Whatever you call it; whatever it means to you; spirituality practice/religious practice/prayer it is what keeps you connected to divine/God/your higher self. This can be a topic that society labels as “off limits”. That we don’t want to stand up and say we’re spiritual or religious as others might judge us or condemn us. Yet, here I “swim” in the deep waters following my heart. I was called to write on this topic since the last post and I allowed it to create itself as it rolled around in my mind, not unlike the waves out deep in the ocean that create the crashing ones at the shore. I took a big deep belly breath and decided to dive into the swelling wave knowing that each of you will take from this post what you need. That it will hopefully allow you to realize the foundation you’ve created for yourself and to acknowledge and be grateful for it.
I think back to when I was growing up and the daily prayers I said at night. A prayer to God followed by the many moments and people I was thankful for. I look at what my night time routine is now and see that for me, my meditation is my nightly prayer where I go to the space of gratitude for everything that shows up in my life. Speaking again of the nighttime prayer when I was young, that’s exactly what that was for me and I didn’t realize it. My meditation, my connection, my foundation. A spot every day where I could say thank you for everything that happened. For the people in my life that mattered and being able to say thank you for them and the moments we shared. I think about how important that was for me and how no matter how tired I was, happy, mad or sad I found the time to do it. I felt connected and complete and was ready to end my day and go to sleep awaiting the gift of another day, another breath.
Today our society is fueled by busyness and hectic schedules and we expect immediate results/instant gratification from everything and everyone. Some feel that there’s a quick way to fix our problems without walking them. Or to feel better – it’s just a pill away, or a drink away and we’re rid of the annoyance. Some have a belief that we must always be “busy” or else someone might consider us lazy and not as productive and valuable as they are. Finding time to be grateful doesn’t carry much weight in some circles in society and therefore for some it is not be the first thing they look to. It’s something we would be giving to ourselves for ourselves how would that appear to others? Well my first guess is that we believe it would of look selfish. Yet, I’m often reminded when flying that we are told to don our own air mask first before helping others put theirs on. If we can’t find the time to give to ourselves to build and maintain our foundation how can we be there for others? Thus finding time for ourselves each day is not selfish and something that will foster our relationship with self and our foundation.
I invite you to take some time to sit and journal on a few things…what moments do you give to yourself each day? Any at all? If you do give yourself time, do you judge yourself as being lazy or selfish? Do you justify the ‘why’ of taking time for you? Do you make time to be grateful, to meditate, or to pray? Is this something you do only “if” there is time that’s left over after giving it all away? Have you built a daily practice that you do which fuels your soul? Do you truly gift yourself that time with no expectations? Do you connect with Divine/God/Spirit? Do you know your value and give that to yourself each day without judgement? Do you allow yourself time in nature to just ‘be’? All questions that I find help us to see where we are at in putting our “air mask” first.
For me I have created a nighttime routine that is simple. My version of my prayers. I ask myself some questions before I go to sleep. Did I do my best today to serve my heart and my intentions I set? Did I make someone else smile and feel loved? Was I present in all my moments? Can I lay my head on this pillow knowing it might be my last sleep and go to sleep with a smile in my heart and on my face. Each of the answers to these questions help to fuel a part of my soul and allow me to be content and grateful regardless of the answers. There are nights when the mind monkey attempts to tell me otherwise. But I graciously thank him for his presence and the acknowledgement of the act. Then continue my ‘prayers’ finding gratitude knowing that I’ll not judge myself as I showed up to the best of my abilities at that moment. That I’ll hopefully get the gift of another day to practice it all again. Then I put on a meditation that is calling to me (I have several that I rotate through) and I breathe myself to sleep.
I feel that this post could go on and on with much more to say but I’ll end here. I trust that you were able to swim along me in this post. That pieces resonated. It had a bit of a questioning ebb and flow and I thank you for wading alongside me as I trusted where it was going. Knowing it’s in being truthful and authentic that growth happens. Sometimes it is seeds planted and other times it’s cultivating the soil. Some of my questions or comments might have rubbed you in ways you felt were “wrong” or “irritated you”. I challenge you to look at those moments as a rub. That in being rubbed you are being polished and that with each rub you get closer to shining your own beauty. I always fall to Jalaluddin Rumi’s quote “If you are irritated by every rub, how will your mirror be polished”. From the day I heard that quote it resonated deeply within me and I await those moments of irritation from others, so I can take them and grow and further polish my mirror. So much love and aloha from the swells and depths of the ocean of life. xxoo Jodi
Ps. – the photo for this post was taken on a weekend away in AZ many, many moons ago. I originally cropped it to just the hands yet the full image wanted to be used. It called to me as being the best photo for this energetically ebbing post. A big breath in of the air of faith then deep smile to my core before exhaling and starting the cycle again. Feel free to share yours with me at coach@alohalife.ca.