Embracing Life’s Polarity: A Path to Living Fully

“Mastery of the world is achieved by letting things take their natural course.”

– Lao Tzo

Facing the fear of our finite bodily experience

Last week, I went on a camping trip with my 8-year-old nephew. We had lots of fun. But one evening, he shared his fear of death and how unsettling it feels not to know how long we have left to live. This is the realisation and fear of life’s uncontrollable nature that we all struggle with—a fear we all know well.

Childhood realisations

As children, we suddenly become aware that our bodies are not infinite and that life follows its own course. This moment of realisation can be quite scary. Can you remember this moment? This understanding then leads to many other questions and fears, such as where we came from, where we go after this life, and the fear of losing our loved ones.

The lingering fear

Yet, no one can provide answers to these questions or ease these fears. As life goes on, our minds attempt to avoid the truth of our finite existence and life’s uncontrollable aspects. But the fear persists, consciously or subconsciously, affecting our lives in ways that may not truly serve us.

An invitation to self-inquiry and healing

Therefore, it is a powerful invitation to all of us to look within and find peace, allowing us to embrace the unpredictability of life and appreciate our lives and the time given to us in this body even more. When we come to peace with the impermanence of our bodies, most other fears dissolve by themselves, as most fears are based on this primal fear.

August holds a call to embrace life more deeply

This is also a prominent theme for all of us in August. This month calls you to start living more fully, embracing the polarity of this human journey that each of us experiences uniquely. It is an invitation to bring more joy, abundance, and love into your life and everything you do, with the acceptance that in everything, there is both ‘dark and light,’ within and without. This constant dance between the yin and the yang, without getting attached to or wanting to avoid one or the other for that, brings suffering. Everything comes in a natural rhythm and cycle that invites us to surrender. In our lives, we will get many surprises, joyful moments, times of grief and sadness, and, again, times of excitement, flow, and grace.

The power of choice

But we have been given the power of choice. When you take full responsibility for your life and experiences and can heal your wounds and shadows (our soul’s learnings), this choice becomes available to you. It allows you to respond to life from an empowered and conscious state. You can open your mind and heart to listen, trust, and surrender to the guidance and clues that life gives you in every moment, riding the waves of life with more ease, joy, and gratitude. Just imagine how life would feel if you could feel gratitude in every moment, knowing that everything is available at every moment and that you are, for that reason, the creator of your experience.

Questions for self-reflection

Some questions you might want to ask yourself this month:

• Do you take enough time to listen to your intuitive, divine guidance?
  
• How can you surrender to the natural course of life and trust more deeply?
  
• What past or present life experiences and themes, including your finite physical existence in this body, are you not yet at peace with? Can you find ways to come to peace with these aspects through rituals of forgiving, grieving, letting go, and surrendering? For this will free you to live your life authentically, freely, and with deeper grace and gratitude.
  
• What brings you true joy and makes you feel passionate about life? Can you do more of that?
  
• Can you take a different perspective (or find support that helps you with this) on challenging situations and experiences?
  
• Can you take some time to just be, observe, and connect to nature, which is such a beautiful and powerful entity showing us that everything comes in cycles, cycles of destruction followed by a new cycle of rebirth? Just like your breath: inhale, fill up and receive; exhale, empty out, let go again—one cycle is just completed until your next inhale. And so it is with everything.

Today, I’m also sharing with you some beautiful photos of Mother Nature. I love immersing myself in her, observing and learning from her because she teaches us so much about ourselves, life, the interconnectedness of everything, and the constant cycles of death and rebirth in different expressions and ways. Nature helps us remember who we are with so much love and beauty. Often, her energy and nature spirits manifest in these photographs. If you feel the call, I invite you to take a moment to feel the wisdom, peace, and serenity that the energies of the pictures can re-activate within you.