My practice is part of my daily life, it is as natural to me as breathing, and as necessary to me as my heartbeat. It influences the way I live my life, the choices I make, how I treat people, animals, even inanimate objects around me. Whether my thoughts exist as waking ones or dreaming ones, who I am, and what I will become is tied permanently to what I practice.
While the Tao may exist in and influence everything I am and do, it still takes an active decision to act and do things that are in line with it, that flow in harmony. After all, humans by there very nature are resistant to flow and change. There are many times when the desire for stability forces us to stay in situations that are detrimental to realizing our true potential. Staying in the same place, the same job, even the same stagnant relationship can offer an illusion of security and stability. However, when the situation that we face changes before our eyes, and the thing we have been holding onto disintegrates from our grasp, it is easy to see that the only permanence that obtained is within the flow and ebb of change, and life itself.
So through all the ups and downs, all the chaos that exists, when everything, and everyone has fallen away, all that is left is the moment, the presence, the Tao. That is not to say that I do not enjoy myself or love the life I lead, or the people who have graciously shared it with me so far. I do. Some of them I would give my breath for without hesitation.
But in truth, I know that without my practice, I would be a shell of who I am; I was before I started walking the way that I do now. It is not that I am on a particular path, for with every step, every glance, every touch I create a new one, full of possibilities. Rather, with each moment, I am learning, and re-learning to truly experience the world, the people, and the spirits around me. It truly is an exhilarating experience.
And it all begins each day with that first step.
