"At the Center of Your Being, You Have the Answer..."

“At the center of your being, you have the answer — you know who you are, and you know what you want.” Attributed to Lao Tzu, Ancient Chinese Philosopher and founder of Taoism

As we enter the New Year, our wont is to look forward and outward, to strive for new and improved versions of ourselves by resolving to exercise more, eat healthier, read more, travel more, learn a new language, improve our memory, or be the person our pets think us to be. These are all noble pursuits, yet they are aimed at the external and physical aspects of ourselves and our lives.

Conversely, our January Soul Matters theme of “Living with Intention” suggests that perhaps this year our resolve should be to live with more intention, calling us to reach inward and get to know better the authentic self that dwells at the center of our being. The self that needs no improvement. The self that as Lao Tzu says, has the answers — that aspect of ourselves we were stamped with when we came into the world — the self that knows.

So many of us in our congregation have more years behind us than in front of us. That said, has all that living made us wise, happy, kind, and comfortable in our being? Or does it feel like something’s missing or that there is something we have yet to discover about ourselves? Has all our living left us with a sense of being internally aligned with the self that knows — the self that observes and knows what is authentic and valuable in our life?

When I worked for the FDIC, I enjoyed the work and was successful at it. However, when people close to me would ask how I my career was going, I could never say wholeheartedly that I loved it. I never pictured myself doing that work for the rest of my days. Now I look back and realize my reservations emanated from the deep knowledge that my vocation and my deepest self were misaligned.

In engaging intentional living this month, I am not suggesting we spend one minute wondering if we made the right career choice, especially post-retirement. However, I am suggesting that in this “in-between time” of year, between the old and the new year — between darkness and light — between busyness and business as usual — we pause, spending some decidedly unproductive time in quiet openness to the moment, to be still long enough for the part of us that knows to speak and be heard.

Perhaps in the process, we may discover for ourselves how to live our lives a little more authentically. What we discover will likely not be earth-shattering or mind-blowing but rather an ah-ha moment that might bring a little more happiness into our lives. Goodness knows we need a bit of unshakable happiness as we face yet another COVID winter.

In Faith and Love,

Reverend Kathy

From the January 2022 issue of "The Jotter" - the newsletter of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Ormond Beach, Florida, edited by Carolyn West. Link to the website version: https://www.uuormond.info/the-jotter-maf/january-2022-jotter/