Bismillah ar-Rahman ar-Rahim,
In the name of the one most compassionate,
Most merciful,
Most kind.
This is Mark Silver with Heart of Business,
Welcome to Remembrance.
And I just want to encourage you to take a nice gentle breath.
Just let yourself naturally breathe and just notice how you're feeling.
Notice what's true for you and how much space there is to feel exactly how you're feeling.
Without needing to change anything.
One of the issues that could come up for us as business owners is a fear of visibility.
And while we need to honor our needs around introversion,
Some of us are introverted,
Some of us aren't.
Some of us prefer smaller,
More intimate settings,
Some of us like larger settings.
Regardless of our preferences,
Which are to be honored,
Developing and growing a business usually asks us to stretch beyond what we're comfortable with.
Meeting new people and letting ourselves be visible in a way that we might not have always been.
And so as we head into today's Remembrance,
Please allow yourself to feel everything that comes up when you become concerned about being visible.
Thinking about being visible,
Thinking about being quote-unquote exposed,
People really seeing you,
People you may not know yet.
And because it's your business and you're stepping into the light,
They see you before you see them.
So just noticing everything that comes up.
Noticing how much space there is to feel exactly that way without needing to change or fix anything.
And then taking a nice gentle breath and bringing your attention to your heart high up in your chest.
Beginning to call the name of the Divine.
Beginning to call to the source of love and the source of safety and the source of strength.
Falling through the open doorway of your heart.
Letting your head bow in humility and in sincerity.
Just noticing what it's like to call to the Divine,
To call to the source of love.
And you're feeling so vulnerable and so exposed.
And see if you can call out in your heart without shutting down,
There's a tendency to want to hunch our shoulders,
To want to bow over into a fetal position to protect our sensitive tender selves.
Just see if you can remain open in that vulnerability.
And instead of shutting down to protect yourself,
To begin to call on the Divine.
Ya Allah.
And calling through the open doorway of your heart.
And taking a nice gentle breath and just noticing.
Umm.
What is it like to just lean into the discomfort of being exposed,
Of being seen,
Of being visible without shutting down,
Without turning away,
Without trying to fix it or make it any different?
What is it like to hang out there?
So much room to feel everything that comes up,
For there to be space.
And in this instance you are using your willpower to stay there,
To not distract yourself,
To not to try to hide,
To not to shut down,
But to loosen your shoulders and open up your chest.
And still call to the Divine.
Don't remain alone there.
Calling the name of the Divine through the open doorway of your heart.
Calling and calling.
Umm.
What happens when your heart faces the Divine and calls to the Divine,
Calls to the source of love,
Even while standing in this very visible place?
What happens when your heart connects and witnesses,
Connects to and witnesses the source of love and lets yourself be filled up by that which is without turning away or hiding or protecting?
What happens when your heart is filled with love and lets yourself be filled up by that which is without turning away or protecting?
What do you notice about your heart?
What do you notice in your being?
Being seen for who you are,
Being seen for the message that you carry,
Being seen for the gifts that you bring,
Being seen for the stand that you take to support certain people around certain topics,
Being seen in your tenderness and being seen in your imperfection,
Being seen in your faults,
Being seen in your shortcomings,
Being seen in those parts of you that are still growing and developing and continuing to call the name of the Divine?
Why?
Hmm.
Letting your head bow and letting your heart bow and letting yourself find that sincerity,
That humility,
That you are really intending to be of service,
To be in service.
And if that means being seen,
If that means being exposed,
If that means being vulnerable,
Well perhaps the Divine knows you already,
Knows you and is sending to you and giving to you exactly what you need to meet this.
What if that were true?
Calling the name of the Divine and letting your heart be open to noticing what's really here for you as you stand open and visible.
Aah.
Oh.
What freedom,
What abundance,
What is available to you when you can be seen?
When you can allow yourself to be seen and to be found.
Letting yourself be willing to be surprised,
Continuing to call the name of the Divine through the open doorway of your heart and just seeing what is it that you discover.
What do you notice?
What's there?
What's being offered?
What's there?
And then just noticing the state of your heart,
How you're feeling.
Noticing any authentic appreciation or gratitude for anything you may have experienced during this remembrance.
And letting yourself express that to the Divine.
Alhamdulillah.
And then taking a nice gentle breath,
Knowing that if you want to remain in remembrance you can.
And if you're ready to return to your day,
This is a time to turn back.
Blessings.
