On Allowing
Whether putting together a treatment plan in the clinic or talking through concerns in a spiritual counseling session, the first step - and one that's often met with resistance - is to allow what's true to be true.
Allowing what's true to be true doesn't mean we have to like it that way. It's not tacit agreement or permission, and it doesn't have to point toward any particular action or outcome.
But as long as we resist what's true, we won't have access to clarity about what we're dealing with or where we're starting from. And as long as we're not clear where we're starting from, we can't generate an accurate map to get us on the road toward where we'd like to go.
So, allowing. Allowing what's true to be true.
I was introduced to this poem, "Allow," this week and found it quite moving. Perhaps you will, too.
"Allow"
There is no controlling life.
Try corralling a lightning bolt,
containing a tornado. Dam a
stream and it will create a new
channel. Resist, and the tides
will sweep you off your feet.
Allow, and grace will carry
you to higher ground. The only
safety lies in letting it all in -
the wild and the weak; fear,
fantasies, failures and successes.
When loss rips off the doors of
the heart, or sadness veils
your vision with despair, practice
becomes simply bearing the truth.
In the choice to let go of your
known way of being, the whole
world is revealed to your new eyes.
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