Do You Need a Throttle?
Reaching out for support, acknowledging we need it and imagining it exists, is not a strong suit for many of us. We learn that self-sufficiency equals adulthood, which is a stagnant, unchanging state. Our accomplishments and competencies stretch forward into perpetuity, seemingly untouched by inevitable shifts in our energy, emotionality, and circumstance. I have had to realize, at sixty-eight, that my abilities are changing. Creating a response to those limitations, although not my idea, has radically altered my life; possibility opens and propels me forward. A bike with a battery and a throttle—who would imagine such a teacher, such a mirror, would emerge for me?
What about you? Here are some considerations for your contemplation and/or journaling pleasure:
- Is there an arena in your life in which you struggle? Breathe and relax and, without judgment, as you simply watch yourself in your full humanity, in that struggle.
- What might that support look like in this arena? Might it be a person? A thing? What might your metaphoric “throttle” be?
- What would the first step be in moving closer to engaging with that potential support?
- By when might you consider moving toward this first step?
Acknowledging that things change, that we need support, that our lives are fluid, that the moment flows with plasticity—all these present us with never-ending opportunities to grow into the stretches that life requests of us. As with yoga on the mat (what a surprise, that ultimate of metaphors), fighting against the change, constricting around the sensations, holding our breath, tightens the flow of energy and makes the moment so much harder than need be. Living with mindful presence gives us the skillfulness to flow into change, to partner with the universe in opening to new responses. Collaboration with life, the willingness to partner with reality, gives us that ultimate gift, the blessing of choice.
May your foundation be steadied.
May you open to the breath of change.
May you find your way with effortless focus.
May you relax into the arms of support.
The picture above marks my initiation ride with Boomer the e-bike. The picture below is a snap from this morning’s stunning Berkshire ride, accomplished through both the right use of will and surrender to the throttle I have been given.
Please keep in touch, dear readers, as you surf the waves of stability and flow. I am aruni@rnetworx.com.
All blessings,
Aruni