The Space to Deepen
“How poor are they that have not patience! What wound did ever heal but by degrees?”
I don’t know what you’ve been up to lately—we all have our parts to play whether as essential workers in the field, work-at-homers, child care full-timers etc.—but it tends to be universally difficult for humans to be in waiting mode. Even if you’re quite active, you are still, like all of us to some extent, waiting. Waiting to find out when things will start to open up in all the ways we want, when we might have a better sense of what the future holds, and when we’ll be able to relax.
Being in waiting mode makes it less possible to plan, which means that future contemplation is suddenly less immediately relevant. We can play with our ideas for the future, but without solid footing. Plans we make need to remain flexible now. One upside of this is that we can choose to be more anchored in the present at such times, and there’s a bit more space for us to do so. Allowing ourselves to be more fully in each moment means that we may observe more layers in each and find ourselves more tuned into the opportunities that are available to us. We may also be able to just slow down our expectations of ourselves and others and experience an expanded sense of time, which can be relaxing and help us to renew even in the face of uncertainty.
When I’m in waiting mode, one thing I like to do is Tap on old events and patterns, cleaning up outmoded stuff that is cluttering my present and my futures with irrelevant data. (I know this isn’t most people’s idea of fun, but bear with me!) Admittedly, doing this work requires bringing consciousness to old pain and involves some discomfort, but the physical Tapping tends to make any discomfort short lived. Using it to support my timely transformations is deeply comforting and satisfying. When I’ve come out the other side of an old conflict or challenge, I can feel immediately how energy has been freed, and I’m open to new thinking and new experience.
Depending on where you are in your own journey, this kind of work may or may not be available to you on any given day, and I find that following signals about my natural timing rather than fighting them is highly productive. There are times when what is needed is self-soothing and emotional regulation work—daily maintenance and triage in times of challenge. This helps us just get through the day with some sanity and slow the mind at the end of the day enough to get the restful sleep we need to support healthy functioning on all levels. Depending on what we need on any given day, there are Tapping techniques that support it. I find that time spent putting the techniques into practice is one of the most meaningful, and productive, parts of my day. Not to mention that over time, the work we do builds until life just feels easier, because we build confidence in our own ability to gracefully handle what may arise in both our internal and external lives.
If you’ve been forgetting to use it, this is your reminder to do at least a few minutes of Tapping every day if you want to see how much better you can start to feel in a short amount of time. I’m in many ways a pragmatist, and EFT is my favorite because it works! Once you get the hang of it, it provides nearly instant gratification much of the time, as you calm your body, mind, emotions, and feel more of your true self or spirit no matter where you’re starting from. Times of waiting can provide space for taking on deeper healing work if you feel safe to do so, and these times can end up being a springboard for renewal—foundations for creating more future potential when it’s time to move forward again.