Things don’t always unfold as I think they should.  Does that ever happen to you?  Come on, you can tell me.

Long ago, for Lent, I gave up having expectations, not that I’m Catholic or Episcopalian.  I just like the idea of Lent.  (Note to Self, write about Lent, during Lent!)  I found that I was not so successful at completely letting go of expectations, but it sure did make me more aware of the role expectations play in Life.

What brings this to mind is my recent trip to the mountains of North Carolina.  Let’s give a shout out to 75 degree weather!  Anyway, we were staying on the border of the Pisgah National Forest, where I fell in love, again, with trees.

What do trees have to do with expectations?

Expectations, if we hold them too tightly rob us of delight and peace in the unfolding moment.  Whereas, trees, ahhhhh, trees ~ their very existence demands that they be flexible.  The wind blows, they bend,  The snow falls, they bend.  They don’t seem to mind the wind and the snow.

In fact, the wind seems to empty them of their dead branches, revealing even more beauty.  So, they flow with the wind and let go of what is no longer alive.

I think we can learn from trees.

Where might you need to bend a little?

Where might flexibility open the door to delight or peace in the unfolding moment?

What expectation might you be holding on a little too tightly?

How might being a bit more flexible enrich the forest of your life?

Finally, what ideas or beliefs might you release like so many dead branches if you bent with what is, rather than with what you think should be?

I’m a big fan of NPR.  I especially love their segment, “This I Believe.”  There are lots of things that I believe.  I think perhaps the dominant belief is that there is a current of Consciousness that makes up the very essence of our being flowing through each of us.  I believe this current of Consciousnes both informs our lives and is available to us as a resource.

I’ve been thinking about how leaning into the awareness of that Consciousness with an attitude of “enough” feels like a deeper opening of faith.  Within the experience of LIFE, there is enough.  I am enough as I am.  That “enough” is beginning to feel like a seed . . . enough to grow an entire tree.  I’m not even sure what kind of tree is within the “enough” seed, but it’s somehow comforting and peace-filled to know that the tree is already fully grown within.

These days I’m exploring leaning so totally into “enough” that there is no striving….no striving for liberation, no striving for self-realization, no striving for peace, no striving for success…just leaning into knowing that “enough.”   Perhaps “enough” is the essence of true faith.

This contemplation inspired to create a recording.  Last week, I recorded a hypnosis file to help folks who struggle with pain and illness learn to manage pain.  Thematically, I aimed to use hypnosis to access that space where the current of LIFE flows and there’s enough.  From there, I included suggestions to release pain and reclaim health.  You can find it here if you are interested.  The name of it is Release Pain Reclaim Health.

What does it mean to you that you are enough, that LIFE is enough?  I’m curious, does contemplating “enough” nourish your soul too?