We seem to always be trying to get somewhere. Constantly looking ahead with our new year’s resolutions, 3 year plans and 5 year strategies. Constantly defining future based goals and new mountains to conquer. But, how often do you put yourself at a point of zero?
Apparent reality
To be human is to be entangled in a complex web of repeating patterns. Patterns that include our own habits and behaviours, and the behaviours and expectations of others. Everyday involves the weight of your own expectations, of what you think you should be doing. And, the weight of others’ expectations and how they think you should be living. Expectations that become enmeshed and reinforced overtime, creating behaviour patterns that seem sticky.
There is no avoiding this reality of everyday living. However, we need not bind ourselves to these patterns and get lost in them. We need not be blind to their existence, nor do we need to get caught-up in them merely because they exist.
It is a bit like the morning mist. You hardly see anything looking backwards or forwards into the distance. The mist seems impenetrable and overwhelming, but everything is clear where you stand. You can see yourself and feel yourself with great clarity. And, strangely, the mist recedes as you walk forwards from such a place of awareness.
Standing at a point of zero
Standing at a point of zero is about realising that every day can really be a new beginning. That every moment can be one of clarity and self-understanding. A releasing from the grip of arbitrary expectations that keeps you stuck in a place of anxiety and fear. A self-renewal. But, this takes a certain willingness to look within. To see through the mist around you. To really acknowledge the reality of your world without judgement, to pause and ask yourself:
What drives me to do, what I do? What beliefs and values underlie the choices I make? Where do these beliefs come from? Whose expectations are weighing down on me? What is truly important for me in my life, at a day-to-day level? Is there really something that I don’t have today that I believe will bring me happiness in the future, if I had it? What is the point of the [2]-year plan, really?
It takes something
And, perhaps these questions will be challenging at some level because they risk unsettling the very idea of who you think you are, and the established narrative of your life. But, it is in the exploration of these very questions that you are most likely to find mental freedom. To see what binds you and blinds you from living more fully.
So, what will it be this year? Are you willing to put yourself at a point of zero?
Wishing you the courage to look within and great joy and contentment in 2019!
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