04 Apr I Have No Advice to Offer in This Crisis – Here’s Why

Since the last time you heard from me, the whole world has changed. Over the past few weeks it’s been customary for teachers and coaches to offer advice, inspiration, and reassurance for the challenges we all face.

I’ve felt that pull within myself, for sure, but also noticed a hesitation.

Instead of sharing prematurely, I decided to wait and listen for the deepest possible message to emerge. Only now am I grasping it. With thanks for your previous patience, here it is:

You’ve got this.

All of your work toward healing and self-actualization has prepared you to embrace fear, distress, uncertainty, turmoil and great loss. You know how to bring presence, and a soft welcoming to the experiences, within and without, that you don’t like or want. You know how to surf the waves of emotion, even overwhelming emotion, that times of crisis inevitably bring forth.

Am I right?

Before you answer, first pause, breathe, let your mind settle and your heart open.

Now: haven’t all your years of personal growth, all the therapy and workshops, the meditations and the journaling, the dances and the chanting – haven’t they prepared you for just this kind of crisis?

In my own heart I know they have. Together we’ve created a sacred global community that is made for times like these. Our commitment to radical acceptance and penetrating inquiry is especially vital when confusion reigns, when reliable information is hard to find and verify, and when the calamity we face is changing not just daily but sometimes even hourly.

The members of our sacred global community, you included, have learned to keenly recognize when the primitive brain takes over and triggers us in dangerous ways that promote anxiety, depression, and distorted perception. We know how to defuse those triggers efficiently, which is why we don’t get lost for long in the fog of unproductive fear they generate.

Our learning, and years of consistent practice, allow us to show up at our best with loved ones, neighbors, and society at large. We know how to offer grounding, compassion, clear vision and effective service.

Our ability to show up in this way doesn’t just make things better, but it also points the way for those who haven’t yet acquired these inner resources or the resilience they provide. In other words, we are uniquely positioned to lead with love.

Every moment we meet with loving presence creates ripples of healing that spread around the globe, uplifting those on the front lines of the pandemic and helping everyone find the best ways to grieve, recover and move forward together.

We’re here, in growing numbers, even when it seems like our voices are drowned out by rage and blame. We’re here, even when it’s hard to find one another. We’re here, even when we temporarily forget. We’re here, luminous with Spirit, even when we doubt our power.

So, no, you don’t need my advice. You just need to trust yourself. Exhale into the eye of your own storm, again and again, relaxing into the unshakable peace that resides there.

You can do this.

You can do this.

As long as you don’t play small.