I have a HUGE secret to share with you – this is something I’m just recently starting to discover myself. No one – and I literally mean NO ONE – actually has all of their shit together. There are three types of people in this world: 1) people who let the shit run their life, 2) people who work so extremely diligently to hide all of their shit and 3) people who embrace the shit.
I used to be a 2. I wanted everyone to think I had everything together and every little piece of my puzzle was together – all nicely packaged together with a pretty bow. Guess what happened – BURN OUT (more on that here). One of the goals I’m currently working on is embracing the chaos of life. I’m (trying to be) done constantly asking myself things like, “why is this happening to me?” and “why is nothing I do working?”.
Today at Yoga Innovations, Claire (seriously take her class – so mindful, yet so ass-kicking) said something along the lines of, “it’s not about celebrating the stability, but how many breaths you take within those stable moments”. Chaos gets us from one moment of stability to the next. Learn to appreciate stability at all levels. How many times do we deal with something and say to ourselves, “well it can’t get any worse than this?” Then, all the sudden another curve ball comes along and we look back, longing for that previous moment of slightly less chaos.
I’m all about being positive and manifesting the future. However, I’ve also found that sometimes looking forward can be just as frustrating as looking back. You can only practice this bright and shiny mindset for so long before you hit a point of “okay universe, I’m in a great place in my head right now – I’m listening to my soul, visualizing my dreams, and putting out lots of great vibes – when is this power of attracting what I want going to kick in?” Nothing is more frustrating than feeling like you’re doing all the right things and not seeing results. Or, that moment when you’ve just solved a huge problem and you’ve finally gotten something in your life together only to have another mess brew right under your nose.
This is all why the best place to live is in the present. Instead of looking behind you at what was or looking ahead to what will be, focus on how you can make this moment right now just the slightest bit more stable for you. How can you breathe? How can you learn? How can you grow? Each moment has something to offer you, something to stabilize you, but you have to live within it to be able to see it.
Related: A New Perspective on Failure
Claire also reminded me that life doesn’t wait for you to stop and catch your breath. Don’t get stuck in a situation where you’re drowning, gasping for air. Learn to maintain yourself within the mess. Life is never going to stop pushing you to your limits, whatever they may be, so step forward to the challenges, be present in all the moments, and show life what you’re made of! I believe in you =)