For me, this summer has been incredible in that the humidity has largely been at bay – a blessing to me and our animal companions! It’s also been a summer for contemplating and interacting in ways that connect me more intimately with Nature.
What has struck me as I’ve been attuning myself to Nature is the Natural Order of things that seems to go in cycles. Well, of course it does, you might think. And yet, that our Earth is so out of balance highlights just how out of order we are and how un-creating with peace we have been in our relationship with Nature.
This thought has been roaming around in my mind: an order that is being imposed from the outside will remain superficial; an order that comes from the inside, however, will have a deep impact.
Seeds come before the plants. Plants come before the fruit. Spring precedes summer which precedes fall. Moisture must ascend before rain descends. Grandparents come before parents who come before children. It cannot be otherwise. It just is. This natural order which unfolds in cycles is the blueprint of Nature. It keeps things healthy and alive and indeed, even evolutionary.
Our souls follow this blueprint too and when we are connected and attuned to our souls, we return to this internal order of recognizing what and who comes before us and what and who comes after us. For example, when parents forget they come before the child with all the responsibility of coming first, the child will often compensate, leaving their place of the child to take over the parent role. We all recognize this relationship is out of order with many inherent consequences. Yet, bringing order back to our lives often involves step by step actions of courage because in that re-ordering we actually find our balance and our place in the world. It means acknowledging ‘what is as it as’ without wanting or wishing that a new order can be created. Parents precede children, in any species.
Here are two parables about natural order unfolding, helping a desired outcome to occur with ease and with the least resistance:
- When ducks sit on the edge of a river bank, they often sit scattered and in any form to attend to their feathers and bodies. When it’s time to move, they all get in a row and begin their journey.
- Imagine you are on a teeter-totter, sitting on one side while the other side is empty. Clearly the side you are sitting on is on the ground (Point A) and the other side is in the air (Point B). Imagine that Point B is where you want to go to realize a personal goal. Now imagine beginning to climb the teeter-totter towards the centre leverage point and toward Point B. Here’s the crux … just as you get close to the centre, the leverage point, the teeter-totter gets very shaky and feels ever more challenging to balance. What do you do? Return in fear to Point A? Or keep going past the shakiness and perceived imbalance to the other side where a new sturdiness comes as the teeter-totter shifts and now Point B becomes the grounded place?
What can we learn from this? That only when you take action do all your ducks begin to get in a row. You do not have to have all your ducks in a row before you take action to start what excites you. Following what happens naturally and respecting the natural order of what comes first and what comes next in the way you strive to accomplish your goals supports your success with the path of least resistance.
As you consider the fall and where you are on your path of what you wanted to accomplish this year in creating peaceful relationships, what needs to come back into order? Are you clear on this order? If you are not clear and going in circles or continuously facing the same issues, what new and courageous step are you prepared to take?
We are about to enter the last quarter of 2014. I urge you to make the most of it. Make peaceful relationships your priority.
Namaste, Shirley Lynn