The World that Awaits You

“We are never as alone in our beginnings as it might seem at the time. A beginning is ultimately an invitation to open toward the gifts and growth that are stored up for us. To refuse to begin can be an act of great self-neglect.” – John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings

“Perhaps the art of harvesting the secret riches of our lives is best achieved when we place profound trust in the act of beginning. Risk might be our greatest ally. To live a truly creative life, we always need to cast a critical look at where we presently are, attempting always to discern where we have become stagnant and where new beginning might be ripening. There can be no growth if we do not remain open and vulnerable to what is new and different.” – John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings

We naturally have an aversion to change.
Getting comfortable with the familiar and certain, we settle in, settle for, settle.
Yet, the yearning, the whisper, the call invites us deeper into possibilities, expanse, richness.
One step, then the next, then the next.
The first one always the hardest, making the next ones easier.
Momentum overcomes the friction, the resistance.
Begin this day with new thoughts, exploring fresh ideas, going within and moving ahead.
Breaking from stasis, stagnation.
The ice softens to water then breaks free.
Wander, wonder, wade into new beginnings.

FOR A NEW BEGINNING

“In out-of-the-way places of the heart,
Where your thoughts never think to wander,
This beginning has been quietly forming,
Waiting until you were ready to emerge.
For a long time it has watched your desire,
Feeling the emptiness growing inside you,
Noticing how you willed yourself on,
Still unable to leave what you had outgrown.
It watched you play with the seduction of safety
And the gray promises that sameness whispered,
Heard the waves of turmoil rise and relent,
Wondered would you always live like this.
Then the delight, when your courage kindled,
And out you stepped onto new ground,
Your eyes young again with energy and dream,
A path of plenitude opening before you.
Though your destination is not yet clear
You can trust the promise of this opening;
Unfurl yourself into the grace of beginning
That is at one with your life’s desire.
Awaken your spirit to adventure;
Hold nothing back, learn to find ease in risk;
Soon you will be home in a new rhythm,
For your soul senses the world that awaits you.”

– John O’Donohue, To Bless the Space Between Us: A Book of Blessings