Have you ever seen the eyes of a baby or child fill with wonderment as
they discover for the first time, the simplest things in life? I have been fortunate to witness this sight,
first with my own children, and now in my grandchildren. In doing so, I have realized
that the “discovery” of new things in life is also a cycle. The newness and excitement of the initial
experience, the gleaning of all that you can from it, and then the
closure: satisfaction or
dissatisfaction, which helps you decide if you wish to repeat the experience.
Life has been quite busy for me, handing me many cycle “closures” and endings
this year. There have been closures of
long term situations, closures of attempted ideas, and closures of “false
beliefs” regarding relationships with people and with myself. I think lately,
many of us have been through some type of closures or endings.
My meditation practice has been absent as of late. I hadn’t
“heard” from my monk, and I hadn’t asked to hear from him either. This morning during
meditation when I “asked” for my monk to give me some much needed guidance, I
should not have been surprised that he addressed these situations of endings. He
did not focus on the “endings” however, as we humans tend to do, often holding
on to the various possible feelings of sadness, regret or resentment. No, he
spoke of the wonderment in the baby’s eyes as they discover the NEW. He spoke
of the exhilaration and excitement in the experience of new and different
things, the NECESSITY of continuing to do so in our lives, to keep adding to
our experience OF LIFE itself. “When you let go of the situations that no
longer serve you, there is the opening of time and space to DISCOVER”. “Be that
child”, he said. To allow yourself the permission to “be a child” again, to
delve into the sweet enjoyment, that “tingle of excitement”, in the not
knowing, in the endless possibilities of finding out WHO YOU ARE…THAT is the
essence that gives us the continued “push” to experience our life, to move
forward and begin the discovery “cycle” again and again.
It doesn’t have to be life changing, fate altering
discovery. It can be simple things. For my mom, it was as simple as a new
recipe she could not wait to try. It can
also be re-discovering something you used to like to do. For me, I am going to
re-discover my art. Who knows where it will take me, how it will serve me now,
thirty years later. That is the “stuff” that keeps us going, that keeps us
learning and growing. Embrace those cycle closures with the anticipation of
wonderment for the new, for the chance to begin again, for the chance to find
YOU.
Blessings,
Brenda
