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Oh my goodness, I haven’t written in soooooo long. If I’m honest, I have been in a pretty low place for the past, well years. And, if you have ever struggled with consistent low mood, then you know how hard it can be to stay motivated, inspired, and productive. As such, I made the choice to put a pin in a few of my projects in an effort toward self-preservation and healing.
The good news is that, with some help from an amazing integrative, functional medicine doctor, I have some vibrancy back in my being and feel ready to begin content-production again.
The power of anticipation
I recently travelled home to South Africa. We go back each year for a few weeks; time spent connecting with some of the most precious people in my life. If you are familiar at all with Cape Town, then you also know that it is surrounded by ocean and has a big ol’ mountain (Table Mountain) slap, bang in the middle of it. As such, the call to nature is strong. We spend hours on the trails, breathing in ocean air, and being surrounded by nature. Oh my hat, it is good for the soul.
But let’s taker a step back, to the time before we arrived…the countdown. You know that feeling where you are anticipating an exciting trip. That feeling is hard to describe – like little, glittery fairies flying about in your stomach. I absolutely LOVE that feeling. It is so energizing, inspiring, motivating, and joy-full. And in this magical time, there is also an undercurrent of disbelief – is this trip ever going to happen?
As always, time passes, the day arrives, and you’re on the plane. Yay. This is the upside of impermanence, where the time you want to end, does, and the good stuff arrives.
I thought about this somewhere over the Atlantic ocean. How, despite the feeling that something you’re looking forward to is never going to come, it does. Thank goodness for impermanence.
I also thought about how, in a few weeks, the power of impermanence will show itself in an entirely different way, as the thing I was excitedly anticipating comes to the end and I will be back on this plane heading home.
The ending
Sure enough, I contemplated the same thought as I flew westward, back to Atlanta. Here I am, at the end of the thing I thought was never going to get there. This is the downside of impermanence, when good things end.
The bottom line
The point is that everything ends. Everything. The good stuff you’ve been counting sleeps to and the bad stuff you’re desperate to see the back of..
Impermanence comes as a much needed relief and it also causes us much sadness.
So how do we reconcile this contradiction?
It’s quite simple.
In those moments where you don’t want something to end, immerse your entire being into it. Feel everything. Adopt a mindfulness practice that brings you so in touch with what you’re experiencing that you could recall it years later.
And, in those moments where you just want something to end, breathe into the relief that is impermanence. Let the fact that everything passes give you comfort, so that as you mindfully experience the discomfort, you are incorporating an element of surrender; a deep knowing that this is not your forever, but an opportunity to be a part of the other side of life’s coin.
That’s it from me.
Love Tara
Wholistic Joy Wellness
Wellness practices for the whole family.
