Santa Barbara, CA
“Optimist: Someone who figures that taking a step backwards after taking a step forwards is not a disaster. It’s a cha-cha.” – Robert Breault
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Contraction.
Expansion.
Forward.
Backward.
Have you ever thought about how we come into this world?
We arrive through a process of contraction and expansion.
This got me thinking – thinking about life – the game of life. About what it means to live our best life. About what it means to master the game of life – to Master Modern Midlife.
I’ve been spending more time lately on the mat. Yoga has a lot to teach us about ourselves and this crazy game called life. It isn’t about time spent on the mat. It’s about taking what we learn on the mat, off the mat, and out into the world.
Yoga means union – the ultimate union with Self. Yoga consists of a series of sequences. Every single movement follows the breath. Breathe in. Breathe out.
Breathe in – expansion.
Breathe out – contraction.
Every contraction and expansion are designed to create space – space inside of ourselves.
Space to be filled, ideally, consciously and intentionally.
Stress is the result of contraction – an unnatural, protracted state of contraction. One in which, we aren’t meant to live.
Breath is the antidote – breath paves the way for expansion.
Life is a state of continuous contraction and expansion. It zigs and it zags. It goes up and it goes down.
Sometimes, life feels as if it’s one step forward and two steps backwards. At times, it is. Perhaps, that’s the idea. Perhaps, it’s meant to.
To expand fully requires contraction. To move our lives forward sometimes requires going backwards – sometimes a little – sometimes a lot.
We’re in the midst of Mercury Retrograde at the moment – a time when the planet Mercury’s orbit appears to go backwards. It’s a time of “Re-versal.” It’s also a natural part of evolution – a part of the grand plan.
Mastering Modern Midlife requires us to go backwards at times. To “Re-define”and “Re-discover” ourselves, we must “Re-visit” our life to “Re-evaluate” what we want to take with us and what we choose to leave behind.
To “Re-wire,” we must change the old wiring to lay new, healthy neural pathways.
Life can feel frustrating at times. It can feel as though we aren’t moving forward quickly enough. It can feel as though we are going backwards – not progressing but “re-gressing.”
Perhaps we are. Perhaps, it isn’t a bad thing to go backwards for a time.
A significant contraction can lead to an ever greater expansion.
Think of it like a slingshot. The more we pull the sling backwards, the more we can accelerate the shot forwards. The stronger the backward force, the greater the forward trajectory.
The key is knowing what we’re aiming for – the bulls eye – our highest potential – our best life. It’s going backward with intention, while keeping our eyes forward – on the prize – our future self, our best version of ourselves.
When we are lost in the forest, we must backtrack in order to find the right way forward. We must discover how we lost our way to find our way.
The same is true of life.
Midlife is a choice point.
Forward or Back.
Contract or Expand.
It’s the point between who we were and who we are becoming.
It’s a process of “un-becoming” who we were told to be and a process of becoming who we choose to be.
Perhaps, when we feel frustrated that life is going backwards, we can shift our perspective. We can view it through a new lens – the expansive lens of a Modern Midlife – understanding it’s a natural part of the process – it’s part of “Re-wiring,” “Re-discovering” and “Re-defining.”
To live our best life, the life of our highest potential, requires some up and down, some back and forth, some contraction and expansion.
The answer lies in embracing the periods of contraction, understanding they’re temporary and serving a much greater purpose – making way for expansion – A Modern Midlife – an expansive Midlife.
Cheers Beauties … onward and upward – but perhaps it’s Back and Forth to the Future first!
Need More Moxie?! See all my Moxie On Monday’s!
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