I don’t know about you guys but I definitely came into 2019 with big intentions for all the things I wanted to “make happen” this year. I’m sure you can relate…not always with the turn of a new year but times when you just really wanted to make a big shift on something.
It’s like that goal to get your butt to the gym everyday or that resolution to start eating healthier…well mine weren’t those but they were big for me. Now that we’re almost 4 months into the year I can tell you that the messages I received right at the beginning of the year couldn’t have been more accurate or more needed.
At the beginning of January I went and did a labyrinth walk. If you don’t know what that is go here but essentially it’s following a path that twists and turns its way into a center, where you take a pause, and then follow the same path back out.
There are documented studies that reveal walking a labyrinth will quickly take your mind into a deeply meditative state without doing anything except walking. Cool hey?!
I was super excited about this walk. I was totally like ‘I’m going into this with my big intentions and I can’t wait to see them all transpire’. This was only my second time doing a labyrinth walk but what I have found is that what you feel while walking ends up being your metaphor for how you are living your life.
Let me explain…I start out into the labyrinth. I’m so super excited that I literally want to run to get to the center as fast as possible. I want to achieve my big ass intentions now! Once I make a few turns though, I’m feeling how much I really just need to slow down and embrace what is. I notice how each step is an integral part of the process.
It isn’t about getting what you want, it’s about being where you are.
I went in so overly focused and excited about what’s to come that if I continued on that path the way that I was, I’d miss out on what’s going on in the present. All I have to do to achieve my intentions is keep putting one foot in front of the other, staying present and authentic in each moment. That’s it! Seems so easy right?! As long as I just stay present and moving forward, everything I want will manifest. The best part of all this…I don’t really have to “make shit happen”.
It reminds me of the movie ‘You, Me, and Dupree’. Owen Wilson plays this loveable, yet annoying character that really just flies by the seat of his pants. He has no plan and his friends are frustrated that he isn’t more serious about his life. He tends to upset their lives a fair bit but he’s really just going along being authentic. It’s in his authenticity that opportunities show up for him. He doesn’t try to control or manipulate life to get what he wants. He’s just content with what comes, making the most of each moment.
I was getting so fixated on what I wanted that I’d forgotten to simply make the most of each moment.
Now don’t get me wrong, I’m absolutely not saying don’t set (big) intentions. By all means dream big! But once you’ve set your course on what you desire don’t be so zeroed in on it that you forget to notice anything else.
When you are in the midst of a chronic illness this can be a really tough lesson to remember.
The focus becomes entirely around crushing the illness or getting rid of a certain symptom. You start to feel as though the ONLY way life can get better, is for you to get back what you may have lost (i.e. your health).
Unconsciously you are telling yourself that you will only be happy when your illness is gone or you will only be whole when you can be healthy. Unfortunately this type of message implies that you are not already whole and that you can’t be happy while you are still sick.
It’s no different than saying I will be fulfilled when I have my dream job or I will feel loved when I have the perfect relationship….and on and on this goes. Your circumstances really don’t matter!
All you have to do is show up as authentically ‘you’ as you can…regardless of what is actually happening in your life.
You can be struggling with your health and still be happy, whole, loved, successful, fulfilled, whatever you want. And the truth is you will manifest your desires much more quickly when you are able to embrace this concept and let go of the outcome you are attached to receiving from it.
To being a little bit more like Dupree,
Dr. Kim Gowetor
Naturopath Sherwood Park
Naturopath Calgary
780-328-9088
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