Hi Fabulous! What’s happening?
Excellent, impeccable, precise, planning is important. Right? Planning makes us feel ok. Heck, planning makes us feel great. Sometimes planning spills (see pun later) into over-planning, and we don’t realize we have gone too far, until we do.
Our family travels to Ecuador last year were amazing and not easy. I said before, that international travel during Covid presented new obstacles for getting here to there, particularly the planning required for “proper” Covid tests to prove no infection. Proper means that different rules apply in each country and regions within countries. Proper adds stress to any, already stressful, situation.
Our children preceded us in taking the proper Covid test to return to the states. It was a spit test and lively conversation about accumulating spit before the test to get enough spit in the test-tube consumed a good 45 minutes to an hour of conversation. Riveting.
I was warned, notified and prepared.
I planned my test for 5 days later.
While waiting to take the test, I would generate a pool of saliva in my mouth.
And, five days later, I did. I planned well.
In the tiny cubicle, a white coat and gloved nurse handed me the plastic container and indicated the line I needed to reach in the tube for sufficient and proper testing.
I offered up the liquid in my mouth.
What followed is a story for the water bubbler. Not only did my sample reach the designated line of the plastic tube, I filled the entire tube and overflowed – generously – on me, on the seat, on the floor.
A shocking amount of spit.
I was shocked.
The nurse was shocked.
In her dismay, or was it disgust, she threw the entire tube away, bewildered.
As she retrieved another test tube, I frantically began my spit accumulation again still anxious I would fall short, despite my prior fabulous performance.
She politely sternly handed me the second tube and pointed to the line. Just to here please.
I got the message.
I followed instructions.
I hit the mark, perfectly.
Then, I waited patiently.
I watched the testing cubicle that I took my test be sterilized.
Mops, spraying bottles, more gloves.
It looked like a nuclear meltdown clean up.
I over-planned for my Covid test and these were the results.
I created a kerfuffle, I learned I am a saliva machine, the cubicle received an extra cleaning and I was negative for Covid.
We sometimes over-plan our finances too.
But what does over-planning mean and look like with money?
You might believe it is impossible to over-plan money.
Planning is important.
We don’t plan enough.
Planning is really a verb in practice, which means that we course correct as we move along the plan of our life. Money is definitely a part of this journey. Emphasis mixed with fear (not enough, scarcity, worry, anxiety) turns to grasping and control over matters we have no control.
This is over-planning with money, trying to control the uncontrollable.
Financial planning engaged well is a gorgeous practice of planning sufficiently, based upon all known variables, for now and what’s next.
Now, is evident. We are here, now, present, to enjoy ~
· the fruits of our labor
· the people we love
· our creative expressions
· our gifts to us and others.
· And we are here, now, to meet challenges with courage, breath, resources, attention, our present truth.
What’s next is the meaningful and workable vision we hold for our life, who we are becoming, and the other beings who co-inhabit this planet with us.
We go as far as we skillfully can in planning for an unknown future. And we hold our planning lightly, fully, consciously, whole-heartedly, intelligently. Because we know everything we plan will NOT happen exactly as we plan.
Changes arise that we meet with present reality and our present truth. We shift – adjust our expectations – and navigate the movement of our life.
Next time you are planning, your finances or anything, consider this question:
What is sufficient for this vision, for me, for us, right now?
If this question doesn’t meet you, recall my spit story and allow my experience to serve your discovery, along with this question.
Where might I be worrying a bit and forcing an answer or outcome before its time?
My wish for you is this: come to the edge of your pluses, and stop short of the pitfalls.
Oceans of joy,
Tiny Body Practice
The Unknowing
“Be in the unknown” is a harsh command if you have no idea what that means and worse no idea on how to engage. This tiny practice gently assists you to just sit, just be. The imperative to learn and embody a skill of being in the unknown, sometimes described as curious, open to wonder, continues to escalate as our world and life changes. I believe this ability is an essential survival skill for the 21st and 22nd century—yes I am adding a century.)
Instead of trying to figure out what it means to be in the unknown and planning for the future, try a practice, this practice, and taste your direct experience. Get curious about what happens for you, and kindly inquire how your development can be supported by practicing.
Preparation:
Choose a location and engage.
Keep this very simple.
The Practice
Settle in your chosen space by noticing your breath.
Enjoy your body breathing.
Appreciate that your body can breathe on its own.
Recognize that your body knows it can breathe.
Recognize there are things you know and there are things you do not know.
It’s OK to know and not to know.
Rest in knowing and not knowing.
Let thoughts run through your mind as you sit (or stand).
Just sit/stand and be where you are in this moment.
Notice and describe the experiences in your current space.
What do you notice in your body, with your breath?
What do you feel on your skin?
Warmth of the sun?
What are you hearing?
What sounds make themselves known to you?
Are there any sweet aromas floating by?
Does your brain identify the scent?
Do you have any lingering tastes from your last meal?
Do you evaluate the experience in your mouth?
What is it like to just sit, not needing to know, not striving or seeking?
What is it like to not know, and feel OK?
This practice is simple.
Yet, few people can engage not knowing.
Notice what is going on inside your body, right next to your body, and the field around you.
Everything you know is sufficient and OK.
Everything you don’t know is also OK.
Reflect upon these Wonder Questions:
- What is just sitting like for me?
- How do I engage not knowing?
- How do I feel not knowing?
- What is the same/different from knowing and not knowing for me?
Deepening Practice
The Unknowing
by Gayle | Jun 23, 2022
Good day my friend,
On this rare occasion I listened to and engaged my tiny practice. Here’s what happened.
I felt held and washed in kindness and love. Though it was my voice, my experience was not of me.
My body relaxed and softened. In six short minutes a state of calm serenity fills my soma.
Now – more than ever – accessing a mind state of curiosity and not knowing is essential for our well-being and ability to connect. When our rational thinking mind dictates our actions, urgency, figuring out and conclusions are the target. We miss the gifts of our body and our potential to relate. A grasping needing to know pattern will never ever open our mind of curiosity and offer what we truly seek in every aspect of life, particularly money.
So, let’s get busy not knowing! 🙂
Tiny Body Practice
The Unknowing
Practice Preparation:
Choose a location and engage.
Keep this very simple.
Perhaps try it, right here, right now.
The Practice
Settle in your chosen space by noticing your breath.
Enjoy your body breathing.
Appreciate that your body can breathe on its own.
Recognize that your body knows it breathes.
Recognize there are things you know and there are things you do not know.
It’s OK to know and not to know.
Rest in knowing.
Bring to mind something you know.
Rest in not knowing.
Bring to mind something you do not know.
Let thoughts run through your mind as you sit (or stand).
Sit or stand and be where you are in this moment.
Notice and describe the experiences in your current space.
What do you notice in your body, with your breath?
What do you feel on your skin?
Warmth of the sun?
What do you know from your body?
What do you not know?
What are you hearing?
What sounds make themselves known to you?
What do you know from sound?
What do you not know?
Are there any sweet aromas floating by?
Does your brain identify the scent?
What do you know from scent?
What do you not know?
Do you have any lingering tastes from your last meal?
Do you evaluate the experience in your mouth?
What do you know from taste?
What do you not know?
What is it like to sit, not needing to know, yet knowing?
What is it like to abide – not striving or seeking?
What is it like to not know, and feel OK?
A simple practice.
Yet, few people can engage not knowing.
Cherish the experience inside your body, right next to your body, and the field around you.
Everything you know is sufficient and ok.
Everything you don’t know is also ok.
Complete your practice with gratitude and self-appreciation for engaging.
Repeat as desired and inspired!
Post Practice
Take your curiosity and not knowing “out of practice” into your day.
Choose to not know – for a period of time or for a whole day.
See what happens.
At the end of the day, reflect on your experience of not knowing” and journal or contemplate these wonder questions:
- How is it for me to “not know”?
- How does my body support me in not knowing?
- What is my experience of “not knowing” around money?
At the end of the week, retrieve your notebook and write answers to these questions:
- What is just sitting and not knowing like for me?
- How do I feel not knowing?
- What is the same/different from knowing and not knowing for me?
- How does money produce a unique challenge of not knowing?