My calm place, as the world swirls around us in it’s own conversation, is my meditation practice. Each day I look to the calm inside beyond the appearance “out there.” The place where I connect to the Divine presence. Divine presence appears as Jesus at times, as Quan Yin, as Divine grace and sometimes no visual just the feeling of a warm cozy blanket around me.
Today after listening to Elizabeth Gilbert’s post on the Insight Timer™ app (Elizabeth Gilbert Compassion), I found myself writing the letter she suggests from the divine loving presence to me. The letter poured out for pages as I let go of held-in tension I am not sure I even realized was there.
We go about our chosen spiritual path, and often forget our human part. We try to put on the happy face; the “I’m doing OK” face or the “I’ve got it together” face. We bury the real human feeling of being afraid, overwhelmed, and frustrated about things like no eggs or almond milk at the grocery store. But we are human and divine.
Our human BEING is vulnerable to the “Out there” scare, fear and the “fake news” and the real news. I loved Elizabeth Gilbert’s message. We all, in our humanness, want the comfort of a warm loving ideal mother to put her arms around us and kiss the Boo-boo away. We may never have had that from our real mother or maybe we did. But, hey, we are toughened adults and whining to get comfort is frowned upon. We are all supposed to put on the brave face, especially if you have children at home.
As I wrote, more poured out. I got an image of a time when I learned to let go and trust. I was in the swimming pool at the YWCA from early childhood. You see, my Mom was afraid of the water and never learned to swim. She wanted me and my brother to never to be afraid of the water. She brought us to the Y for swim lessons at the earliest possible age. I loved it and went on to teach swimming as a teen. The float skill learning curve came to mind. Floating takes trust, letting go and finally faith.
In order to teach us to float, the instructor would be in the pool with me, hold my shoulders and asked me to move my feet up so I was like a log. I would move my feet up, then put them back down, afraid of sinking. She would patiently repeat the process. Then came the time I let it happen, I trusted the float that was there all the time waiting for me. Never looking back. Floating is one of the most calming things I do. Pool or ocean. Now, my son Paul is teaching my granddaughter, Nina age 3, to float.
I grew to love the waves at Tybee Beach, in Savannah, GA where we spent summers as a child. I would float, a wave would come and take me for a ride. I would often cough and sputter if the wave was a bit much for me in that moment. Then I got braver and allowed the float in me to become body surfing. The wave might come and toss me to the sand below even scratching my knees as the surf tumbled me with force. But I knew deep inside I always had my float. Just relax and the surface will come back.
Whether you float is a choice. Here is my float meditation:
F – Free yourself of FEAR
L – Lean into faith as you know it, the Loving arms of your Divine presence.
O – Offer thanksgiving/gratitude. Observe life from the hawk’s eye view.
A – Accept guidance, a nudge, or help. Accept that you can help others
T – Take one step
Floating takes trust, letting go and finally faith. Your float is waiting for you.
Be well out there,
Coach Linda
P.S. – Here’s my new e-book. It is fill-in-able for you. Free to you. During this “shelter in place time,” journaling can be a great comfort and new habit to start or continue. Just go to my website: www.lifepathbydesign.net to receive your free e-book.
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