Most of us would agree there isn’t a more powerful display of humans’ physical abilities than when the athletes convene from around the world for the Olympics. These athletes have dedicated their lives to this moment of time — moving away from home to be nearer to training facilities and coaches, foregoing the frivolities of their youth for the rigors of a conditioning schedule that consumes their lives, and doing this day in and day out, oftentimes for years, to arrive on this international stage.
Even on a less competitive level, the athlete understands there is a direct correlation between conditioning and performance. Discipline to commit to the rigors of preparation for competition will ultimately pay off for those who keep their eye on the finish line.
This brings us to the critical element that will determine an athlete’s success — desire to succeed. Regardless of the state-of-the-art training facilities and top-ranked coaching staff, an athlete can fail if they lack the desire to rise well-beyond the performance of the average human body.
It is here the desire to succeed, desire for change or desire to improve become the beacon that drives us beyond the normal — or mediocre — quality of human condition. And here is where desire meets the human experience that transcends the physical body and finds us in our normal and mediocre daily lives.
Much of the normalcy in our daily lives is unavoidable. The normalcy is what cleans the home, pays the bills and ensures there’s food on the table. Normalcy in routine provides the bookends to a day that begins when we arise, live out our lives, then return home for rest.
Living only for normalcy, however, can lead not only to complacency and comfort but a life void of desire and hope. The routine becomes the desired outcome, resisting anything that threatens the space in time between the bookends of awakening and sleeping.
The chasm between the world-class athlete and the existence of normal is the rest of us, and that is indeed a huge chasm. But what these extremes show is that the desire for change, regardless of the end result, requires a commitment to change that invites us to reexamine our priorities so that something higher than normal has room to arrive.
Regardless of the desired outcome — be it a physical accomplishment, a career goal, a relationship dream or an improvement in our mental health — the preparation, that must include the steps to get there, will determine how quickly we will reach the desired outcome…
and how long we will stay there once we arrive.
This type of preparation for the desired outcome is also relevant in your spiritual life. You may desire to be more mindful, more at peace and more grateful. But desiring these qualities rarely, if ever, manifests into your being if you are not preparing yourself to be more mindful, more at peace and more grateful.
With 2021 on the horizon, and with one month remaining of a chaotic 2020, now may be a good time to determine what didn’t work for you emotionally and spiritually in 2020 so that your desired outcome of an expanded spirituality can take hold within you.
In other words, what do you need to do to prepare for the spiritual reset for the coming year? Waking up in 2021 and grabbing your journal intending to write daily — but doing nothing to prepare for journaling — most likely will result in your staring at a blank page or creating some interesting doodle patterns instead of thoughtful writings.
The desire to change transcends new year’s resolutions made in haste. This desire can truly signal an intuitive knowing that your current existence cannot continue — something has got to change before the system completely fails.
Yes. Planning your path that will ensure your desired outcome will result in a healthier mind, a stimulated mind or a better attitude toward your job.
But also consider what your soul is asking for so that the desired outcomes that improve your human existence are supported by your soul’s expansive role in your life.
Let’s give it a name.
Let’s call it Spiritual Reset 2021.
Let’s do it together.
Join me in stating the desired outcome and laying out the steps to get there.
Then, Beloved, that existence between our bookends of arising and sleeping will be more meaningful, peaceful and perhaps even more joy-filled.
Join me.
Blessed be.
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A gentle warning: In this writing I share a story about a newborn puppy that was actively dying. For anyone who has held the space of a loved one while they were taking their last breaths, you will discover there is nothing out of the ordinary about this story—an animal’s dying process is similar to that of humans. Still, the innocence of a newborn puppy may prove too much for some. If so, this is the writing to pass over. If you are staying, know that I handle this story with the reverence it deserves.
“Chasing the belonging.”
She said those words during our podcast recording. We had just spent the last hour together in a conversation that was so comfortable, as if we’d known each other a lifetime. Perhaps our souls did, because there was an ease in which we navigated heavy topics about the tension that now exists in this country, the challenges of peeling away indoctrinated layers of belief, and the desire to find ‘your people’ when you’ve lost your spiritual community.
