When Change Is Coming

There are moments in life when change is no longer a possibility. It's on its way. Of course, in many ways, change is always on its way. It's one of the few things we can count on. Knowing that though is very different from experiencing it. Maybe right now you're waiting to hear back about something that matters, packing boxes for a move, starting a new chapter, ending another. When change is on the horizon, the mind often races ahead, trying to rehearse every possible future. It asks, "What if this goes wrong? What if this is a mistake? What if I'm not ready?" The mind believes that if it can predict what's coming, it can protect you from it in some way. But uncertainty isn't something that we can think our way out of. It's something that we can learn to be with. Something we build the capacity to hold. So if it feels comfortable, closing the eyes, taking a slow breath in, and a slow breath out. And just imagining yourself sitting by a window, watching the sky, clouds gathering, the wind blowing, and the light changing. From where you're sitting, it looks as though a storm may be on its way. Maybe it will, and maybe it won't. The sky has a way of reminding us that change is always happening. The weather never stays the same. And yet amidst the change, we can be a steady anchor. We can watch the weather as it changes and not be carried away by it. So feel your feet meeting the ground. Notice the weight of your body pressing into the surface beneath you. And while the sky keeps changing overhead, the Earth continues to hold you. Now, taking another slow breath in and breath out, and beginning to bring to mind another season of your life, a time when everything felt uncertain, when everything was changing. You probably couldn't see how it would unfold then either, yet here you are. Every chapter you have lived has asked something different of you. And with each one, you've discovered parts of yourself you didn't know existed. Perhaps a greater sense of patience, courage, adaptability, the capacity to begin again. These qualities didn't arrive after life settled down, they appeared because things changed. So taking one more final breath here, and as much as the mind may make it seem, you don't need tomorrow's answers while you're here today. For now, feel the ground. Notice the support and steadiness of your body, and remember that change will come when it comes. Until then, keep returning to what is true right now, your breath, your body, the ground beneath you. This is where your life is happening. So when you're ready, gently opening the eyes and just noticing how you feel. See if you can take this sense of groundedness and steadiness with you wherever you're off to next....