In a world that can easily throw us off balance,
Let's gather ourselves,
Going in deep into our center.
Take a deep breath in.
Let it go.
Welcome to a hit of hope.
Agility is the ability to move quickly from place to place.
It's the kind of skill I'm after right now.
Maybe you are too as you find your way between big and stressful things.
As you navigate family events,
A change of seasons more and more being demanded of you by life and work.
Inhale.
Exhale.
If you're anything like me,
You want to do that with as much grace and intelligence as you can.
That reminded me of a border collie I once had named Summer.
I took her to agility training one summer,
And if you've ever watched agility training,
You know the dogs must navigate an obstacle course.
On command,
The dog must go from sitting to now running,
Now flowing between cones,
Now jumping over fences,
Now plunging into a dark and twisting tunnel.
Inhale.
Exhale.
That can feel a lot like life.
Because life is not just one thing,
But a series of things we must navigate.
Some demand a quick pivot.
Others require we move into a darkness.
And we don't know how long it's going to go on.
Inhale.
Exhale.
That's where agility comes in.
The full entry in the Oxford English Dictionary reads,
Agility is the ability to move quickly from place to place,
And to levitate.
I kid you not.
Now,
I am not hoping all of us can suddenly float through our lives like Casper,
The friendly ghost,
But handling things skillfully and lightly is something we might practice.
Because you see,
When we first started doing it,
Summer,
My dog was confused and agitated.
Her intense brown eyes would bore into mine as she seemed to say,
I don't understand,
And all I want to do is get this right.
Inhale.
Exhale.
I knew getting angry or frustrated at that moment wasn't going to help.
So I would ground myself and look at Summer with kind,
Encouraging eyes.
It's okay.
We're just practicing.
Let's try again.
And before long she was tearing around that obstacle course with skill and delight.
Inhale.
Exhale.
As you practice navigating the obstacles in your life.
May you look at yourself with kind and encouraging eyes.
May you live with as much lightness of being as you can muster.
May you shed whatever is holding you down.
May you practice moving with flow and ease.
May you go through life with this alert nimbleness.
Ready.
Curious for whatever is next.
May you live light and know.
You already have all you need inside.
You are enough.
You have done enough.
As you move through life.
May you know.
You shine in the center of your being.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Live light.
