Have you noticed how our messages and guidance from Spirit come in all shapes and sizes?
Sometimes they are direct transmissions, where we get images, words or feelings that nudge us in one direction or block us in another direction.
Sometimes we get a sudden “urge” to do something, and that lands us in the right place at the right time.
Sometimes we will see those messages through symbols, where certain numbers keep popping up, or where our attention is drawn to something quite random in our environment, and we realise it’s a symbolic message for us….or where a message appears in a dream.
And sometimes, our messages are relayed through a third party, such as the words of a song, or the voice of a fellow human traveller.
I was having a conversation recently with my spiritual teacher.
He began sharing something about his life which rang the “Ah Ha!” bell of truth in me.
“My wife wants me to come to bed earlier,” he said, “But I need that time to myself after I finish sessions and clearings.”
I realised that he values this solo time so much – in fact, it’s just as important to him as the amazing work he does helping others.
He uses this time to completely unplug from the human world and all its responsibilities. That tiny bit of space that he carves out for himself of an evening allows him to cleanse his own energy field, to remove any debris from the day’s sessions, and to plug into a Universal recharge socket so that he can refill his own cup (and therefore always give his best to others).
It reminds me of the yin/yang symbol – without the light, the dark can’t exist, and vice versa. In this analogy, the light is the “giving out” and the dark is the “emptiness and recharging”. They both co-exist in perfect harmony, neither being more important than the other.
This may sound like a very simple statement, and barely worthy of a mention. Yet to me, it was a lightning bolt through my consciousness.
I realised how apologetic and guilty I’ve felt about carving out time for myself. When I see how many people are struggling and in need, and how many projects I have on my plate, it’s easy to give 1000% all the time….until it’s not.
Because at some point, if we don’t take care of ourselves and make our own oxygen mask a priority, we can’t be there for others. A “weaker” version of ourselves may be there, but not our whole, vital, amazing self.
And it’s this “whole” self that is able to work far bigger miracles in the world than any weakened self can ever do.
So what does this have to do with a fluffy duck?
If you’ve read my last 2 blogs, Fluffy Duck & The Black Hole and Fluffy Duck & The Sad Ostrich, you will understand that we can live our life through the fluffy duck principles.
When something feels like a fluffy duck to us, ie. it’s something we crave doing in that moment, then our whole energy field is available to it. And when our whole energy field is available to it, we are focussed, productive, and that one activity produces a positive ripple effect in our life. And we’re as happy as a pig in mud!
But when we push ourselves to do something we just aren’t in the mood for at that moment, it just doesn’t flow.
I’ve seen that over and over in my life. When I write a Raw Divinity blog, if I write it because I “have” to, it sounds forced and the words don’t flow. I usually end up taking an equal amount of time another day and re-writing it from scratch.
What a waste of time!
So wouldn’t I be better to wait until I’m yearning to put my inner Universe down on paper (ie. when this blog is my happiest fluffy duck), and then I sit down and knock out an amazing blog in record time, with very few edits required because it was written from a space of joy?
Even the chores get done…and they get done when I am sooooo ready to do them, that I can focus and feel a great pleasure in knocking them off my “to do” list.
Sometimes, our fluffy duck needs to take a solo flight.
We need time to retreat from the world and enter a space of stillness, where we can unplug ourselves from our day-to-day life and allow ourselves to defrag and recharge.
At times, that stillness may be to sit beside the ocean and watch the waves roll in….or to relax into a deep meditation or yoga practice, and let all thoughts of the world fall away. We may even achieve it through strenuous activity out in nature, exhausting our body so that our mind can be free.
But sometimes our stillness is a timely stopgap in an otherwise busy life. It may not look as spiritual, yet its purpose is just as powerful.
Those are the times we sit on the couch watching some television, we head to a café to sip a latte, we carve out some time to potter around the house or garden and recreate our sanctuary, or we go on a happy adventure with our favourite animal (even if that is some dedicated cuddle time).
I notice how guilty I’ve always felt about taking non-spiritual time out.
I’ve lived my life from a place of purpose, always making every minute and every hour count. I’m here in service and I love changing lives, and there is no end of opportunities for that.
Yet when we always give out, life is out of balance. It’s like a tide that runs out, but isn’t given the chance to flow back in again to fill us up.
This past 6 weeks, I’ve been exploring the fluffy duck of “time out” and solo flights. And I’ve noticed that where my work has been intensely busy and demanding, so too have my needs for solitude.
I was recently on a trip to Fiji. I had won a place in this trip, and was there with many wonderful people that I know. Yet apart from attending the welcome dinner and farewell dinner, I bailed on every other activity that was planned.
Why? It was because my one and only fluffy duck kept calling me to stay in the hotel room and rest and recharge. So while my friends went out and explored Fiji and ate and swam and immersed themselves in the local culture, I followed my own fluffy duck on her solo flight….which was lying in bed, sleeping in, eating, watching a Netflix series, and keeping away from people.
I needed a break from the world, and that’s the gift that I gave myself.
So next time your fluffy duck wants to take a solo flight, what will you do? Will you justify that others need you and you just “can’t” take that time out….or will you embrace your fluffy duck with all your heart, and enjoy some serious (or not so serious) alone-time to refill your cup?
