Endurance

The ability to endure requires patience and compassion, both of yourselves and the world. Instead of putting your head down and pushing through challenges, it is important to feel the hard feelings that come with having to endure and within that openness allows you to also feel blessings inherent in the challenge.

Transcript

Coming into a relaxed state of being, Letting go of muscles as you exhale. With each breath, Letting go of a little more tension that you might be holding in your face or shoulders. Just noticing the ease with which you breathe. Letting the breath come in and go out in a natural rhythm. Noticing that its natural way of being is just as it should be. Recognizing the way this idea of endurance is a part of your everyday experience. Noticing the way there is always something to be done and reflecting for a moment on how you respond to that idea that there is always something. You can do this by thinking back to a time where you felt overwhelmed, When you were in the midst of a challenge, Whether it was a life transition or a conflict with somebody or a worldwide pandemic. Noticing or remembering if there was any fear or discouragement, Depression or stress. Noticing how you responded in action if you were feeling fearful or discouraged, Despairing or distressed. Did you give up or surrender? Did you distract yourself or shut down to avoid the pain? Is it possible to forgive yourself, Validating the feelings you felt and the response to those feelings? That all humans have limitations. Is it possible to offer ourselves a gesture of kindness or compassion? That we all have been in a state of despair, Of sadness, Of overwhelm. Now using that same example of when you felt challenged or when you were in a distressing situation, Bring to mind how you got through it. What resources did you use? What strength did you muster to go on and endure into the next day? Regardless of a momentary shutdown or despair, The strength to keep going means that you were not broken. Even under a lot of strain in the midst of extreme difficulty, You continued. What allowed you to continue? Was it love for others or from others? Was it recognition of your small successes? Feelings of composure amidst sadness or pain. This idea of endurance allows us to recognize that we can release our suffering in little moments at a time. Every moment of being with our suffering or our pain is also a moment of overcoming it. Is it possible to celebrate that endurance? To honor the presence of love and compassion and peacefulness, Even if they are glimpses. Is it possible to be patient with ourselves during these moments of overcoming? Can we release the narratives of what should be or what could have been? Let go of the expectations to be superheroes and get everything done with a happy face and yet reside in the true happiness of being with ourselves, Being with our feelings and continuing to love. Trying to be grateful for what we do have, Recognizing the beauty within each moment. Mary Oliver writes, What I want in my life is to be willing to be dazzled, To cast aside the weight of facts and maybe even float a little above this difficult world. There is an inherent heaviness in this idea of enduring. Being with ourselves, Honoring the challenges and the overcoming allows us to shed some layers of heaviness and feel even in small glimpses, The lightness that is also here. May you all go into the rest of this day, This week, This month, This year, Holding both the strength and power of your endurance as well as the peace and lightness of your ability to stay true and overcome. Taking a few more deep breaths in and out and when you're ready, May you open up your eyes. Namaste.