Today marks the beginning of a 40 day stretch of opportunity to get our lives in order. Ash Wednesday marks the time in late winter/early spring when we commit to practices that help rid ourselves of habits and ways of being in the world that keep us from experiencing true joy.
Three commitments during this time support us in gifting ourselves with new perspectives. They are: setting a time to spend in stillness/prayer, fasting in ways that make sense to our specific circumstance, and ‘indulging’ in charitable works.
This will look different for everyone and is much easier to talk about than do, hence, we call it spending time “in the desert”.
This fasting, stillness, and charity helps us to stop using incredible amounts of energy to swim against the deceptively strong current of our egos and surrender to something much greater than ourselves. In Chinese Medicine we call this higher power “a wise and veteran doctor that knows what we need even when we don’t”. Some call it the universe, or the Tao. I call it God.
What attachments do we need to let go of that no longer serve our greater good: relationships, jobs, perhaps lifestyle habits. Think of it as pruning dead branches off of a vine so it can bear some really good fruit.
For the next 40 days my goals are to fast from my afternoon coffee that seems to give me false energy, to give in ways I don’t normally do, and spend time in stillness each day. Wiser folk have suggested that if we do not have time for half an hour of stillness, than we need a full hour!
Feel free to let me know your challenges and to schedule a spring tune up to help you along.
