Life dances and you have to dance with it, whether it is taking you on a wonderful ride or is stepping on your toes. This is the necessary price and transcendent gift of being incarnate; alive in a body. But it is just life dancing. Life will move you in the rhythm and direction of its own nature. Each moment is a fresh moment in the dance, and if you are lost in clinging to the past or clinging to your fears of the future, you are not present for the dance.Philip Moffitt
Within each one of us lies great potential. However, not every potential is fulfilled. Sometimes, it is a fear of change or a fear to take a risk which blocks the development. Fear can create a narrowness of attention and a loss of confidence in ourselves. We can doubt whether we have the strength to do what is before us, either big or small. Sometimes, therefore, courage is needed to reach our full potential or allow situations emerge. Developing our future happiness can demand that we take the risk to engage with our lives.
Every day we implicitly or unconsciously take refuge in something that we think will offer us security and protection. Sometimes we can unconsciously take refuge in fear, as it seems better not to reach out or not to try new things, It is easier to remain in our comfort zone. If we look we can notice that we do not set approach goals, but rather avoidance goals, where we are more focused on avoiding some things rather than moving towards things. Primarily making positive, approach goals or making mainly negative, avoidance goals can lead to the difference between a life that is thriving and a life that is focused on surviving. Often when a future outcome is not clear, the first instinct is to react in fear and move away. We can see ourselves starting to label the world - black and white, good or bad, doomed to fail or destined to succeed. This can lead to us becoming fixed. We can be dominated by experiences in the past, conscious or unconscious , or the fear of the future. We can get stuck, unable to see the rich, fluid potential of now.
How can we create a space where we’re not trapped by negativity and respond more fully to the richness offered in this moment? We begin by settling the mind, settling the body, and getting in touch with the breath. When we stay in the here-and-now, we can see things much more clearly. Now is now. There is not another now. If we realize that, we stop putting things off and engage in our life in a more wholehearted way.
Meditation helps our mind to not dwell on what might happen or on what we have lost. If we allow our minds to rest on those things all the time, we just worry more. Sometimes it looks as if worrying may be useful, but it tends only to give rise to more worrying. Rather we need to practice generosity and courage in our mind, which is limitless. Working with these positive emotions strengthens our self-confidence and reduces the fear of the future. They allow us step out and take the chance. Often the biggest risk is not the possibility of failing, it is not trying.
