Attaching to NOT Attaching

To eliminate the problem ~  try to NOT eliminate it. Yoga students are a big inspiration for me.  Witnessing the transformation of their first time on the mat, to becoming a progressing beginner, to a dedicated practitioner is astounding.  Last week I spent some time after after a class chatting with one of those progressing beginners and she said something to me that shifted me in a very self-empowering way, "Don't attach to the possible outcome."  WOW. Got it.  I spent the next day obsessed with the concept of detachment.  I have been exerting massive energy on classifying my internal dialogue as being good, bad, right, wrong.  I've been creating self-defeating mind chatter in judging circumstances that cannot be known.   The more I struggle with the discomfort of a problem, the more energy I am wasting. Of course I want to resolve this inner conflict but all I am really doing is wasting time worrying about it. (...typical Lira behavior, BTW...) So I am applying some of what I learned in my recent experience in Mindfulness Meditation ~ accept that struggling with discomfort is a normal part of life. It's one of those beautiful yoga paradoxes:to eliminate the problem, try to NOT eliminate it :)   I realize to do this I must receive my thoughts and feelings of discomfort and then shift directly into the present moment. It's a mindful choice.  And in that choice I recognize that I am absolutely stronger and more flexible than I ever thought I could be.  I can change without bracing against life. Life is flow ~ I am happening with it. It gets tricky, though.  Trusting that good things are coming requires a lot of "letting go".  We've all had these experiences...we try and try and try to "make" something happen and it's like banging our head on the wall.  We give up...we "let go" and then what we have been wanting, comes to us.  So determined effort is a very good trait to refine.  I'm not great at visualizing, but I am adept at *feeling* what I cannot see.  So perhaps it's better for me to say, refining your "feelings" about what you want is a good skill to cultivate. When we obsess about a result, our efforts become counterproductive.  In fact, often we end up attracting NOT having what we want. Part of every "impossible" circumstance is a beautiful opportunity. And the finest opportunities lie in the center of "impossible" situations. Spend time cultivating gratitude for the opportunities the unimaginable has brought into life. What you desire pulses in the core, so get really curious about how that sweetness *feels* without attaching to a "possibly perfect" outcome. Being perfect carries waaaay too much pressure. Slowing down and letting go to savor the sweetness ~ ♡♡♡ Shani