It’s the beginning of a new year.
What if, instead of making resolutions to improve/fix ourselves, we resolve to wake up and accept our awesomeness as the beginning point. What if we start from awesome – what will we do next?
I want to start with my feet on the high ground and ready to go… and so I’m curious about how to dispel this tendency to think of ourselves as faulty or incomplete. How do we frame our potential and our options?
I admit I can feel cranky when someone asks me if I have fear that holds me back from accepting my awesomeness…Yes, I do. Many of us feel fear when facing big theoretical ideals or tender spots. Just as we can feel fear at the onset of a new year, particularly one that already includes so many daunting issues.
Courage doesn’t just arise easily when we demand it of yourselves. When I try to talk myself into courage or self-confidence, I inevitably feel disappointment in the face of the ideal I’m reaching for. It’s as though my starting point is a “0” or worse, not awesomeness, at all.
More than ever, the world needs us to be awake, to come to terms with our resiliency, our power of choice and our innate ability for love.
I’m paraphrasing Howard Thurman.
His words are:
“Don't ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”
My favorite part of this quote is “and go do that”. When we are deeply involved in something we care about, problem solving is not about us - we are not a problem. Excitement, creativity and courage rise out of meeting limitations or challenges, especially when we care about something or someone. We find this in art making and Alexander Technique – the power of attending to process reveals our humanity and stimulates us towards more growth and discoveries. (Starting from awesome!)
I am so fortunate to spend many hours a day practicing expanded awareness and resiliency with truly beautiful, amazing human beings. If you’re reading this, you’re probably one of them. When you become more aligned with an embodied understanding of what you are capable of, you are exactly what the world wants. I have witnessed this. And when you’re feeling lousy and awkward, but you come to class or a session anyway, you are exactly what the world needs you to be, too: sensitive, curious, inventive, growing and changing.
I look forward to what you will do this year with your awesomeness.
Note: The AT Motion January 2024 Intensive is about Expanding Presence not fixing or bettering yourself. It’s a 3 week reset for being present and growing further, preparing to use your whole amazing, breathing, moving, awesome self!