Day 363/366 days Towards Self-Mastery.
As we near the end of the year it's tradition to consider our New Year's resolutions. Resolutions that often last about as long as our commitment to the discomfort of our willpower when it meets our authentic selves.
Willpower is not the same thing as our will, or at least that's how it seems to me. When I think of willpower I think of effort and striving for something that doesn't come naturally to me. Something that's in opposition to my instincts or my natural or conditioned impulses.
It has since occurred to me that willpower is the vehicle we use when we don't understand our deeper subconscious mind and the memories and conditioned actions and thoughts that reside there.
Will, on the other hand, indicates to me at least, the desire for change. A resolve to keep opening to new knowledge and experiences that will bring me closer to the answers and solutions I am searching for.
What will you be resolving for the coming New Year?
With the corona virus still prevalent throughout the world, and the mayhem still in full swing, how will you navigate your life in 2021?
For me it will be the continued leaning into what is authentic and real for me. I have a feeling that all this leaning and practicing and noticing what is true and feels right for me will one day become bigger than me. Effortless and simply my way. No more striving.
Well that's Sarah's promise anyway. Maybe she knows more than we do right now. Let's see.
Progress is made in incremental steps. That is of course, until we feel, or is it notice, a quantum leap.
In the meantime, it's the next step. The next authentic and courageous step that says, this is me.
My will to understand my life and the human condition continues. See you in 2021!
366 days Towards Self-Mastery
When I considered my New Year's intentions for 2020 I had just one: To allow my heart to love what it loved...and let it lead me. (If not now, then when?)
I've spent months working on integrating my life. To live life more fully with my home life, my interests, my work, my responsibilities, all coming together, all connected. I want to give each the attention that they desire and need, and still have time and energy for the others. That means living and working from the heart.
As I was clearing out my bookshelf over the Christmas break I discovered Simple Abundance. I set it aside to explore it on New Year's Day as I lazed through another delicious day of nothingness. Sarah, the author, says this book is about living in grace. Living in grace I realised, is about Self-Mastery.
My thirst for understanding the human condition has driven me all my life, and hand-in-hand with self-mastery it has been a life-long goal. And seeing as I love to write, that living in grace is about self-mastery, and I love a bit of a challenge, then if I am truly going to let my heart lead, I really don't have any other choice. So scary as it feels, I'm starting out on a daily mission of leaning into the suggestions of this daybook and making a daily post to keep me accountable. If not now, then when?
I'm Josie. You can find out a little more about me here.
Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy: by Sarah Ban Breathnach.
This book is written for the Australian and NZ market because it refers to seasonal changes. It's available on Amazon here if you'd like to follow along.
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