#MicroPoetry|November ’21 Reflections

There’s a hymn that I truly appreciate. A central line is “Go Make a Difference.” I believe that aspirational encouragement, even imperative, is foundational in our journey and the choices we do or do not make.

I am also aware that whether we make choices carefully and considerately, we still make them everyday throughout our lives. From which shirt to wear to running a yellow light, these are moments that can seem innocuous, but they are not.

Bearing the responsibility and blessing of being a Choice-Maker highlights whether we live in harmony with one another and Creation or in tension with the temptation to control our environment. This relationship ultimately is about recognising who and what has control and what and who we understand ourselves to be in life’s web.

Self-knowing, a topic often part of these Verses and central to the spiritual journey, is a powerful journey to choose. It is not easy, fraught with deconstructing stories we have been told about us and which, we, in turn, have internalised and reinforced. Yet to begin this self retelling promises an awakening of great import. To awaken to the fact you choose who you are means we are invited to begin to change the world.

What do you need to begin to ensure you so become?

We often invest in changing things that we cannot. In fact, we are distracted by this fixing tendency to such an extent that it can affect our own quality of life and the inner work to which we are invited.

That does not mean that we should not engage in addressing things like social injustice. Not does it mean we should not commit to ensure that those who follow us shall inherit a world better than we received it.

To become a change agent, however, must begin with that intention applied to the inward journey. Knowing our stuff, healing ourselves and emboldening our confidence in the blessings we each uniquely carry allows us to then go into the world. This outward path not only promises to nurture our collective healing but allows us to be a presence of compassion to a hurting human world.

When you have finally identified that dream that inspires you to begin a journey that seem daunting and impossible, please take a grounding breath. Do not be overwhelmed by the things that you will need to do and decide. Reach out to those who support you, love you, and who help you harness your gifts.

With a community surrounding you, be emboldened to take that first tentative step. Shaping that which is yet to be is an enormous blessing and responsibility. Be bold, breathe deeply and enjoy this journey for which you alone have been prepared.

There are many aspects of gratitude as a way to enter into the world each morning. One has to do with the way we give. To share abundance with the Other should never carry with it an expectation of remembrance or recognition.

Another facet is how we receive generosity offered to us. The reception of a blessing offered, whether tangible or ethereal, is a further opportunity to be gratitude. In so receiving, may we never forget the trust that is extended to us in the act of another’s being gratitude.

In our quest to do things, to succeed, and create, there are many distractions that can arise. Whether those are internal narratives, or the hub of a life filled with competing demands, it is hard, at times, to stay focused.

One way to stay the course, is to make space for patience. To listen to our own wisdom and that of the communities that support us. Seeing time as an ally, a companion, allows us to recognise ways forward that otherwise are missed in the interruptions that tempt us away from our goal.

I often ask people walking into new leadership roles what it is they imagine is the legacy they wish to leave. I sometimes frame this further through questions of stewardship.

If we walk into roles of leadership, I believe we are invited to leave that which we steward in better shape than that with which we received it. From this point the question and action then becomes what choices do we need to make now in order to arrive at that anticipated future?

If you are imagining something new, anticipating creating something never experienced before, only you can bring it into being. There are many obstacles to creation. One significant impediment is tying time to the outcome. This tendency to watch the clock is antithetical to the thing you are called to bring into being. So, with a breath drawn let go of time and seize the passion in you calling to Be.