WHERE DO YOU WANT TO ARRIVE?
Hello dear blog friends,
I don't know about you, but I feel like I have to make more and more decisions. Daily, hourly, minute by minute. And more than ever, I realize that the sum of all my little decisions determines the direction in which the water will flow.
I've found myself leaning toward a negative outlook on life. Safety in mind. In case things go wrong, at least I'm prepared. Internally. Oh, yeah?
Then, on a gray, gloomy winter day, the weight of those kinds of decisions struck me. I felt it pressing down on my shoulders, making my legs heavy and my heart sad.
And that's when I turned to my cosmic I Ching and asked. "What am I doing wrong?" The hexagram I received has the significant title, "Being Lifted Up" (HX46)*. Right in the first sentence, it states:
"The cosmic theme of this hexagram is the way in which a person's inner development leads to the fulfillment of his life."
My task is to free my true self from a mental program that is leading me in the wrong direction. And in the same moment, I saw it in front of me, this first, invisible, completely unconscious decision!
I decide to let myself be led.
I notice again and again - not only with myself - that this first decision lies deeply hidden. We usually turn first to the decisions on the outside. An action, a resolution, a habit. Something that should, should have, or could be done on the outside. It has been taught to us like a mathematical formula, "if, then...". But it is not a mathematical formula, nothing that can be calculated or to which we would have a claim after the work is done.
It is rather an inner alignment. And this brings us to the ranking of decisions.
At the very top is the decision to question my well-worn ways. To fundamentally question my decision parameters. Full braking.
"Where do I actually want to arrive?"
There it is. The very first and directional alignment. It is not a question of luck, good relationships, or efforts made in life. It is the question by which we calibrate our inner compass. It is one of the decisions that lie far ahead of the first decision on the outside!
The I Ching advises at this point to focus on one's will. By the way, according to the I Ching, this inner will has its seat in the neck and shoulders - in case you wonder why you often perceive these parts of the body as so painful. The inner will might be knocking at your door.
It is to this inner will that I make my first charitable decision:
I choose the path of inner alignment that is appropriate for me.
In doing so, I will probably encounter a powerful adversary: the ego. And not only as an appendage of my person but in its infinite multiplication as "the society". The I Ching calls this ego union "the collective ego", Martha Beck often speaks of the "Everybody", that hardly indefinable one. "...one can't do that, otherwise...". Yes, yes, it certainly speaks in a threatening form, it creates fear. And often we obey because of it. We encounter such situations again and again in coaching sessions. Undefinable fears shake our wise decisions.
My hexagram 46 encourages me to get help. From the cosmic helpers (fields of consciousness, you might say) that carry me across such chasms. They create or strengthen the view inward, where my personal north star shines.
The hexagram warns me of the "empty city", one of the many metaphors it uses to keep the language as neutral as possible. The image is self-explanatory, after all. I don't really have a resonant field. I give my energy somewhere from where nothing comes back. I exhaust myself. I think and feel negative.
This hexagram also speaks of a mountain called Ki. The hexagram warns against such a sacred place (surprised?). Yes, it says not to follow any teachings, no matter how much they attract us, no matter how much we want to believe the solutions.
Ki is a place that exists only inside you. It is different for each person.
"Who do I follow and why?" could already be the next decision lying across your path like a fallen tree.
Good decisions have become a central aspect of my coaching. I often draw on the teachings of the I Ching and so I want to pass it on.
I am very happy to announce my first I-Ging event in English:
January 21, 2023
online, 7 pm CET
See you there, maybe...?
I wish all of you a happy holiday season. be well and rest a little...
Translated with www.DeepL.com