Each morning I spend time in meditation and reading wisdom. For over ten years one of the teachers whose books have inspired me has been Rolf Gates. I have a sense of reverence, resonance, and gratitude each time I pick up my dog-eared copy of meditations from the mat, and his words often inspire my own writing.
This morning the lesson was from his second book of reflections, Meditations on intention and being – finding your mountain; your sense of calm, steadiness and purpose.
For me, I also relate this to establishing a firm foundation; something many of us have felt lacking this last year. I certainly have.
This morning in meditation I was relating this idea to the volcanic activity that happens to create mountains. The earth shakes violently, magma erupts from the ground and from this violence mountains begin to grow.
This past year has felt like that, hasn’t it? Many of us have had our lives completely shaken, altered from what it had been for years or even decades before.
But what better time than the beginning of a new year to start rebuilding – or perhaps just repairing those parts of our foundations that have been crumbling?
In yoga , we begin with our feet to establish strength and ease in an asana – yoga pose.
Feeling energy beneath every part of our foundation, often the foot or the palms, we root ourselves into the mat to allow the asana to grow from that place.
Life is just like this. If we establish a firm foundation before we begin a new journey, venture, practice, or year, feeling into each aspect of where we would like to go, we will establish a firm foundation that will allow us to grow towards the heavens in strength and beauty .
Establishing healthy habits is essential in beginning to build a strong foundation. How do you begin and end each day? Do you take time for self-care? Learning? Meditation? Healthy eating?
Keeping those healthy habits that help you function better is a fabulous goal in itself, but If you have a specific goal or goals, it is so important to write them down. A goal that stays in our head is simply a daydream. For most of us, we need to have something that feels tangible to keep us on task or we tend to slide back into our old patterns.
If you want to achieve something specific, try breaking your goals down into steps. For example, maybe your dream has been to be a surgeon but life got in the way before you could achieve those dreams. You met someone, fell in love and had children. But that dream has become a cry from your soul to be fulfilled. So you decide it’s time to move forward with your dream.
If you wanted to get into med school next fall, that goal might seem unattainable. But writing down the specific steps you need to get there can make the process feel much easier. It’s like the old adage – “How do you eat an elephant? One bite at at time.”
Creating a bubble graph is a great way to break things down into bite-sized pieces. You might begin with deciding which school is both desirable and accessible to you. Online schooling is becoming more and more easy to find. Is there a school where you can take the majority of your classes online and do the practicals on-campus intermittently?
Let’s say you find the school, study for and pass the MCAT. You apply for admission and are accepted. Next would be finding grants and scholarships to cover the cost of tuition and possibly some of your day-to-day expenses such as childcare when your partner is not available.
After that, entering school is your biggest step! You can break down each semester’s classes in much the same way that you created your bubble graph to keep you on-task.
Keeping things structured on a calendar that you can reference each day is a great way to keep you focused on whatever your goals might be.
Today, I am creating my own bubble graph and making the commitment to keep to those healthy habits that keep me on-track and moving in the right direction. I recognize that achieving the reality that I wish to see may be a slow process, like the forming of mountain peaks, but staying connected to my foundation will help me to see my dreams realized infinitely faster than having no foundation at all. Whatever your dreams, aspirations or goals for 2021, I hope you achieve them all, and more. You deserve it!✨ 💖✨
This Blessed Sacred Life 