Power of the Precipice

We are often faced with major crossroads in our life – marriage, divorce, having a child, illness in the family, career changes, death in the family, recovery, etc.   At the time of these transitions, we may feel that when we are standing on the edge of the precipice that we are flooded with fear.  We have fear of taking the jump into the unknown and we have fear turning around and walking back.  The power of standing on the precipice is really a story of dying and finding love, worth, courage, acceptance, and surrender.

When we are at the edge of any transition in our life, these are moments where another layer of the part of our ego that disconnects us from our divine nature or our highest Self dies.  It will either die an instant death or a slow, and painful, sometimes agonizing and traumatic death.  Either way, life presents us with many opportunities to choose the spiritual path if we are aware of it enough to see it as an opportunity in disguise.   So, if we choose not to take the jump at some point in our life, know that we will be taking the slow and sometimes agonizing death path, but we will be given more opportunities to take the jump again and again.

When we awaken the love, especially self-love and worth, courage, acceptance, and surrender inside we can take the jump with Grace knowing that upon hitting the ground we may have some pain and sadness to process, but trusting that once those layers are peeled back, we will experience a more authentic life, more joy, more connection, and more happiness.  If we choose to turn back, most certainly life will present another crossroads after we have tacked on more pain, baggage, self-loathing, anger and resentment.  The most important question here is when do I want to start living an authentic and happy life?  You can do it now or you can slow the death down by allowing the anger, self-loathing, fear, and resentment to run your life.

The true story here is that guaranteed when we find love, especially self-love and worth within ourselves, the power of the precipice helps us find the immense courage within us to take the jump because we accept things as they are and surrender to any outcome because the guiding force and motive is from a place of love and when we walk our path in love, we will be given much love in return.  That is a life of authenticity, connection, and joy.

So, how the heck do we find this self-love, worth, and courage?  Brené Brown, Ph.D., L.M.S.W., has done years of research on these big concepts of love, worth, vulnerability, compassion, and courage in her book The Gifts of Imperfection.  Her findings show what she terms as people living “wholehearted” lives have these things in common – courage, compassion and boundaries (holding people accountable), and connection (feeling heard and valued and sustenance and growth form our relationships).

The question isn’t so much how do we find it, but peeling off layers of fear, anger and mind webbing mania that get in the way of us recognizing what is already there.  I will discuss some of these guideposts, per Brené Brown’s research, that help us peel away the layers in next week’s blog piece, The Road to Happy Will Kick Your Ass.  Until then, may you slow down enough this week to start loving yourself and knowing you are worthy of all things in light and love.

Om Shanti Om – Athea

Athea