Action and Presence

A lot of the work I’ve done as a trainer and coach has been based in vision, goal-setting, committed action and accountability. We use words like momentum, consistency, and forward movement a lot. However, there is another side to growth that is just as important and likely even more so, presence. I can’t keep track of the number of times I’ve heard I want to be more peaceful, calm or present. What I’m learning is that it we can hold both the doing and the being. And when I allow for that, and I have a very good teacher, I can find the peace in presence.

A Great Teacher

My daughter will be two months old on Saturday and I can’t believe that I am still swimming in the joy that she has brought to our lives. If I had to choose one word to describe Scarlett, other than beautiful, because she really is – it would be awake. People always comment on how alert she is, but I think what they really mean is awake, because her eyes are wide open, and there is this energy about her that says “I am” and it’s very strong and very clear. This is my favorite thing about her because it brings me this intense joy to be with someone so present.

There have been times in my life when I’ve gone to see a spiritual teacher or some otherwise “awake”  person and I’ve felt the stillness coming from them. The peace of being in their presence would immediately calm me and I would think wow maybe one day I can have that kind of energy, that kind of impact, so that the way I sit in my own self would give another person peace. But it always seemed like something you really had to work at, maybe if I meditated enough for long enough, or read all the right books, or travelled to the right places, I would be able to cultivate that type of energy. But having my little girl in my arms, just emanating joy, just being – reminds me that there is nothing that we have to do, that that sweet beautiful energy of life is something that we all share, that it’s our birthright and it comes with us into this life and is here all along with us, its just a matter of allowing ourselves to experience it.