Surrendering

"Our image of awakening to and fulfilling our divine potential evokes the idea of an individual who is whole and complete, separated from lesser mortals, isolated and alone. Culturally, we have yet to envision a realistic, appealing model of the spiritually empowered human being....." (Caroline Myss, Sacred Contracts )

But I'm going to have a go anyway....

I've been working towards spiritual empowerment for a long while now, perhaps since I was a teenager. I've read a lot of books, called my search lots of different things, attended courses, listened to talks and lectures and thought and thought and thought about it all. Most recently I obtained the services of a coach (Tara Bliss - you might have heard me mention her before) who has helped to point me in the direction of a practical approach to becoming spiritually empowered.

I now have a regular, daily spiritual practice, which developed rather naturally out of my discussions with Tara. I do this each day, whenever it fits in around homeschooling, nappy changes, shopping, cooking, gardening etc... I know that early morning is meant to be the best time for this sort of spiritual focus, but it doesn't work that way in my life at the moment, so I do what I can with what I have. And it seems that that is enough.

In this practice I light a candle, meditate for 5 or 10 minutes (whatever my girls will allow before they need me) and shuffle my oracle/angel/flower cards (see Doreen Virtue ) and choose one from the top of the deck. I read its message and think about how to approach the day, or about what that message means for the worries I'm holding on to at that moment. Sometimes the message is clear, sometimes it becomes clear over the course of the day. Sometimes I act on the message despite a lack of understanding of why I must. I choose to trust in these moments each day, to surrender to guidance that's outside my head and ego.

This is my path to spiritual empowerment now. This surrender brings me long-sought-after-peace. This is what I DO, rather than read and think about (although I still read a lot too - am looking forward to receiving Vibrational Medicine by Gerber in my hot little hands soon). And when things become tricky in life - when there's a sudden, unexpected change of direction or a disappointment or challenge - I now more easily surrender. I have faith that this is happening for a massively awesome reason. That this is testing my ability to trust and that I can choose to panic and try to fix things, or choose to face the discomfort head on and enjoy the change as its happening.

This lets those things that I dream about, those changes I want, to proceed more quickly. I can surrender and get our of the way. I can 'resign as general manager of the universe' as the Passion Test says.

So this is what spiritual empowerment looks like for me - I'm still human, still dream of love and a permaculture property and lots of travel....

But I also look to the big picture for daily guidance, I listen to my intuition more and am becoming better at listening to my body. I think about how I can appreciate others more and practice gratitude as often as I get the chance. I pray. I meditate. I love yoga. I ask for grace in my life and the lives of my family and friends.

This, my friends, is my vision of being whole. xx