SRS Session 27 | I Choose Love

In session 27 we discover that as we practice accepting what is, sometimes we become passive and forget that we have choices to make, and that we can make these choices from a higher place. This meditation includes an affirmation practice. The Spiritual Recalibration Series is designed to help you expand your awareness into a new, more open, curious and expansive way of being in daily life. This impactful series comprises 33 sessions, each with a short topic (the recalibration) followed by guided meditation. Meditations include affirmations, visualizations, and brief periods of quiet, musical stillness.

Transcript

Okay, Welcome back to the Spiritual Recalibration Series. Thank you for embarking on this series and opening yourself to a new way of being. My name is David, And this is Session 27, I Choose Love. Find a comfortable seat in a space where you can allow yourself 20 minutes or so, Undistracted, To focus just on you. A quick reminder, To get the most out of this series, Please be sure you've listened to the Welcome Session, Session Zero. Here we go. So, You know, I took a trip recently, It was down to Cape May, New Jersey, With my family, My two daughters and my wife. And so, On the beach, I guess, So it was, So this is July right now. And I guess what happens, My younger daughter looked it up for us, Because when we got there, We saw lots of crabs, Horseshoe crabs, That were upside down, Not alive anymore. And we were wondering about those. I'd never actually seen a horseshoe crab in person, A horseshoe, They're like, They're big, Big and brown. And she looked it up. And apparently, In May and June, They come to the Delaware Bay, And to lay eggs. And then some of them, Some of them get flipped over by the waves, And they can't turn themselves back over. So they end up dying on the beach there. And this has been going on for something like 450 million years, These things are like dinosaurs. And so apparently, In May and June, If you go to that beach, It's like, It looks like it's, It looks like it's been paved in like brown asphalt. Like there's so many of them, Because their shells are like armor. There weren't that many there when we got there. So it was, I hadn't, I didn't see anyone's any live horseshoe crabs until about the fourth day. I think it was the Thursday. And my, And my daughters were in the water, Splashing around, And I was just kind of standing, And I saw one, A big one. And it was upside down. It was, It was a windy day. So the waves were washing a lot, And it got, And it got flipped over, It was upside down. So as I'm looking at this thing, It was kind of getting hit by a wave, You know, Get hit by a wave, And it would try. It's got this, I don't know if you're familiar with a horseshoe crab, But I, I have an affinity for, For creatures, Even bugs. You know, It's a fairly recent development, But, But birds and, You know, Squirrels and chipmunks, I love them, Call me silly. But a horseshoe crab, I'm not going to lie, It's a pretty gnarly looking creature, It was upside down. It's got its legs curling, And it's got this huge, Long, Like, It just looks like a single claw that comes out of it. It's like a horn, Or it's its tail. And so it gets hit by a whale, It gets hit by a wave, And tries to flip itself back over, And that big horn comes out, And it starts crawling, And I'm just kind of standing there. What do I do? So I was in this moment where I had this thought, So I, I know, Because my daughter had looked it up, That sometimes these crabs die on the beach. So I had a moment, A few moments, Several moments of thinking, What do I do? Do I help this thing? Do I try and flip it back over? Or, And I had this thought, Who am I to play God here? Who am I to decide the fate of this, Of this horseshoe crab? It got flipped over by that wave, That natural occurrence. Plenty of other crabs had gotten flipped over. Maybe it's this crab's time. Who am I to take action? And so what's there is, What can, What can, It seems that can, When we start to kind of develop this, This awareness, Or this sense that there's kind of something going on here beyond, You know, Beyond us, You kind of, You, Or maybe you've dabbled in, You know, In the idea of fate or destiny, You know, Of what, Of what's meant to be. And when we spend a lot of time, And we do spend a lot of time, You know, It's kind of what we're up to, Up to here, A lot of what we're up to here is learning how to accept and embrace what is, Accepting things and even loving things just as they are. So with that, It seems it's possible to develop a certain degree of passivity, Like it's just meant to be. I heard a term a few years ago called this, It's called, Called a spiritual bypass, Where you see something and know that's just meant to be. And we therefore bypass the moment of what that moment either has to teach us, Or what's yeah, Yeah, What's in what's in that moment for us. So I don't, This idea of accepting things as they are, And loving things, Loving, Loving and embracing things as they are, Doesn't mean that we don't take action. I read that, I read that a while ago, That it's just meant to be, It's kind of like you can develop this paralysis. So that's just meant to be, You know, There's actions for us to take, There's choices for us to make. And what I have found, My experience has been that when there's something I want, When there's something I desire, When there's action to take, When it's the, When it's a right action, When it's an action that's for, When it's a loving action, When it's a compassionate action, When it's an action for our highest good, And we take that action, It gets returned and reinforced, And we get supported in that choice in a forward direction, Tenfold, Hundredfold. So there's support out there for us in the right direction that I think sometimes we're not aware of. So back to that crap, I'm standing there having that moment, And so, You know, Thinking about what do I do? And so in that moment, There's a choice to make. And I came upon something not that long ago, Talking about the, You know, And maybe I've mentioned this, There's only two ways to be in the world, At any given moment, We're either in fear or in love. So I thought about that, As I was looking at that crab, Okay, I have a choice here. There's a fear-based choice, And there's a loving-based choice. The fear, I acknowledge, I was kind of a little afraid of getting in there with this thing. Maybe I was using that, Like, Who am I to make a choice here? It's meant to be, I was actually kind of using that as an out, To not get involved. I don't think this means you have to save every crab. But I, So I went and I got the, Our Procatima paddles that we were playing with, Those big round paddles, And I got two of them, And I got in, And I started trying to flip it over. It was not easy, Because he really wanted to be upside down. I got him flipped over, I kind of watched him go back out. And then I had that moment of, Did I do the right thing? Well, Yes, I think that that was an act of, I think that that was the loving action. So, Yeah, I'll give you another quick example when it comes to a self-loving action, Where I was feeling like I had a lot to do the other day. But then my sister was in town, And she was at the local park. And I wanted to meet her, But I was feeling very much like I had a lot to do. So what's the choice here? I really wanted to see her, And I wanted to be out in nature. So I chose to go to the park. And we always make choices, And then we learn from those choices, We get feedback from those choices. So that's another way to be, To show self-love, Is to notice those choices and not be like, Oh, I should have done this, Or I should have done that. And finally, I think we'll do a little affirmation practice on this, Choosing love, Choosing self-love in just a moment. But I think that it's also an act, A choice of self-love when you choose to be right here, Right now, In this sacred moment. I think that's self-love. And that's a choice, Sort of. When we notice that we're not here, Taking that breath, That conscious breath, That's a choice. Yeah. All right, So let's do that. Let's do that practice. Thank you for indulging me in the story of the crab. If you're sitting in a chair, Get your feet flat on the floor, If that's possible for you. Sit with a nice upright spine. So drawing the shoulder blades together gently, Allowing the neck to be long, Placing the hands, Palms up or palms down, Your choice, At the juncture of thighs and abdomen, Or a little bit further forward if that's more comfortable for you. And starting with an intentional inhale, And exhale. Closing down the eyes gently, If that's comfortable for you, If not, Looking at a spot directly in front of you, Gaze is gentle behind the closed eyelids, Soft, Just allow your breath to flow naturally, In and out through the nose, However your breath wants to be, And allow yourself to tune in to the words of this affirmation, I choose love. I know that I have the power to choose, So at every opportunity, And with full awareness, I choose love, For my highest good, My highest good, I choose love, I know that I have the power to choose, So at every opportunity, And with full awareness, I choose love, For my highest good, My highest good. Now as you begin to memorize this affirmation, Allow yourself to say it along with me, Either out loud or just in your mind, I choose love, I know that I have the power to choose, So at every opportunity, And with full awareness, I choose love, For my highest good, My highest good. I choose love, I know that I have the power to choose, So at every opportunity, And with full awareness, I choose love, For my highest good, My highest good. Allowing yourself to tune in to the feeling behind the words, I choose love, I know that I have the power to choose, So at every opportunity, And with full awareness, I choose love, For my highest good, My highest good. Just in a whisper now, I choose love, I know that I have the power to choose, So at every opportunity, And with full awareness, I choose love, For my highest good, My highest good. If you were saying it out loud just in your mind now, I choose love, I know that I have the power to choose, So at every opportunity, And with full awareness, I choose love, For my highest good, My highest good. Last time, I choose love, I know that I have the power to choose, So at every opportunity, And with full awareness, I choose love, For my highest good, My highest good. Now just allowing the affirmation to be here for a few moments, Letting go of the words, And staying with the feeling behind the words, Good. Just a moment or two now, Allowing yourself to watch your breath, Tuning in to the feeling of your breath, The air passing in your nostrils, Good, Noticing when your mind wanders off to a thought or a train of thought, Just noticing that, Gently but firmly coming back to noticing your breath, Good, Coming back to your breath, Good, Take an intentional inhale through your nose, And exhale through your mouth, Allow yourself to stay here for just another moment or two, You don't need to watch the breath, To allow yourself to be in this space, Just a few more moments, Can you choose to let yourself be here, In this space you have worked to create, Good. Now, Take an intentional inhale through your nose, And exhale, Prepare to come back to the space where you are, And when you're ready, You'll flutter open your eyes, Or you're welcome to keep them closed, And be this way for as long as you like.