There have been moments in my life, when I do not have the answer that I think I need in order to move forward. There have been many times when I feel paralyzed by not knowing. It is in those moments, that I will retreat to the effortless intelligence of nature.
I often imagine a lioness raising her cubs in the desert plains. She nurtures them with her gentleness in the early days, but when it is time, she is unafraid to terrify her cubs with her growl. She shows them her teeth and will even bite them in order to ensure they stay put when she goes out to hunt. She guides them through the treacherous landscape, teaching them patiently, teaching them wordlessly. Her lessons, if learned, favor their survival, though that is not guaranteed. She knows that it is not her role to ensure their survival, but rather to do everything she can to teach them how to survive. She knows that her life, and the lives of her cubs are subject to a difficult reality of cycles. She knows that each cub exists in their own right, for their own experience – subject to their own fate. I imagine her cubs observing her every move, reliant on her for their very existence, and knowing deeply, that learning from her is not a choice, but a duty towards their survival. I think often of her strength, her intuition, her innate knowing of what she and her cubs need. I imagine her playing with them – a lesson for the hunter. I imagine her nursing them – a lesson in comfort. I imagine her hiding them safely away while she herself seeks prey to nourish herself and her cubs. Returning to them panting, exhausted, and bloody from her conquest.
And in all of my contemplations of my lioness, never once do I imagine this wild predator as unsure. Never do I imagine her as lost, or weak, or apologetic. She does not read or research or wonder about what needs to be done to ensure her survival, or the survival of her cubs. She does not wonder if the decisions she made yesterday were right or wrong. Her knowledge is intuitive. Her intelligence lies deep within her. She knows what to do. Her strength, her worth, her completeness, is in her being – in her presence. This knowledge is not taught, it resides in all of us. It is the tool we are gifted when we arrive in this place to travel our journey.
It is this intuition that I seek to live from. I have found that the more I choose to honor the inner, natural intelligence of my being – the more able I am to be at peace with myself and the world around me. Because the magnetism of that intuitive intelligence helps to ground me further into the Earth each time I decide to have the courage to allow it to guide me. The more I follow it, the stronger I become, the more confidence I exude, the more I expand.
Now here is the magic of it all: as one expands, more of the universe’s gifts are bestowed on us. The choice is ours at each pass. Every day is an opportunity to tune into our innate intelligence, our inner wild, our truth, our answer. Each day challenges us to rise, and live Soul Minded.
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