Monday mindfulness minute: Am I shedding or suffocating?

(Apologies in advance, but this Mindfulness Minute will be longer than a minute.)

This is the second post of this series, and I'm changing it up a bit. I noticed that the first post sounded like I was telling you to do something. That's not the case at all. I want each of these to invite us to ask ourselves a simple question as we embark on a new week. These questions can serve to ground us in a deeper purpose as the waves of life come up throughout the week. I have nothing to give you but questions to ask yourself.

Am I shedding or suffocating?

I often wonder what it feels like for a snake to shed its skin. It has to be uncomfortable, right? Or could it be like taking off a tight pair of shoes that are at least one size too small? I guess they feel both at different times.

I think change is similar for us; scary/uncomfortable/confusing to start but eventually soothing. If only there was a way we could remember, in the process of molting an old way of life, that the scary/uncomfortable/confusing part is necessary and integral.

Without that initial discomfort, why would we ever grow? As it turns out, we can learn this lesson perfectly from lobsters.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/446a6c_5fefac3def924ec7a40974de6dde35f5/240p/mp4/file.mp4

When I notice my shell getting too tight, my initial reaction is to find as many distractions as possible to forgo changing for as long as possible. I think I'd be the lobster that would collect all my past shells and spend my days and energy on the bottom of the ocean lugging them around with me.

We've experienced this tightness and heaviness so often that we know we must eventually decide between shedding or suffocating. The passage below perfectly describes how shedding, losing an old way of life, is not a failure but a natural way of life.

"It's easy to feel disappointed by life; success is never as fulfilling as you think it is going to be. But there is a reason for this. Successfully completing a lesser purpose doesn't feel very good for very long, because it is simply preparation for advancing toward a greater embodiment of your deeper purpose. Each purpose, each mission, is meant to be fully lived to the point where it becomes empty, boring, and useless. Then it should be discared. This is a sign of growth, but you may mistake it for a sign of failure." The Way of the Superior Man p. 40

As we look around this week and see the changing colors of the leaves and how they fall with grace, can we remember the vital lesson that Autumn and all the seasons are trying to teach us; if we can stop resisting change it will become effortless as we embrace whatever shell we find ourselves in next.