Pie-eating Contest
July 15, 2021
Q: Have I lost momentum?
A: Momentum is speed in the same direction, increasing. Time part of the definition of momentum and, as time is but an illusion, so is momentum part of a deception. The ease with which one navigates life and its inherent struggles can definitely vary as one’s strength ebbs and flows but time' isn’t part of the equation for us. Momentum is better viewed as the word “moment” and “tum.” Moments must be cherished, relished, broken down in the tummy, digested. This experience of life is not a pie-eating contest in which quantity is the only deciding factor in one’s success—much less when compared to others. Comparison is the death of vitality and meaning. Finding one’s purpose can look like detours to the untrained eye but trust in navigating one’s emotions and the more “quiet” periods of life in which you don’t feel as much is happening or being accomplished is exactly where you need to be. Roadblocks and setbacks can often be as important as momentum when it comes to development of character and integrity. How you handle these is as much growth or more than, what is often marked by momentum—progress—visible/felt growth. Try to ascertain where the roadblocks may be—where you go in your head and emotions when things “slow down” and really see whether it is because you have slacked from your routine of spiritual care or whether the retardation—the “delay” as you see it—is simply a pregnant pause in which you can cherish the life growing inside the collective matrix before being birthed into the outside world to be seen, handled, cooed over. The intimacy between a woman and her growing, unborn child is a secret of sorts, a relationship that has begun already but one that sometimes the outside world is not yet acknowledging/beholding. Love the pregnant pauses because just like new parenthood, the ensuing flurry of activity and responsibility can sometimes feel like a lot. Continue to grow and be patient with yourself. Love the empty spaces for then they aren’t empty at all but rather opportunities to reflect, sit with, and serenade others with your gift of attention that might be otherwise used up if things were so busy, so hectic as to render you an unconscious observer of your own life experience.