Commitment
On New Year’s Eve I attended a White Stone Ceremony at Unity Spiritual Center (USC). During this ceremony we were invited to go inward and connect with the Source of our being to listen for a word, phrase or name that represents our highest intention for the year. We then wrote what we heard upon a white stone as a reminder of our intention. I’ve done this ceremony for several years and am consistently surprised by the word or phase that emerges
This year, when I heard the word COMMITMENT, I started squirming. “Not THAT!” I said to myself. I tried to push it away. I tried to listen more deeply, assuming this was a trick of the mind because it came so quickly. I tried to find a synonym that didn’t make me squirm. No matter what I tried, I continued to hear the word “COMMITMENT”. Finally, I surrendered and wrote it on my stone in capital letters.
I keep the white stone where I see it often and I’ve begun to ponder “What does it mean to be COMMITTED?” “What beliefs do I have about being COMMITTED?” “What am I COMMITTED to?”
The last question is the easiest to answer for me: I am committed to Truth, integrity, authenticity, personal and spiritual evolution, taking action aligned with my deepest knowing, living my humanity and Divinity in an integrated way, and supporting others in doing the same. Knowing this, the other questions began tugging at my sleeve…
Specifically, “What beliefs do I have about being COMMITTED?” and “Do they serve life (me)?” One belief that arose is that being committed means working HARD, all the time, never taking my eyes off the prize, never resting, neglecting my physical body in order to honor and manifest that commitment – behaving like the energizer bunny! A closely related belief is that I have to do everything by myself in order to fulfill the commitment and manifest my intentions. Clearly, behavior that supports these beliefs does not serve life.
Lena Stevens of The Power Path suggests an alternative in her February forecast (conveniently themed Commitment). She suggests that it’s time to get off the fence and really commit to our intentions and goals without the need to know how we will accomplish them. When we do this, the Universe begins to creatively weave them into the physical world.
I know this to be true. I have lived it at other times in my life, but I seem to have amnesia at this point in my life. So, I try it on again. I set an intention to increase the size and scope of my coaching practice, make the commitment and turn the “how” over to the Universe. I accept that my part is to do the next thing in front of me that is aligned with my deepest knowing.
And then I remember…sometimes the next thing seems to have nothing to do with the actual commitment. It may be washing the dishes, doing the laundry, or going to the gym. Sometimes the next thing is directly related to the commitment – like getting out of bed at 5:00 am to write the blog that keeps rolling around in my head. Note to self: Trusting and acting on my deepest knowing is life-serving even when my inner critic judges that it is not.
For instance, in my January 20th blog (Taking Care of Myself IS Taking Care of Business) I talked about struggling with self-judgment in relation to my business intentions and beginning (again!)the process of following my knowing. As I stayed true to myself, putting one foot in front of the other based on what I knew, I received a call inviting me to offer a one-day women’s retreat in May. Then I received a call inviting me to give a Sunday lesson at a local Unity Center. Then I wrote another blog entry. Then I called a marketing coach and scheduled a free consult. True to Lena’s suggestion, when I let go of trying to control how my intention and commitment manifested, the Universe began weaving my intention to support others’ inner transformation into the physical world.
Some questions to ease you into considering commitment:
To what am I committed? What do I stand for?
What does it mean to be committed?
What beliefs do I have regarding commitment? Where did they come from? Do they still serve life (me)?
As you are moving through the deepest part of winter, enjoying the lengthening days, what do you feel called to commit to?
When you imagine committing to intentions and goals without the need to know how they will be accomplished, how do you feel?
How do you hear your deepest knowing and differentiate it from your personality or ego?
Thanks for reading!
