Sometimes the only way to truly experience the beauty is to suffer the climb to the top of the mountain!
We have become a people who do not know how to sit with discomfort or hardship without unraveling. Where has our resilience gone? When I think back on history and the incredible suffering and hardships that so many endured and overcame and thrived, it makes me wonder what we are missing, and where we are going wrong. It makes me reflect and think about my own attitudes and perceptions.
Yesterday we went tramping for the first time in a long time, as our country is now allowing tramping in the mountains close to your home region. This path was so challenging at times as it was relentlessly straight uphill for pretty much a solid hour. As is usually the case when hiking up a mountain, it feels incredibly uncomfortable as your whole body is struggling against the process and then you come out to the top and wow, what a view! You realise that it was only through the pain that you were able to experience this incredible moment of pure awe and joy. Sometimes we just need to be with our pain and keep moving forward until we get to the top of the mountain!
I think there is a need for us to take a step back right now and do some close soul-searching and start to really look hard at our lives and at the attitudes that we currently hold to. We need to look deeper and find within ourselves the ability to sit with the uncomfortable and to just be with that experience. We need to learn how to mindfully acknowledge that we are living in difficult moments, but that those moments will not be with us forever. We need to find a way to fully experience the discomfort without wishing it were any other way.
May I just encourage you today to take some time to fully experience whatever this moment has brought you. May I encourage you not to wish it were any other way, but to simply be with the experience. Remembering that "It's like this now".
If you have not previously tried mindfulness practice, I do encourage you to begin experimenting with this while you may have a little extra time at home. There are heaps of resources online of various mindfulness practices, and I honestly believe that right now mindfulness is going to be key in bringing awareness to the value of these difficult experiences we are all facing. I am reading a fabulous book at the moment called The Mindfulness Solution by Ronald Siegel and I highly recommend it. It has some excellent examples of mindfulness skills that one can experiment with and try.
I leave you with this thought from Ronald Siegel, "Resisting these inevitable changes causes us considerable unhappiness".....Let's learn instead how to accept that change will come, and difficulties are an unavoidable part of life. Let's learn how to embrace this present moment remembering that all things are impermanent.
"Be present today with whatever experiences you face" ~ Namaste
