Contraction Won't Quench Your Thirst

Can you feel it? There are so many people contracting out of fear and worry. Tightening their wallets, and their muscles. Closing their minds so that only what's already in there can inform. As if we've taken one massive, collective inhale. Then stopped right there in the middle of living.

Now, not everyone who is contracted in the whirl of worry, doubt, fear and shame. No, some who think they are more enlightened, want to be "positive," are contracted in a different way. It can be tricky to even notice it, the contraction that happens for the mind-set, law-of-attraction, live-the-good-life seekers.

For us -- and I say "us" because I falter to this side as well as the former version of contraction -- for the proactive believers, the way we contract is we stubbornly refuse to admit our fear, or we reject hearing what's going on with others if it's not uplifting news. Sounds like that's a good idea, right.

Well, it's not.

However you contract, it's still contraction. It still prevents energy from flowing and creates stagnation.

I see it like this:
Imagine that all of the joy that exists in this moment (could be love, prosperity, laughter, growth, learning, pleasure, generosity, gratitude, health, cashflow, beauty, however joy might be for you right now)... Imagine that all this joy flows in a great body of water, a river, ever flowing, moving, swirling.

You stand on the river bank, in fear (doubt, worry, shame, guilt, you pick the word that describes what you do when you contract.) You are thirsty. You really want to drink some of this water so you edge yourself closer to the flow. It's within reach now, but your contracted. Your fists are clinched and your body is stiff.

Still, you're thirst draws you closer. You bend down to put your hand in the water, wanting to scoop some up so that you can drink. Are you with me? Your hand is clinched into a fist, fingers tightly curled, and your hand is in this flow of water/energy, but you can't partake of it. Your fist cannot gather water and bring it to your mouth.

That's how it is when we contract in fear. Whether it's fear of not having enough money, or making a decision, or telling someone you love them, it's still the experience of clinching around the fear that prevents you from accessing whatever flows in the joy-river for you right now. Fear only begets more fear - even for the self-reflective, insightful, soul-searcher. If you look to your fear to find a new way, all you'll find is more fear.

So I mentioned that the positive-thinker-type is just as contracted... and stuck on the river bank, unable to quench her thirst. It's true. Only she/he doesn't usually think so. This is the person who thinks, "I won't let any of that negativity in. I won't let it touch me." Standing there, fists clinched, deflecting and rejecting anything that might not feel good, she's not able to bend to the water's edge and drink any more than the one who is caught in fear.
Now, I hope you can see, as I can, that all you need to do to drink the water-joy is to relax and open your hand to form a cup. Bending to the water, you can scoop as much as you need or want. Open handed and flexible, you can even use a pail to gather an abundance of water-joy!

If you're restricted in fear, your ability to relax and open may come from remembering that there is something greater to life than this moment. You can breathe and let your exhale remind your body that you know how to relax. Receive your breath, noticing that your body knows naturally how to receive.

Even as you consciously follow your breath, your body can remember it's natural state which holds structure, and is also able to flow, bend and embrace. Everything is energy, and energy moves freely except as we contract in thought, behavior or belief. The feeling of fear is just that: a feeling. It's only by grabbing a hold of it and giving it power that the fear actually has any power over you.

Release your hold on it, remove your power from it, the fear will fall away.

If you want to learn how you can release what keeps you from stepping into your own river of water-joy, I invite you to contact me. I have been guiding women and men - couples and families - to live authentic, soulful, successful lives for many, many years.