“The winds of grace are always blowing, but it is you who must raise your sails.”
~Rabindranath Tagore
I love spring. I grew up in the northeast and was continually enthralled with the bounty of life that would begin to appear as the weather started to shift. The first robin, the crocuses pushing their way into the sun – awe-inspiring signs of growth and renewal. Spring is an exciting time where we feel the potential of the unknown ahead of us overflowing with possibility.
I now live in an area that was ravaged by fires last year, and this spring the wildflowers are stunning. Life is so enormously abundant – it can’t help but blossom endlessly.
If we let it.
Since summer arrives in a week or so, it’s not too late to start our inner spring cleaning. Time to dust away the cobwebs and clear the path for life to express itself through us – wondrously fresh, infinitely creative, clear, alive, open. Can we generously give ourselves the gifts of inward exploration and quiet contemplation? Consider the following three essential questions.
Is your life on track?
First, reflect on what you really want your life to be about. What is important to you? What are your values and priorities? What is your heart’s desire?
Now, take a look at your actual life – how you spend your time, what you think about, who you associate with, how you spend money, your overall level of happiness.
Notice any area of your life that is asking for your kind attention?
How are you getting in your own way?
Perhaps, when we are honest with ourselves, we know that we play out habits and compulsions that don’t serve us. What do we get out of perpetuating them? Maybe they keep us safe or protect us from facing an uncomfortable feeling or situation. Maybe shining the light on a stale pattern would bring great change to our lives that we don’t think we are ready for.
Holding on to these hidden places blocks the flow of life. They keep us living in the world of “no,” unable to receive the riches being offered to us in every moment. And examining them invites us to surrender control so we can fully live.
Is it time to get out of your way so you can be available to what life has in store for you? What would that mean for you – letting go of a relationship, a job, a pattern of thinking, an unhealthy behavior?
What old hurts need to be healed?
Living in the past is not really living. Clinging to an old grievance consumes our thoughts and hijacks our potential. If you take things personally, if you have trouble getting started in life, if you think you need to defend yourself because the world is out to get you, consider befriending that painful place inside you. Not doing so is like staying in prison when the key is in your pocket.
When we turn away from our own experience, we continue to be victims of it. We are propelled this way and that by our unexplored stories and the feelings that underlie them. The decision to turn our attention directly into our own experiences of the pain begins the healing.
As we learn to lovingly care for the tender parts of ourselves, the neediness and sorrow dissolve. We realize that what we think we lack has been here all along.
Clean with Care
I know you know this by now: no one is coming to save you. The quality of our lives is up to us alone. We can accept “good enough,” or we can drill down deeper. Take every dust ball, every smudge on the window. Love it, thank it, and walk away. Clean house like there is no tomorrow. Be in harmony with the way things are, and allow life to show you the way.
In what areas does your life need spring cleaning? Do you notice any resistance to looking into the hard places? I’d love to hear…
