How do we dance in this life of ours? We
are reminded in popular parlance that life is not a dress rehearsal and we only
get one chance (at least in this lifetime), and that chance is now!
Carpe Diem! Live in the present moment and live with awareness. Starting
there, I ask again, how do you dance with
what each moment offers you? Do you focus strongly on your desires and
needs to ensure they are met and satisfied? Are you closer to the other
extreme, focusing predominantly on the needs and desires of others and letting
your own slip quietly under the carpet? Do you swing from one extreme to
another, or have you learned the art of tacking (a sailing term for facing into
the wind and moving from one side to another to allow your vessel to move
forward)?
As we advance in life with accrued awareness,
wisdom and (hopefully) patience, thanks to gifts and practices of
psychosynthesis or other personal and spiritual paths of awakening, we become skillful
at centering ourselves, returning to a position of ‘I’ –what Roberto Assagioli defined
as a ‘center of pure self-awareness and will’. We step more easily into the role
of the orchestra conductor, to acknowledge every orchestra player in our
extended inner families (subpersonalities), and their way of moving with or
against the world of polarities in which we live.
Through awareness we experience the irreconcilable
opposites of our world where ‘both/and’ exists, not ‘either/or’. We realize
much of what we flee or run towards, is part of an interrelated pair in need of
both poles, like the inhale and exhale of our every breath, the vital force or “prana” as breath is called in Sanskrit.
Instead of being caught in pendulum swings, we start to explore the ‘dance’
with irreconcilable opposites, such as a need for both solitude and community,
desires to control, initiate and take action as well as stepping back, trusting and following. We learn that both effort and rest are necessary for well-being and fulfillment.
As part of this experiential awakening we become
conscious that through projection we ultimately only ever push against our
selves, or seek what we believe is outside us in the world, qualities such as acceptance,
love, joy and peace. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, American 19th
C poet who in later life spent years translating Dante’s Divine Comedy wrote, “not in the clamor of the crowded street, not in the shouts and
plaudits of the throng, but in ourselves, are triumph and defeat.”
If you realized that every judgment you make against
another person is an unconscious fear to acknowledge the knife of judging
retribution you hold above your own head, would you be so quick to anger and
harsh words…or thoughts? What if you realized that self-acceptance is the
realization you are what you seek, but have lost contact with that part of
yourself?
Victor Frankl, author of Man’s search for Meaning, said: “my
definition of success is total self -acceptance.” “Acceptare” in latin means to
receive willingly. How willing are we to receive the lessons life sends us (through
situations and relationships) to release anger, judgment and the need for
outside approval? Freedom lies not in controlling events but in the choice and decision
we make in how we dance with life. We can choose to confront, oppose, hate and argue
with, or surrender, trust and open to lessons hidden in the flow of
our experience. This does not mean we lie down to be walked upon, but it does
mean learning to release judgment and criticism in favor of tuning to higher emotional
frequencies such as kindness, allowing, compassion,
and forgiveness.
As A
Course in Miracles suggests, if Higher Self (ultimate Teacher and Guide), were
standing beside a door to which forgiveness were the key, and to experience
peace and freedom in your life all you needed were to give the key to Self to use, would you do it? *
*Extrapolated from Supplements
to A Course in Miracles, The Song of
Prayer, Foundation for Inner Peace
NB I am offering my unique polarities exploration, Life T.A.N.G.O.S
workshop this September at Kayser Ridge Retreat Center in West Virginia with the help of Cliff Kayser, from Polarities Partnerships LLC. For more information on how to
dance with life and allow TANGOS-‘Trust’,
‘Alignment & Allowing’, ‘Non-Judgment’, ‘Grounding’, ‘Openness’ and ‘Surrender’ to support you in your dance
with life’s polarities , visit www.inner-discovery.com or email:
discovery.transformation@gmail.com
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