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Diane Dreher's Tao of Inner Peace Blog

The Lesson of Trust

The Tao Te Ching says, "The wisest person trusts the process"

                                                                 (Tao chapter 2).

 

Trust

that's been a difficult lesson for me.

 

When I was growing up, The world was constantly shifting beneath my feet.

My father was in the Air Force and we moved all the time, leaving familiar places and all my friends behind.

My mother was beautiful, charming--and unreliable, making promises, then changing her mind. I was never sure of her affection and approval.

 

So I learned to be defensively independent.

I learned to care and help others but afraid to ask for help and then be disappointed.

 

Today I am learning to trust the process

One small step at a time.

 

Asking for what I need has become a spiritual exercise

In a process of giving and receiving, a cycle of yin and yang.

 

If you've been struggling with trust in your own life, then join me in this brief meditation.

 

Take a long, deep mindful breath and release it.

Continuing to breathe slowly and deeply

Ask yourself, "Is there an area of my life where I've been stuck?" "Where I've been afraid to trust?"

Then ask, "What would it look like to trust the process?"

 

What is one small step you can take--just one?

 

Taking another slow deep breath, and slowly releasing it

See yourself taking that step.

 

If that step is successful, how does it feel? Smile and embrace that feeling

If that step doesn't work out, how do you feel and what can you learn from it?

 

What can you do next?  How can you take the next step?

 

It's a process

Moving forward

Just one small step at a time.

 

For as the Tao Te Ching tells us,

"The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

                                                                (Tao, chapter 64)

 

I wish you courage, trust, and joy on the path.

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