The effectiveness of this practice is determined by how much we choose to believe in the given situation.
So,
Let us,
For just a few minutes,
Really try and feel the following statements in our whole body,
Choosing to believe that this were real.
This way,
We will be able to really connect to what is most important to us,
And it will offer us profound perspective when faced with stress,
Anxiety,
And hopelessness in daily life.
Let us begin by getting comfortable,
Taking a moment to come back to ourselves,
Feeling that sense of refuge in your return.
Allow yourself to be welcomed back into the body by the breath,
Connecting with it like a dear friend,
Following it inward,
Filling yourself up with awakened presence,
Exhaling and letting go of all distractions.
Listen to the following questions,
Taking your time to focus for a few moments on the situation and to really think about how you would most authentically answer.
You have been given a year left to live,
365 days of life.
You will hold the same capabilities as you have now physically for the entire year.
How will you spend this year?
What part of you will you give to those around you?
And what part will you let go?
You now have one month left to live.
You have been gifted 31 full days.
How will you spend this last month?
How will you show up every day?
What will you let go of in yourself?
What part of you will you give to others?
You now have one day left to live,
24 final hours.
How will you spend this day and with whom?
What quality of yourself will you offer others in this one day?
What would no longer matter to you?
What would matter most?
It is now your final minute of life.
60 short seconds.
Who is with you?
What should they know?
What do you need to thank them for?
What part of you do you offer them in remembrance?
Take a long breath in and hold it in your body for a few seconds and then release it out into the room again.
What theme ran through all four of these timeframes?
Was it the people you spent the time with?
Was it the quality of presence you would offer?
What really stayed with you this whole time?
This practice is simply to remind ourselves that life was never given to us with a guarantee toward our survival,
But gifted to us with a mystery that remains unknown to all but those who have been themselves in those final moments.
We do not need to wait until the end of days to live in reverence to what matters most.
This is our daily practice and our life's most important work.
To remember and to connect with the greater picture and to offer the quality of our presence to even the smallest of moments.
To remember what matters most is to be made sacred.
That quality of you that you would offer to others is to be honored deeply.
And those who matter most are to be your cherished reminders of why this world was created from and for love.
What matters to you most?
Nothing else is worth losing yourself over.
Thank you deeply for being open to this practice and I hope it served in some restoration or simply as a reflection to your day.
May we continue onward in servitude to what matters most and may we journey together again.
