Last week, one of my spiritual direction clients was talking about resisting practice because of feeling so angry about life and the world.
I suggested taking the anger to the practice mat and then said, “Don’t deny yourself that which supports you because you don’t feel perfect.”
We can give ourselves permission to call upon the very things that help us whether we feel at our best or at our worst. We can give ourselves permission to call upon the very things that help us whether the world feels like it is falling apart around us or as though everything is sunshine and strawberries.
I’ve said it before, and will continue to repeat it: Practice Makes Possible.
When we practice, we have a little more centeredness with which to face the world. When we practice, we connect enough to make better decisions. When we practice, we can better find the strength with which to serve. When we practice, we can remember that the world is varied and so are we. We can breathe it all in. We can exhale. We cannot carry the world, but we can shoulder one small part of it. Practice helps.
We may never feel perfect. The world may never feel perfect. The reality is, imperfection is part of what makes us whole. Wholeness is perfect, even in all of its flaws. Things are as they are. We change them by changing our relationship to them, and this starts inside ourselves. If I make a subtle shift within, that adjusts all of my relationships on out: to family, friends, to world events, to the kid on the street, to the person in line, to bombings and war, and injustice, and explosions, and music wafting toward me on Spring air.
Take it to the mat. The altar. The bench. The studio. Take it to the walk. The bike ride. The conversation.
Find the support you need. Please. We need you well supported.