I’ve been slipping in the Wonder department lately . . . all in the name of Ease. Do you know what I mean? Let me put it this way.
Would you like your life to be easier?
What if I gave you the choice: Would you rather your life be easier or more wondrous?
What does more wondrous mean to you? I'd love to know.
I have a hunch that the idea of adding wonder to your world upped the ante. After all, “What’s so great about Easy?”, my favorite yoga teacher Charu often asks. Yet often we wait for life to ease up before allowing ourselves to think bigger about a more deliciously fulfilling way of living.
When we are faced with ease versus wonder, ease often wins. A simple example in my own life triggered this topic for me. I faced a ten hour road trip on Labor Day weekend that should have been five. It almost didn’t happen. My reward was a midnight shooting star extravaganza while soaking in a natural hot spring pool. Wouldn’t have missed it for the world, yet I almost did. The battle against traffic almost sent me in a U-turn back to life as usual.
And then there are the more meaty parts of life that you may face. Do you make the investment to get a degree or certification in order to grow in a discipline you love? Do you quit a job to seek a more fulfilling way to earn and contribute? Do you move to a different city towards a dream?
I heard an interesting lecture by psychologist Kelly McGonigal, How to Make Stress Your Friend. She ends by saying, “Chasing meaning is better for your life than avoiding discomfort.”
Somewhere in between weekend plans and life plans there is a space that calls us to move forward. And when we feel we are moving on autopilot, I believe we have an opportunity to grab the steering wheel towards a more meaningful path.
So, let’s go back to the questions of ease and wonder. Let me rephrase them:
What does ease feel like to you?
Could it be sureness, fulfillment, commitment, energy?
What does wonder feel like to you?
Could it be a sense of promise, mystery, stretching, delight, possibility?
Can you invite in more wonder AND ease, at the same time, just by increasing your ability to connect with these feelings? Can you find the calm and sureness within you to handle life’s grind? It will give you more capacity for wonder: to take in the uniqueness of each day; to go after what quietly delights you; to take action in the direction of unknown possibility and reward; to seek your shooting star and feel the awe that awaits you.
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