We are almost all the way through August already. Where did the month go? It is so strange that time can change the speed it moves depending entirely on whether or not it is being observed. Like a pot of water you need to boil to make dinner. While you are busy it flies, while you are not it drags. It can be easy to become frustrated when it is dragging or when it feels like you need a break but can’t take one. But I think that depends entirely on your mindset while you are experiencing it.
I have been accused of many things in my life. One of those things is being lazy. Of course I wouldn’t characterize it like that. I would choose words like deliberative or meditative to describe my penchant for procrastination. But like people who are always busy, we need to seek balance if we are going to be our best selves.
Perhaps you are like me. You sit and think about things way longer than others, you need to have every angle of an activity or action thought out before you attempt anything. You need plans and if you don’t have them you feel a deep anxiety. What if something happens that you have not pre-thought a response to?!? We would never want to attempt anything off the cuff or go off half cocked into a situation.
Perhaps you are the opposite. You leap before you look. You trust your intuition and mental agility to take on challenges as they come. To be idle is a sin. Inaction feels like a slow death. You don’t need plans, you need opportunities to show off your capabilities. To be stuck in a time or waiting is maddening.
As with most things in life the truth lies somewhere between the extremes. As difficult as it can be for some people to accept, there are times in life where we must slow down and wait. The harvest is not yet ready. We must wait for moments to develop before any work can be done. We need to be patient for the opportunities to shine because they cannot be forced. Equally we must accept that there comes a time when we must leap. To dither and wait any longer invites disaster or missed opportunities. Life doesn’t always wait for us to be ready.
We must practice our waiting and our leaping. Rare is the person who is naturally skilled in doing both. It is a discipline to wait unto the right moment to strike and have the courage to take action when that moment arrives. It is existing in this limbo between action and inaction that we must seek. Both ready and at rest. Every choice we make in life has this tipping point, and it doesn’t matter if it is one we saw coming or something unexpected. It takes mental and emotional strength to sit in that place of neither acting nor delaying until we reach that tipping point.
You have choices before you every day that you are waiting to make. Likewise you will have moments before you every day that require you to react to them quickly. Are you ready for both? I am going to take the time today to meditate on that tipping point. The moment where inaction becomes action. The realization that it is not yet time to make a choice, or choose a path. When we expand our inner space we can find the mental strength to exist balanced on that tipping point. Waiting for the precise moment when we must choose or act, but keeping still and calm until that moment arrives.
Think on that until the next time you find yourself at our hearth. I would love to hear your stories and I invite you to come back to hear mine. Until then. Travel well friends. So mote it be.
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