Adventures in Waiting...

Do you ever go through periods in life when it feels like NOTHING is happening? I know that the Autumn is supposed to be the season for harvesting, and the Spring is for planting, but I have somehow got the cycle reversed. Lately, it seems that I am planting seeds all over the place--with agents for my book, with potential corporate clients, with interesting seminar possibilities, with media outlets to discus CHANGE (a subject near and dear to my heart...and very much in VOGUE right now!), and on and on--yet, days go by and none of the seeds sprout. Harvesting, in fact, feels a long way off.

Now don't get me wrong. I'm a big believer in the power of seed planting, and readily point out to clients that no matter what time of year it may be, there are times in life when the currents of change may be swirling, but the tide has yet to turn. Changes occur in mysterious ways, as we are all becoming more and more conscious of disturbances in the systems in which we live--in the weather, in politics, in the economy--and the empowered stance to take is to go with the flow. Get in the groove--plant seeds, get out and nurture the possibilities...then be patient. So why is waiting so hard?

I remember when I was the director of HR for a major corporation and I would ask potential job applicants that classic question: what are your weaknesses? Of course, being schooled in interviewing, and hesitant to admit any failings, most of the candidates used for an answer that old saw: "Well,I tend to be impatient at times." Of course, in corporate-speak this was meant to convey that their only real weakness was their desire to constantly push ahead and get results. Hence, impatience would be a strength. Right? I'm not convinced. Patience is clearly a virtue. Impatience--that urgent need to constantly push towards a result--is surely a vice; a vice that trips up most of us from time to time, robbing us of the amazing adventure called "Now"...

Waiting is difficult. When in the "waiting mode," we tend to focus our thoughts on the future and easily lose hours, days, even weeks languishing in our attachment to an uncertain outcome, all at the expense of the beauty and freshness of experiencing life as it happens, in the moment.

Ironically, at some deep level, we all know the truth: the only moment we actually have to experience is NOW. Everything else is a fantasy, an adventure lived purely in our minds. As Eckhart Tolle beautifully reminds us in his book The Power of Now all of the energy we spend mired in the past or speculating about the future is the province of fear, anxiety and ego: "When the pressures of future and past thinking disappear, fear and frustration also vanish, conquered by the moment that life springs forth within you....waking you up."

So my question for today is this: How do we shift from the enervating energy of "waiting" into the life-affirming energy of NOW? It is simple, really, involving three easy steps--recognition, re-focusing, and re-invention. A shift in perspective is all that is really necessary: what I sometimes call "coming home", to yourself.

Here are the three simple steps:

1. Recognize: First we have to wake-up to the fact that our thoughts are spinning fearfully away in to an unknown place, called the future. To shift back to the present moment, use your breath and your body as tools for the mind. Wherever you are, sit down on the floor, cross-legged, back and neck straight, legs relaxed. Take a few deep breaths, and place your hands on each side of your rib cage. Take a deep breath and feel your lungs expand and your hands move in and out with the rhythm of your breath. Recognize where you are RIGHT NOW. Allow your awareness of the focus on the future--what you are waiting for--to shift downward--to your abdomen, to your rib cage, your seat, your entire body, and finally your breath. Welcome back.

2. Re-focus: Next, shift the focus of your attention to the room you are in, the space around you, the objects, smells, sounds, and textures of everything you see, right now. Think about this moment, this day, this hour, and finally...this minute. How does it feel to be alive right now?

3. Re-invent: Finally, think about one thing you could do right now, as soon as you stand up, to re-invent your experience of this day. Ask yourself this question: regardless of how things unfold in the future, how could you make today an adventure? Ask yourself: what does it mean to be alive right now? Ask yourself: what do I have to be grateful for right now? How could I make this day a day of joy, for myself, for those I love, for those I don't even know?

There's no time like the present. Wait no longer. The adventure awaits.

Happy Now!

Dr J