Have you ever had a cat (or puppy) lying across your legs and it’s so cute, it seems so peaceful, that you hesitate to move, not wanting to disturb the little critter? You wait patiently for it to leave before changing that awkward position or getting that drink of water.

Life isn’t a straight steady line that we arrange our living on. It isn’t a predictable and consistent event that allows us to find our niche and sit comfortably in that pocket till the end of our days. We know this, but we are somehow still surprised when there’s a shift, especially one that disrupts our “plans”. We tend to run around trying to find a level spot again, to have it be comfortable and once again as predictable as we fool ourselves into thinking it can be.

Recently I was considering this, and it occurred to me that these shifts are opportunities for us to grow. Just like waiting for the cat to leave. Whatever our pocket is, if left alone we become comfortable and we say we are secure. In our marriages, jobs, with family, the same old routine of daily chores, even eating the same meal at our favorite restaurants. When life shifts, it’s our time to stretch, grow and find a new position to challenge ourselves. Unfortunately, the big “BUT” is that we don’t utilize these shifts in a more productive way. Life cannot always be consistent and to remain static in a shifting space means more discomfort and long lasting damage to our spiritual, emotional and mental health.

These are the spaces in which we can grow, the shift that offers us an opportunity to expand our thinking and our situations. Life is offering us moments to adjust what we have only been tolerating (or accepting as the best we can do) all this time, but we must be aware that we have decided to sit within this pocket, and we can also make one to leave it or adjust our situations slightly to bring more into our lives. This is not to say that we are always simply tolerating our positions at all! The thinking here is to be aware of the difference between tolerating and true unwavering comfort. Once identified, then be aware of the Universe when it gives you that break. We tend to see these as mostly negative interruptions to what we have come to rely on as structure. We resent having to try keeping things as they were while everything else readjusts around us, because most of us are afraid of change.

We need to adjust to the understanding that we weren’t meant to remain in one position all our lives. We weren’t meant to settle because we are afraid of not finding more. These breaks should serve to strengthen us and give us reason to look beyond what we think we have control over as the years go by. Let us uncross those numb legs and stretch for the edges, we might surprise ourselves. If we take just a little more space for ourselves then when things settle down again, we are better able to maintain our balance and or structure.

When we find our true comfort and understanding, we won’t even be aware of the cat (or the puppy). I’m a cat person!

Blessings!