Aloha Friday: to live completely awake…

"The essence of life is that it's challenging. Sometimes it is sweet, and sometimes it is bitter.  Sometimes your body tenses and sometimes it relaxes or opens.  Sometimes you have a headache, and sometimes you feel 100% healthy.  From an awakened perspective, trying to tie up all the loose ends and finally get it together is death, because it involves rejecting a lot of your basic experience.  There is something aggresive about that approach to life, trying to flatten out all the rough spots and imperfections into a nice smooth ride.

To be alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of the nest.  To live fully is to be always in no-man's-land, to experience each moment as completely new and fresh.  To live is to be willing to die over and over again. From the awakened point of view, that's life. Death is wanting to hold on to what you have and to have every experience confirm you and congratulate you and make you feel completely together...." - Pema Chodron

Commit to staying where you are [especially when it's uncomfortable].

Don't be tempted by escape and habitual patterns [bailing out cannot be an option.]

Develop intimacy with your fears [they will be your biggest teachers].

Allow courage to take the spotlight [and keep you moving closer towards truth]

I write this as much for others as I do for myself, as a gentle reminder, in the spirit of compassion and true awakening.

another day - another chance

mahalo nui xo

happy aloha friday!

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