By: Bethanie Jones
I’ve been struggling a lot lately. As humans, and creatures of habit, we don’t always do well with change. It can be difficult incorporating a new healthy habit, new job, new relationship, new home etc. into the world we find familiar to us. During these times of movement, we tend to cling on to “what was”, with a sudden newfound appreciation for how things were or for what we once had. Have you ever noticed that? Have you ever looked at a picture of your younger self and thought, I was so full of life then and happy, how could I have told myself I wasn’t good enough? How could I have been anything other than joyous? I had it all! Some of us may look at our past and think how much better it was, when in fact, if we could go back in time, we would remember that we were actually telling ourselves that we wish we were something else or needed something more. In that moment, we were very likely picking ourselves and everything else around us apart.
Why is it so difficult to remain present and not think about the past or project our minds into the future? Why do we tell ourselves, “I was so happy and carefree back then, I wish I could go back to those times” or “I used to be so much more attractive than I am now”, “My life is nowhere near where I’d like it to be, what a mess”. We are powering through our days in a fog, counting them down until we can get to where we “want to be” as opposed to being here now and appreciating where we actually are and gathering the lessons we are supposed to in order to move us forward. If we aren’t happy with what we have now, why would we assume we would be happy with more? We are missing the vital piece between then and there, we are missing out on the now.
I started doing this exercise every night some time ago, while lying in bed at night and it’s brought me some peace. I simply run through the list of all of the things I am grateful for. At first, it began as the normal things you might think of, like family and friends, or your home, etc. As I’ve continued on with this practice however, my mind naturally now goes to this often throughout the day. I find myself saying, I am so grateful for all the wrong turns in my life that actually ended up being detours to something better or I am so thankful for the ability to walk on two legs. I am so grateful for having eyes that can see, ears that can hear, and this cup of coffee in my hand right now that I can taste. I am so grateful to witness seasons change, babies grow, and to know what the cool ocean breeze feels like on my face under a starry night sky. I am so grateful to know what loves feels like, and to have loved so much. I am grateful to continue to fall more and more in love every day, despite the fact that I have known such great pain. I am grateful to have survived. I am grateful to have so many experiences under my belt, and to have seen so much of this stunning planet. I am so grateful to know what a big deep inhale feels like, and also how it feels to let that all go.
There are so many things we take for granted and don’t realize that we can count on. We can count on the suns rising every morning and its setting every night. We can count on this moment, and we can count on the decisions we make today to grow us into better people. We DO have enough now, and we are, presently ENOUGH. The person we are today is what a younger version of ourselves came to be and if I could guess, that younger version fought pretty hard to get here and overcame a lot. Every day we make progress toward our goals, and become better more dynamic loveable people. As we age, we get BETTER. We learn, we grow, and we layer our experiences and begin to make sense of things, which puts us in a wonderful position of opportunity to help others.
We are exactly where we are meant to be. We have exactly what we are meant to have, and the universe gives us everything we need, when we are capable and ready to receive it. Is there something you want? Ask the universe instead, for the lesson and the growing that you still need in order to be able to fully receive it. Ask that you be guided toward your greatest good and be given the strength to get there no matter what obstacles come your way to obtain it. Ask, realize It’s on its way and then patiently wait.
You can’t always get what you want…
But if you try sometimes… you might find, you get what you need.