The Dance

"The question is not why are you so infrequently the people you really want to be.  The question is why do you so infrequently want to be the people you really are."  She pauses.  "Because you have no faith that who you are is enough."  Her voice is soft, full of sadness.  "But it is.  Your true nature as human beings is compassionate, and this essential nature makes you capable of being intimately and fully present.  Who you really are is enough."

...that we are right now in this moment capable of being compassionate and fully present in intimate relationship with ourselves, the world, and the Mystery; that we are all we need to be by our nature; that there is no need for self-improvement; that we live our deepest soul's desires not by intending to change who we are but by intending to be who we are.  And clearly our intention-to change or to be who we are-profoundly shapes how we live, what we believe we must do to learn, whether we feel we must ceaselessly push ourselves to reach higher or simply find the courage and confidence to allow who we are to unfold....  

[The] former aims to reshape our essentially flawed nature with heroic efforts of endless trying.

Despite the fact that endless trying isn't working, it's what I know.  It's hard to believe that I can be enough as I am.  I want to be more-more compassionate, more present, more conscious and aware, more loved and loving, more intimate with myself and the world.  I want to know how to be different-better-than I am.

Oriah