Discernment seems to be a hot topic for me these days. It is an important part of my spiritual direction training, and it is also what this week’s book club chapter from Pema Chodron’s Welcoming the Unwelcome was about.
Paying attention to where I am and discerning what is mine to do based on the current situation rather than reactions from the past or popular thinking or outdated beliefs is something of a process. It’s so easy to categorize or label people and events rather than being fully present to what’s right in front of me.
The truth is no two people, no two situations are identical even if they are similar and they trigger memories from the past. True discernment requires me to be here now, be curious enough to find out more rather than jumping to conclusions which means opening myself to not knowing; not always an easy thing for someone who has lived her life believing that she was somehow supposed to know all the time.
There is gentleness however in not knowing, in being open and willing to be shown. There’s also a kind of freedom in it for me, I don’t have to know, to have all the answers.
Sweet!
Namaste
