Cleaning House

For me the greatest challenge of being on a spiritual path is clearing out the people, places and things that prevent me from moving forward. I'm sure you know what I mean...the well-meaning friend who says they support my path, yet their actions aren't consistent with those words. Or the people I continue to lean on knowing full well it's not in my highest good to do so.

Today I'm questioning some of those relationships and taking accountability for my role in allowing them to continue. I'm cleaning house and it sure feels good! Of course not everyone is excited about this shift...some people, unconsciously of course, would prefer I stay stuck right where I am. Not that they want to limit my spiritual growth, but when I start rocking the boat it will most likely bring up some of their own stuff. And that's uncomfortable.

It just shows how incredibly intertwined we really are. How far-reaching an impact our choices and words have. While I may be setting things free today...I'm going to do so gently, consciously and with a tremendous amount of compassion. For myself and those I'm letting go.

Surrender

At the beginning of each year, rather than setting goals or resolutions, my friends and I choose a word. It seems like such a simple act...selecting a word that I want to incorporate into my daily life. A gentle reminder of how I want to live. Some years the choice has been anything but gentle. More like a bonk over the head every time I stray from how I want to be in this world!

This year's word has already been giving me some grief, just as I knew it would. It didn't waste anytime at all as it starting shaking me awake on January 3rd! You see I tend to be just a tad type-A with a good dose of needing to know where a path is leading and wanting to control the outcome. So for me surrender is about going with the flow. Allowing the Universe to guide me and actually listening to that guidance.

It's actually pretty freeing. Rather than working myself up into a cold sweat about things I just surrender. I no longer waste time and energy thinking I can actual force things to be a certain way. So today I'm sitting at Kelley's Coffee Shop in lovely Cayucos, CA., enjoying the sunshine and salt air. Just waiting for the day to unfold...