Seeing Stars — Without Getting Hit in the Head

Several years ago I read a great quote by Rumi — personally I found it so great that it made it into our Control Freak’s Guide to Living Lightly as the Chapter 6 lead-in:  “Let the waters settle; you will see stars and moon mirrored in your being.”  Everytime I read these words, or recall them as the case might be, I’m instantly transported to a place of stillness within me.  Which is a great thing.

The world in which we live is so fast-paced.  However focused and determined you might be, I can guarantee you that there are a million and one things (more or less) that are calling for your attention, working to distract you from your goal, at any given moment.  It’s for this reason that I find Rumi’s directive so meaningful.

Taking the time to “let the waters settle” is a good thing.  No matter what you’re working on or toward, allowing yourself to step back and breathe ensures that you don’t get so bogged down that you lose sight of what you’re intentions are.  One of my mentors, Karen Kimsey-House gave me a fabulous analogy one day as I was running around trying to get myself grounded; she said essentially said that, whenever you learn something new, engage in a new activity, or start to implement change, it’s like taking your hand, putting it in the  fishbowl of your life and stirring the water around.  It makes a mess and things get murky.  So you have to wait for the water and waves to get still, allowing everything to settle into whatever new formation it takes, so that you can see clearly and THEN take action.

So take a moment — and the weekend is as good a time as any — to sit down, breathe and let everything in your life slowly settle.  It’ll all still be there — an hour from now, tomorrow morning, or even after the weekend — and you’ll be able to see it all clearly and take clear action from there.  Seeing stars and moon — especially mirrored in your being — what a gift.