Rain has fallen in London and nature around us has changed. It seems like in no time! Fields and golf courses in Wimbledon Common that were yellow and bare with a dry surface for so many weeks over the summer have turned green. The grass is growing and is looking healthy and alive again. As I am out on daily walks with my dog it still stuns me how quickly the green colour came back on the ground.
How about seeing this as a parallel to our lives? Could we also go from yellow to green, just like that? I think yes. We simply need to find out what kind of “drizzle” is needed for each of us to feel more alive.
It is easy to live our life day by day, one day more or less similar to the other, and go on that way for a very long time. We find a way to live that makes us feel comfortable and where life seems easy, and where there are no challenges. Okay, I am all for more ease in my life, but as I also know that challenges make me grow as a human being, I don’t underestimate feeling unease sometimes. It is good to have a balance between the two.
In mindfulness meditation, you are invited to lean towards discomfort. In physical yoga, you are invited to hold a posture a bit longer. Both lead to more resilience and growth. And I would add, lead to make you feel more alive. If nothing changes, nothing changes (!). Just like the grass over the summer staying yellow for a very long period of time. With the recent rainfall it went to green and as a result is now expressing more aliveness. Perhaps here lies an invitation for all of us to notice if our life is more on the “yellow” side at the moment? If yes, what is needed to go more “green”? Green meaning more vibrant and alive.
Nothing is permanent in life. Change is inevitable. If you find yourself at a time in life where you would like to introduce a change, know there are lots of opportunities around for you! Maybe you would like to restart a hobby you used to enjoy, have a more regular movement practice or daily meditation, go for sunset walks, eat more healthily, spend more time in nature, have a cold shower in the morning, ie. anything that you believe will nourish you. You could take a moment to reflect on where you are at the moment? No judgment is needed. The past is the past and can’t be changed (=so you can let it go). All the decisions you have made in your life have lead you to this moment. From here something new can happen. If you are okay with where you are, then great. If you would like to change something, be responsible for that change. Copy nature and introduce the ingredient that will make you feel more alive.
Roger Federer announced his retirement from professional tennis yesterday. His letter of retirement included the following sentence about his many years of professional tennis (I think it is gold): “I have laughed and cried, felt joy and pain, and most of all I have felt incredibly alive.”
We all want to feel alive. The ground needed the rain to return to full aliveness. What type of “drizzle” do you need to feel incredibly alive?
Annette X
