. Surrender. Take the leap. Be the witness. Stand in the eye of the storm. All phrases to convey the idea that putting in anymore effort will not help and to stop doing what doesn't work--in fact, stop doing....period!

I was meditating the other day, sitting in my chair, candle lit, just "being with" what I was feeling in my body, the thoughts I was thinking, the longings in my heart. Now I realize that this could be what "getting off it" means---just being, without grasping or holding or trying. It was a beautiful moment and a peaceful one.