At the last minute I was gifted 2 tickets to one of my favorite writers and speakers, I had a previous commitment early that morning to drop a young friend to one of the outer suburbs and make sure she was safe and where she was meant to be.
At the last minute the plan changed and the drop off time was not until lunch which meant leaving the event early. The morning session was fantastic I noticed my mind slipping into debate could I let my partner take her, I didn’t want to miss the rest of the day, this was really great, I wanted to stay, I made a commitment, today of all days, I said I be there for her and I won’t let her down and I noticed myself slipping into a spiral of thoughts, heady debate and a churning feeling inside .
Then I remembered the process of ‘Living in the Question’ ….
When you live in the question and things aren’t going the way you intended you open up to new possibility for something unseen, something out of your awareness to present itself to you. It’s not that you are expecting an immediate answer but reminding yourself that everything is happening in divine order even though in that moment you cannot possibly imagine why!
To abate my increasingly incessant mind I switched my focus to a continual loop of ‘What’s right about this that I’m not seeing?’
Whilst we waited for her friend to call we went to lunch and all was revealed. She opened up, started talking about herself, her nervousness, her relationships and challenges. We got to talk about life and different ways of looking at things and new possibilities and in that moment I knew I was exactly where I was meant to be, that being here right now was far more important than another workshop and all else dissipated.
There is one certainty in life and that is constant change. When we have an expectation of how life will be or how things will happen, something we have been looking forward to, and there is a sudden change it can be overwhelming, depending on the magnitude of the unexpected event. Our emotions rise up, we get stuck in the story, disappointed, why me, I never, the list of stories, emotions and mind chatter can intensify into a seemingly uncontrollable vortex.
However when we live in the question we stay open to a deeper understanding, new possibility, the opportunity of a higher purpose and perhaps and an outcome that we never could have imagined.
Michelle Richmond
Michelle Richmond is a renowned Innovator, Visionary and Facilitator in Life Transformation. Her previous role as the C.E.O. of the Asher Institute of Integrative Medicine Foundation has seen Michelle working and studying with leading edge Doctors and Physicians from around the globe as she mentored 1000’s of people in sustainable wellness. An experience that embedded the importance of interconnecting the spirit, heart, mind and body both personally and professionally to maximize health and success in all areas of life.
Thanks Michelle – a timely reminder. Something i need reminding of surprisingly often… Much of life only seems to make sense with the benefit of hindsight. All the best, StJohn
Thanks Michelle for that reminder. It came at the perfect time as I am struggling with a whole set of tasks that all seem impossible to achieve this week. The mind/brain is doing its thing of over analysing, sorting, catergorising, evaluating… and there are no answers coming of course. The pattern of doing it this way is an old one and I still have a wierd devotion to the pattern even though I know it doesn’t work! You have reminded me to stop, listen, and wait for a reply in stillness…that deep part of us that knows, doesn’t think! And that is my intuition. Thankfully I am learning to trust my intuition and to be clear that confused thinking is definitely over rated.