Fragile moment

“We are always at the beginning of things, in the fragile moment that holds the power of life. We are always at the morning of the world.”
- Francois Cheng

Every moment, with awareness of now, brings a new beginning. There is no reason why today should be like yesterday, or the next hour like the last. It is only the mind that extrapolates from the past, because it cannot know the future. The mind is a great and helpful instrument, yet the power of creation and the choice of action lie deep in my soul, where I feel guided by an alchemy of intuition and integrity.

There are times that I feel tested, like a sword being put into a fire. It is not a pleasant feeling, for sure. The past weeks of high pressure at the work place have inflicted a toll. My attitude and response-ability under stress showed up, as if someone was holding a mirror in front of me and I could see the cracks and impurities clearly. There was no one else to blame for the situation than myself. Yet I realized that reflecting on victim-itis has always been an exercise in futility.

I took a step back and looked at the whole mirror, not just the cracks. I thought of Jim Paredes’ rules of tapping the creative universe, starting with Show Up, and Pay Attention, and then to observe the “dots” connecting in ways not seen before.

At that point, a friend sent me a link to Steve Pavlina’s post How to Be a Man. I found the piece of exceptional value and a joy to read.

Steve’s first point is about men understanding and respecting the power of choice. “He lives a life of his own creation.” And his third point also held a reminder for me: “A man grows more from failure than he does from success. Success cannot test his resolve in the way that failure can. Success has its challenges, but a man learns more about himself when he takes on challenges that involve risk.”

These points certainly applied to my pressure at work, which was of my own making by taking on a challenging project with little time to complete preparations. And I realized that this had been the right thing for me to do, and that I would not be put down if the project or a part of it would not succeed.

“When a man plays it safe, his vitality is lost, and he loses his edge,” concluded Steve.

I got a kick out of that, as I realized that courage and persistence are two of my most valuable allies, and that I could choose to apply them in any fragile moment to unleash the power of life.

PS: Steve Pavlina's sequel How to Be a Woman was written by 52 women.

Photograph: Sun in Intramuros, Manila.