Face Everything And Rise

"Just like moons and suns,

With certainty of tides,

Just like hopes springing high,

Still I'll rise."

-MayaAngelou

We are living in remarkable times with an abundance of deep global concerns, and how we all cope with that varies. This week we received a lot of calls from customers who are anxious and who are tired; even a few riotously funny calls from people who just can't seem to be productive and have never felt so unmotivated in their lives.

Stress and worry are depleting – even worrisome little thoughts that linger in the background of our every day existence, have a profound impact on our bodily systems.

Most of us have weathered more than a few challenging times; enough to know that they build resilience and offer an opportunity to make impactful shifts in how we choose to live. A book that we repeatedly turn to by Pema Chodron, offers an important reminder that life is about things falling apart and then coming together and then falling apart again, and then coming together again...over and over and over.

We can spend a lot of energy on trying to ‘produce' happy moments; but fear/grief/anger all become more overwhelming when we try to avoid them. If instead we invite in all of the feelings that we deem unpleasant, we begin to see opportunity and gifts and numerous teachings that allow us to live from a more grounded, authentic, and truly beautiful place – even in the most uncertain of times.

There is hope that all of this will usher in some significant change to how we all work and live; that routines of the past that aren't sustainable will be challenged and replaced; that the loss and sacrifices of so many will serve as a reminder that life is an extraordinary gift, and that we are all precious.

So here's to paying attention to what makes this thing called living so very dear; here’s to the now. Here's to connecting. Here's to acknowledging the fear with a commitment to awake each day, face everything, and rise – just like the moons and the suns, and the tides.