It’s astonishingly easy to lose one’s foundation of trust isn’t it?
And to find yourself so much in your mind you lose your body, your sense of reality, your connection to whatever is your bigger-than-you ground…
Infants have no choice but to trust. This is how we all begin our lives and it’s uncomfortable—most of us did not get our needs met perfectly or even close, yet we survived and hopefully thrived—or are on our way to thriving right now. Thriving rarely comes from control or perfection though somehow we collectively believe it does… thriving comes from trusting that under the grit, shit and horror, all is well. This is a grounded, embodied and honest practice and not a bypass.
Like it or not, the have-no-choice-but-to-trust element is rich.
Life is trustworthy.
Things worthy of our trust, say birth, death, all the movements between, are not always comfortable, fun, or easy and this is what gets us out of trust and into struggle every time.
You drank, I drank, we all drank the kool-aid that tells us that if we were good people and doing it right we’d be having more fun or ease. Toxic lie, spit out the kool-aid.
Not trusting simply puts us in the prison of our minds.
Being in the prison of our minds keeps us too anxious, too overwhelmed, too confused to speak, act, be—and here we are.
Complicit.
Confused.
Alienated from our home and each other.
So, the tiny habit?
Practice trust.
This can be a fake-it-till-you-make-it situation.
Just like showing up to sit (a less intimidating word for meditation) does not always, often, or ever bring the bliss you keep reading about, same with trust. We need to dig into what’s deeper than our thoughts and also endeavor to let go of wherever we cling, clutch, or push.
One of my favorite examples of “trust” in nature is how spiders give themselves to the breeze and get carried into the unknown—no wings, just the web thread that eventually will make contact with a surface to attach to or at least pause before the next gust… remembering that we are being carried, by something, a breeze or God, is helpful and it’s still true whether we are surrendered or wrestling around in suffering.
Every day, take a minute to look for how you may be being carried by something unseeable, unproveable. Take some minutes to inquire into what is worthy of your trust; where you can offer your surrender, your consent—even if it is uncomfortable or difficult. This practice will build resiliency, fortitude, yes, and trust where it matters–in your nervous system which includes your thinking.
Do this. It matters.
Let me know how this goes for you and remember, practices are 100% effective—if you do them.
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