The North Direction-Endurance, Confidence, Courage, Showing up

 

Soft Dysfunction

8 x 8 Collage on wood panel

 

The North Direction-Endurance, Confidence, Courage, Showing up

     Contemplative Times-Mental aspect of confidence, courage, and endurance.

     Showing up for ourselves

     The dawning place of true wisdom

Looking upon our life as a runner, who would discipline themselves to learn how to have great speed and endurance. The mind can be trained and disciplined until it becomes a highly developed instrument. Because of the season and where this class started with a true winter cycle it is not the beginning of the Medicine Wheel. The usual place to start is with the East Direction.  Which we will do next as we move into Spring.  We may be at a different place in our own life cycle, all is a wealth of good direction for us as we are work on the inner wisdom for outer expression. So, with that the north can feel like a beginning place to start too.

Along with the bison and its capacity to endure the long wintertime and the abundance shared, another symbol for the North is one of the Mountains. To climb a mountain, it will take tremendous daily effort to build up the strength to move up and climb. This is not the mental image of climbing the business ladder.  No this is about the confidence one finds as they continue to show up for themselves and face their days.  The higher we able to climb with in our own understanding the more we see the stronger we become.

 What does “showing up for yourself,” mean to you?

Contemplating our lives and looking back but not staying stuck, we are able to see our gifts, our personal learnings. Some of them might have gone dormant and we can question why and sit with that. Pulling in the purity and simplicity of the past. We might be looking at our lives with some regrets, or we might be looking at how things all worked out. We still might be looking back and questioning, “can we still do something with wisdom we have gathered?” 

The sense of making it through a very cold wintertime can bring on some scary thoughts of not having enough food, staying warm and being alone for a very long time.  This is very true for us all in these times.  It plays games on our minds for sure. And it did for our ancestors too. The concept of Change is-Change will always happen, and we can count on that.  Nature knows this better than we do.  She is always changing. Though we may not see it happening every second, it is happening without us and within us. The confidence in the change when uncertainty falls upon us can create some unhealthy mind games.  So, the question is again, “how do you keep showing up for yourself?” I’ve heard some call this sliding down the rabbit hole…like in Alice in Wonderland. 

Taking the risk to try something different, the courage to switch the thinking to allow the Letting go of ways that no longer serve us.  We’ve heard that before, right? This is the direction of training, building up endurance. To let go of something is not to throw it away. It is to step outside its shadow so that things may be seen in a different light. Difficult? Yes but very important to learn how to stand apart from things we believe to be true or from our fears, our anger, our jealousy, our hate, or even from our live for someone. All of these can control us and prevent us from thinking clearly.  The clarity of the North direction will begin to reveal itself. Building of the Trust like building the confidence and enduring to be come stronger.

The thinking of fear, anger, jealousy, and hate can really cause obscurity of intelligence on a personal level. Think about the Elders and what they have experienced and how some of these have affected them. Some of our elders shared their wisdom with us by the action they have taken. Other have taught us by not making any changes. We learn either way from our past and what wisdom to use today.  

Sharing about past and moving forward around the directions of the Medicine Wheel is a challenge.  Sometimes our experiences trigger our future mental thoughts and pops out of the present.  These triggers can stop us in our tracks and not allow us to keep showing up. I know going deep now and this is a time to do that.  Within a circle discussion, this would be shared in ways we can only imagine and with great respect.  Storytelling, listening, really being heard and with out judgement allows one to let go and grow.  We hold space for each other. The circle allows for each person to be respected and heard in a way that honors each person’s spirit and soul.

 

Courage-taking heart is courage, showing up in small ways each day for us through little self-care moments, nurtures us in big ways. Taking the risk to change our thoughts, staying steady, even though change is not seen…it is happening. Just look at Nature for your cues. Prayer is a way to be courageous, asking for help is a self-care act.

What are signs of being with courage for you?

Confidence-an inner knowing that you are on the right path. Using past experiences to guide you as move forward. A practice of an action in your life that shares good results.

How does confidence show up in our life? Confidences does it ever surprise you?

Endurance- stamina, keep doing something even though it hard to achieve something better.

What experiences can you share about endurance?

All are part of Showing up for yourself which are the gifts shared in the North direction of the Medicine Wheel. It may not seem like it but with the time spent in your stillness and small signs shared.  We can change what we need so that we are the wisdom we are seeking, and rest in our peace of an ever-changing world that is good. 

North Direction-Endurance, Confidence, Courage, Showing Up

Disclaimer:

I am of strong East European descent with a connection to the earth and nature. The spiritual work of our inner being is one of the individual persons.  A lifetime of seeking to continue to connect to what is true has led myself on a learning path in great respect for all. There is no claim of being a decent from a Native American tribe. The natural ways of the Medicine Wheel are gentle and all-encompassing for growth of our spiritual self.  I share this because I'm only sharing gifts pass through me from working through my own life's experience and listening and learning from all those that gather in the circle. A student of life is a great grounded place to be as our teacher are everywhere.  Any trail that leads you to look within is always going to lead you through a journey of self-discovery on so many levels.  No one says it going to be easy or without pain, but the reality is we become who we are meant to be as we heal our own wounds for service of others in our life.   Keep showing up, you are worth it!