Everything you'll ever need is already right here. Are you prepared to receive it?
This comes to mind regularly, but I really first begun to test it out when I decided I wanted to go through with a dream of going on a bicycle journey by my self. I was working in a place and position I loved; a head chef in a vegan, raw-food cafe, I had an amazing group of friends and a thriving yoga practice. Feeling fantastic, and still dissatisfied. I knew I could find community everywhere, and so that was not enough of a reason to stay in a concrete-world that I knew was not My Way. Even the most comfortable and fulfilling lives have some element of dis-ease. What part of my life is so inauthentic that I can't bear it any longer?
I didn't uproot and leave home because I was on this epic search for my self, and this wasn't me trying to run away from my life, as some had questioned me. This was me running towards something far greater, a seeking of a truth that I believe has inspired many people to take a leap. The truth that the universe is forever aspiring for us to propel forward in the becoming, or the revealing, of our authentic self.
I had to trust that. I had to trust that my agitation was not just something I had to heal by accepting it, but that it was actually my soul spurring me to take action.
Bicycling away from home with a tent, a change of clothes, and a bit of money is an exhilarating feeling. I was also terrified. What was I getting myself into, and why? How could I do this alone?
I started out on a ferry from Vancouver Island to Port Angeles, WA, and from there I just started pedaling. As you might imagine, all you have is time when you're on a bicycle. To think, to generate ideas, to get so, so quiet to the world around you, to really see and feel the changing ecosystems and weather patterns. Every hill and mountain, a symbolic message that there truly is a peak, that no feeling lasts forever. The mental, emotional, and physical challenge of pushing through the discomfort of the uphill, not without the strength, relief, and rewards of the downhill. The joys of a bicycle ride is for another post though :)
I was traveling alone, but by no means did I do it alone. No one has to do it alone, because the number of human beings that want to be a part of your journey, your life, who want to see you succeed, is incredible. Heartbreaking-wide-open incredible. In my case, they were offering food, lodging, money, conversation, hugs, and all kinds of opportunities to someone they'd just met, and who they may never meet again. For someone who is rather introverted, and had a history of social anxiety and fear of rejection, it took every ounce of courage for me to say Yes to people.
There are countless stories of people walking out there front door with nill and who have been totally provided for. Some see this as an epic test of faith, and others a way to 'mooch' off other people. Understandably, as we have been programmed to believe that needing and asking for help as an utterly undesirable behaviour. This programming has been so strong in many of us, that we refuse others when someone has offered to provide something for us through no asking of our own. I'm talking some of our basic needs. Companionship, nourishment, connection, hospitality. Even avoiding someone's eyes that we pass on the street is a form of denial.
Giving is one of the greatest symbols of love, I don't know of anyone who doesn't feel amazing when they've been given the opportunity to give, to be generous to another.
Receiving the blessings from another is YOU giving the gift of giving! It's not mooching, it's not because you're a failure, or you're lesser-than. It's because you're a human being that deserves all of the love and recognition for just being here.
Stop denying yourself and others the bounty of love, for it absolutely does increase tenfold when you just say yes.
So on this gorgeous solstice day, I ask you;
Just say yes to life. Just say yes!!