I can’t walk yet, at least not pilgrimage walking. I am still relegated to absolutely necessary walking, indoors, with a walker.
This wasn’t what I had hoped for or anticipated for this week. I was hoping to be cleared to do some asphalt walking with my walker outdoors. This would have allowed me to get back to the park, within limits. It looks like it will be another few weeks until I am back to that.
“Disappointment takes adequate planning.”
Richard Bandler
When I explored how being a pilgrim might help me with this disappointment, I remembered that pilgrims trust their path to serve their highest good.
Remembering that, I began to relax into what life is giving me. I began to think about what it would be like to trust my path.
And in exploring that, I realized that I want my doing to originate from a different place.
What do I mean by that???
All my life I have been a planner. I make To Do Lists, daily schedules, project plans.
And as soon as I have all those in place, life shows up.
“Life is what happens when you plan something else.”
I didn’t make this up; but I couldn’t locate a citation.
Example: You begin a pilgrimage and you break your knee.
Plans do get my mind and heart in a receptive state to move forward.
Creating plans clarifies my intentions, which is always a good thing.
And when I create plans from what I best know is my soul’s desire, my mind is focused in the right direction.
But I cannot hold onto those plans; the plans cannot be where the doing comes from, as I move forward.
Circumstances change. I evolve. My understanding of what is mine to do deepens and changes and focuses.
In the past, as that unfolding happened, I would do the best I could to stick to the plan. No matter what happened, or what showed up, my response was to get back to the plan ASAP.
In that, I was creating a struggle. I was fighting life’s unfolding, growing, and evolving.
And I was missing the opportunity to respond creatively to what life was giving me in the moment.
Pilgrims trust their path.
I want to trust my path.
This means I want to make the plans and then release my expectations and attachment to how they will unfold.
“Plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower
I want to meet life in what life gives me, and create my responses from there.
I want my doing to emerge from what life gives me in the moment. This is what I have been doing in the period of my healing from my injury.
Going forward, this means relaxing into what life is giving me, and finding my path through mindful attention.
“In seeking after what the soul desires, we become pilgrims with no home but the path the soul would have us follow.”
Michael Meade
How do you find your path?
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