Space—The Final Frontier

For the last week or so as I have run, I have had as my running partner information I have been gathering from a remarkable book, Addiction and Grace, by Gerald May, M.D. This information has been ruminating in my heart as well as my mind for many different reasons. As a recovering addict from a number of varieties of addictions, I find any material that puts those addictive experiences in a spiritual context greatly assists my in moving to a greater level of understanding and acceptance about my own past choices. I have come to that marvelously nuanced place where I wonder if I would have stepped onto the path of spiritual growth as soon as I had, if I had not been an addict.

But this last week, one piece of information has stood out of my ruminations. As I am sure many of you have experienced, this morning I heard a piece of information that I had heard many times before, but for some unknown reason, THIS morning, it found its mark for me. I guess I was ready to hear it!

May, in also explaining the cellular experience of addiction, starts by noting that he still tries to "grasp the fact that the atoms that make it [the human body] up are almost completely filled with space."

At the heart of the design, I thought, of not just our own bodies, but for the vast majority universe itself, there is space. Oodles of space. That space is at the heart of a successfully functioning body, life, and universe. A requirement even. Hard coded if you will.

And yet, this is not what I see in my life most of the time, nor on the freeway, nor in the lives of many, or most, of the individuals I know in my life. And it is one of the prime goals of many of the clients I work with as a life coach. Breathing space. Living space. Loving space.

And yet it seems to be such an essential part of our Creator's design—a microcosmic and macrocosmic hint. And here we are in the middle, missing both! So as I ran today, I asked myself, "What is one thing I would consider doing that would create more space in my life?"

"Do I," I wondered as I reflected back on my favorite childhood TV show, "have the courage 'to boldly go where no man has gone before?' To live a life that has space in it, in copious amounts? To become comfortable with greater spaciousness in my life?" Well, I willing to head in that direction.

It is no accident of course, that this information has been forefront in my mind in the several days and weeks since completing my day job. By my own choosing, there is suddenly a lot more space in my life. And it has been uncomfortable at times, to relinquish the buzz, the intensity, the stress, even, of my former working life.

As May continues later in his book, "There is a strange sadness in growing freedom . . . We are like caged animals beginning to experience freedom, and there is something that we miss about the cage."

Only by establishing greater space in my outer world, can I really give myself the opportunity to reclaim the inner space that is my relationship with the divine. In the end, that is what I want the most. What drew me to running in the first place was a desire to find respite from all the other stuff going on "out there" in my life. A few stolen moments of peace and quiet in the midst of all the chaos.

What I have discovered through running, and through developing scores of running meditations over the years, is a relationship to an enhanced sense of spaciousness inside—and it is that that keeps me running today. A peace that is with me throughout most of every day, not just as I run.

As you run today, as yourself the same question: What is one thing I would consider doing that would create more space in my life?" This is not a commitment to do it, rather the giving to yourself of the opportunity to open to divine guidance in this area of your life. You have no responsibility to find an answer. Your work is just to ask the question, even repeat it as a mantra as you run. I'll be surprised if you say it ten times before an idea pops into your mind or, more accurately, your heart.

Allow this inspiration to guide you—follow it, don't lead it. Allow a vision of your life with this one change to unfold in your heart's eye. Listen to how you feel inside as you do. Notice your running stride, your breath, your level of effort. More than likely, you will be having the experience that you are running just as hard, or even harder, and yet it feels easier. And it can be. Why? Because your brain (which knows no difference between reality and a carefully crafted fantasy) is telling your body that you no longer are carrying the weight of this one additional thing in your life—and it is probably something you really don't want to do anyway!

Hey, what if you chose to follow this guidance? Even for a week or a day?! If you are even the least bit ready, I encourage you now, try it out! You deserve living and breathing space. Space to experience more of who you truly are: a divine being having a human experience!