STOPPING THE WHEEL

Today has been the first day in a very long time that I have stopped.

Become still and silent.

I must be honest, it’s a bit unnerving!

 

It would seem that the end of December is one of the only times in the wheel of the year when I allow myself to become truly quiet.

The period of time when I let go of my incessant need to be accomplishing things and allow an inner peace to descend that is both healing and deeply uncomfortable.

 

Uncomfortable because my brain has become addicted to the speed of achieving that I have cultivated throughout the previous 11-month cycle.

 

Healing because when I set aside our need to be productive, I start to experience a vast inner landscape of thoughts, feelings, and insights that I have avoided through distraction and busyness.

 

If you are anything like me, then you will set intentions at the start of every year to create a better balance in your life.

 

Balance between working and playing.

Travelling and remaining.

Eating and fasting.

Speaking and listening.

 

But the real balance I am craving this year is more fundamental.

Deeper than the outer activity of my life.

 

This year as I start to calm the outer world for a period of days between Christmas and New Year, the balance I am seeking is between doing and being.

 

My friend Giles Hutchins speaks of this nexus often and indeed has written about it in his books on regenerative leadership. Whilst a degree of ‘doing’ is essential if we are to function and indeed thrive in our world, the real growth and learning happens underneath this outward action.

 

And yet slowing down the spin of the wheel of our lives is one of the most challenging things we can attempt to do. It requires, discipline and a true commitment to our healing and growth. It also needs us to risk being perceived as selfish by those that would claim our precious energy and time be they work colleagues, friends, family, or lovers.

 

Taking time to ‘be’ every day to reflect, recover and integrate our experiences and learning is essential if we are to grow and become truly healthy physically, mentally, and emotionally. Our soul and spirit need time to make meaning of the wide range of our life experiences and rare is it that we give ourselves this gift.

 

So, I invite you as I am inviting myself to give yourself the gift this year of stopping the wheel.

 

Of creating space and time each day for reflection, learning and integration.

To listen to what is really important amongst the noise of the outer world, so your inner landscape can become rich and vibrant, feeding your journey.

 

This is the balance that I am craving.

And is the first thing, I create a container for when I work with others.

 

What if all the change we desire in our lives comes from the inside out?

 

Let’s start here and then see what happens when we allow ourselves to experience our unique ‘human being’.

 

Let’s learn to stop the wheel of our lives and create sacred spaces to heal and grow.