I recently came across this quote by Mardy Murie, an early environmental activist: “Don’t worry about what you do next if you take one step with all the knowledge you have. If you take one step with all the knowledge you have, there is just enough light shining to show you the next step.” This fits my experience exactly; from conscious compassionate awareness, Life is continually telling me how to move along with it one step at a time.
The voices say taking these incremental steps as they are illuminated by awareness will never get “me” anywhere. My experience says these often small steps are, in fact, life unfolding.
The voices demand all the steps to be logical and go in a straight line toward “my” intended destination. And when in the middle of it, Life does seem to be more in the nonsensical, zig-zag club—yet when I look in hindsight, it’s clear that intelligence was at work all along: “Yes, I had to go there to receive that particular piece of information,” and “yes, having that experience was essential to bring in this awareness.”
When Life says the next step is “wait...” the voices often try to label me as a procrastinator. It appears they don’t consider waiting for clarity as a legitimate next step. Perhaps what they are objecting to so strenuously is what Life is really saying when it says wait: Relax! Hang out a bit! Enjoy the ease and bliss of this moment while something magical makes itself known.
So my options are clear: I’m either waiting for clarity in the joy and ease of this moment or I’m taking the next step in the joy and ease of this moment. Either one seems about right to me.
Gasshō,
Chris