Sunday, July 3, 2011

Opportunity Lost and Found

Barn Owls Hoot & Shriek on a Golden Hill in San Diego



"Following your dream may be hard, but ignoring your dream is disastrous."  --Ingrid Coffin

These days, I am potently aware of when opportunity is loudly knocking upon my door.  Granted, every day is filled with the promise of potential and possibility.  However, there are some moments that are so obviously made for seizing, for grabbing by the horns and running away with, like a Torero in a coliseum.  For far too long, I let my Self off of the hook.  I refused to speak and share when the time was ripe.  I sat back on my laurels and haunches when I could have made a move and acted with gusto.  I dreamed up countless characters who danced in lifetimes of illusions but I refrained from stepping onto the stage.  Instead, I watched others act out life's greatest play (this moment, now) from the wings.  In the past, I hadn't the fortitude to, with hammer and chisel, forge my own, uniquely sculpted path.  Lately, though, I've been spending the time refining my impulses so that I am quicker at noticing the flickering flames of opportunity.  Today, I like to think that I've learned how to not let my candle burn out before I've had a chance to really try and make fire with the hand I'm being dealt.

The miraculous thing is that, now, when things don't go as I had hoped they would, I am not sidetracked by any feelings of disappointment.  Rather, I am comforted by the experience of having tried to, at least, create a blazing bonfire.  This commitment to my path, to my dream and to my highest good (which always includes the highest good for all) is a bond that I have been forging within.  In the process, I have been learning how to hold steadfast to my faith - for I now have no doubt that 1.)  there is no such thing as coincidences and 2.) that the larger vision I hold near and dear to my heart is here and now.  It is simply a matter of patience and perspective.

And now, I find myself brushing up against the inability of my peers to recognize and run away with opportunity.  It's a tough reflection to swallow and I am unsure how to address it and encourage otherwise...  "Just breathe," is how I approach most moments.  Then, I try to remember that all is perfect now - that these moments are divinely unfolding just as they should.  I listen to my instinct and intuition and I follow my impulses - which means risking looking like a fool as well as feeling the sting of rejection.  I allow myself to make mistakes - lots of them.  I try to discern between my authentic voice (those deeply held feelings contained within my SoulSpirit) and the disembodied voice of a culturally enforced dogma.  I KNOW, in my heart of hearts, that I am living my dream, now - especially as my actions highlight and shower others with the money and attention that I also "need" and crave.  I continue to pour my positive energy in the direction I want it to flow knowing that it will come back around again, full circle.  It's only a matter of time and tenacity.

So, dear friends, breathe through the discomfort of not knowing what the future will bring and into the embodiment that you will be rewarded justly so long as you point that needle towards your (and our) true north and steadfastly plod in the direction of your dreams.  With each footfall - even when it feels like you are forced to take one step forward and twelve steps back - you sink into what it is that you have always been seeking.  For it is here, now.   YOU.  This.  Nothing more.  Only this.  When you surrender to it, you have arrived.  When you accept this journey as the destination, you taste the sweet fruit of success as it rolls across your tongue - daily.  This is the way to your dreams.
LIVE IT,
now.
And, the rest is, as they say,
OURSTORY.