I have a post-it note up on the wall in my office that looks at me every day. It's lime green and I've written in purple marker in all caps: DO NOT IGNORE THE CALL. A bright blue one hangs near by, shouting in black letters: GET OUT OF THE WAITING ROOM. These are things that Master Anand Mehrotra, a great teacher of mine, says. Thankfully, as I am a slow learner, he says them a lot. I'm reminded of a very simple truth. When is it time (for anything)? Now.
In a recent teacher training, he asked, "When is the time to live the yogic life?" Now.
"When is it time for you to teach?" Now.
"When is time for you to live in alignment with yourself?"
You guessed it. Now is the time.
We like to put things off, though, don't we? How often during the day do we say to ourselves, "When I retire, I'll..." or "When the kids are out of the house, I'm going to get into (insert your thing here)". How many times have you heard a friend tell you over tea or a cocktail, "I JUST know I have a book (movie, painting, app, adventure, house remodel, cool business idea...) in me. I'll get to it."
Or just maybe, like me, you've heard yourself say these things over and over again.
Let's call these "Some-Day Delusions". All people have dreams and hopes and maybe a little voice inside them that nags a little...do that thing. No matter where we are on earth, I believe all people dream: gigantic dreams and teeny-tiny hopes and everything in between. It's the human condition to want a good life, right? The trouble is, we put it off. For Some-Day. Which is mostly delusional.
I know all about the Waiting Room. It may not appear that way on social media or even IRL in this small mountain town where I live. It's not like we casually state, "I am really pretty lost right now and have no idea what I'm doing" to the neighbors at the post office. No. Usually when we're in despair, confusion or deep grief, a few beloveds know about it and maybe a group of people from recovery meetings/church/sangha. When we finally get off the couch/chair/cushion/carseat/bed/bench, we rise up. We take a few steps in the direction of where we want to go, who we want to be. Perhaps you too grew up with a black and white way of thinking, an 'all or nothing' mentality. Yikes! This stops us from moving forward. But if we take a few steps in the direction--choosing to "favor" the right thinking, wholesome choices--we will be led to higher consciousness and a more purposeful life.
Let's pay attention to the Post-it notes of our life. Let's answer the call, and get out of the waiting room.
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