Progress.

“I, friend, do not reject the present moment to pursue what time will bring. I reject what time will bring to pursue the present moment.”

-Sammidhi, (Deciple of the Buddha)

The thing about progress is that it never equates to flipping a switch. Often times I know where I want to be. My experience reminds me that no matter how much I think I can teleport through time and skip the tough stuff, reality trudges me through the process. Knowing that time is an accumulation of “nows” helps me to embrace the warrior that is experiencing the seemingly undesired opportunities in between. Being here; being present; being now helps me connect and align with the Universe and trust the bigger plan to which I am yet to be privy to. Now is the concept that creates peace.

During the preparation that leads to my teaching moments you can often find me wandering to places that have been or are yet to be. They are stories of yesterday and anticipations of tomorrow. I am sometimes able to allow those side trips to be memories and possibilities that have the potential to bring me joy. It is when they distract my from my clarity that I loose the connection. There is a lesson that begins for me at this point and it is not until I am able to let go that I recognize that there is an opportunity to be procured. I love when Brené Brown illustrates, in her awesome book “Rising Strong” http://brenebrown.com that “The ultimate act of integration is when the rising strong process becomes a daily practice”.  I don’t know about you, but for me when a pro-active practice is practiced enough it becomes more familiar and who I am becoming is much more appealing than who I was. Taking something that I have done my entire life that has not worked for me and changing the habit into something that does work, does not a teleport absolve. It’s not possible. Revelation happens when the new practice begins to become more familiar and a knowing begins to move in and disassemble the doubt. It’s a process. Brené points out “We know that rumbling is going to be tough, but we head straight into it because we know that running is going to be harder.” Now, when the old practices of fleeing threaten to dominate my action, there is a stronger sense of knowing that trumps the ruling.  I am urged to stay in the present, scary feelings and all. I can’t go back. Nor (at last) would I want to.