We will have all kinds of days,
Days we'll never forget and ones that will dissolve into lost memory.
If we're lucky,
We'll know what to focus on,
Creating goodness in our daily life,
By merely choosing to see it,
Noticing what we have and appreciating what we don't,
Putting on the lens of wonder and seeing the magic that surrounds.
But there will be those times,
Those days,
When a thick grayness attaches itself to us,
When the unexpected shows up like black ice and loneliness settles in like frost on a window.
It is on these very days,
These inevitable days,
That we must remind ourselves that we are not meant to fix any of this,
That we need not control or force,
Judge,
Wish away or restrain ourselves.
On these hard,
Hard days,
Where all we can do is put one heavy foot in front of the other,
We must practice opening to it all,
Breathing it into our lower belly,
Allowing ourselves to feel,
To process,
To absorb the reality of the moment.
A simple breath in with a glass of water in hand and a look up to the sky,
Feeling,
Noticing,
Holding all of it.
In these moments,
When all we want to do is protect,
To numb,
I beg you to stay,
To not take action,
And instead drop all your shields and weapons.
When we do this,
This radical act of surrender,
We invite healing and accept all of life's offerings.
So on these very bad days,
Where pain stabs at old wounds and fear rises high above,
Know your power,
Stand your ground,
Breathe,
And open yourself to it all.
