I have been living in slow motion for the past week, deliberately, and it feels wonderful.  Life continues to whizz by nevertheless - yes, time waits for no man - but I felt I had to pause for a moment and ask myself, “what’s with all that huffing and puffing … just what or for whom exactly am I rushing for?”, and blank was my immediate answer.  So I lifted my foot off the accelerator of my life and just let it glide for a while without stepping on the brakes.  I am seeing details of the beautiful sceneries on my path again, and it feels great!

There’s an excellent article posted just a couple of days back by Andrea Hess on Setting Short-Term Intentions.  This came in very timely for me and it’s a great reminder that small steps are important contributors to our journey.  In our quest for awareness and growth, we make grand plans and set big milestones to measure our achievements.  Everyone tells you to “think big” and “stay positive”, and so we embrace these mantras and stare at the big picture, willing our dreams to come true.  We take actions - lots of them - but sometimes end up feeling tired, discouraged and frustrated.  We wonder why the big picture remains elusive.  Perhaps we’ve been trying too hard, moving too fast and missed out important details?

My Guides have been working very hard to show me the way that leads to my highest path and purpose, but while my body was moving along with them, my eyes were still looking elsewhere.  They are now telling me “look HERE Irene, not beyond the clouds”.  It’s like working on a big puzzle … we usually start looking for pieces that fit the corners and sides, then work on clusters based on colors and patterns before we are finally able to complete the big picture.  Every little piece of the puzzle is important.

Slowing down my pace and shifting my awareness to the present has been eye-opening for me.  For the past week, I noticed so many interesting things that I’d never really paid attention to before.  I observed objects, people, situations, emotions … all the good and bad sides of things, and tried to find my equilibrium in almost every instance.  I realized I can’t just pretend that the bad sides don’t exist, and that the more I tried to ignore them or push them away, the fiercer they came back to me, in another form.  Just like the saying “courage is not the absence of fear”, there’s no denying that negativity exists no matter how hard we try to stay positive.  Eventually, I had to face them all - good and bad - and allow myself to let go of the past, stop worrying about the future, and just be present in the now without judgment.  All of a sudden, there’s meaning to things that seemed insignificant before, and daunting situations took on new friendlier faces.  Finding my equilibrium has allowed me to look at things at a brand new perspective, and be more appreciative of what I already have.

Sometimes, all we really need to do is just slow down, take a deep breath, and be thankful that Divine guidance is already there in our lives … whether we are aware of it or not.

Blessings,
Irene