Every assignment – grand or tiny should enlighten you.  All you have is this moment.  And if this moment is frightening, boring, unmanageable, unwanted, uncomfortable, excruciating, painful, or bland – well then – RENEW!

There is a concept that my yoga teacher has shared with me on more than one occasion – “Beginner’s Mind”

Learning to approach every moment in this way is a great form of renewal.  Otherwise, you will likely find yourself stuck in old patterns of reaction that are merely a product of old worn our belief systems.  Destroying and forgetting what you did before is what allows you to carry on and create new things.  A new life, a new project, a new business venture, or a new job.  Maybe even a new relationship with a loved one.

This is the essence of life.

During winter time, especially here in Wisconsin in February, it is often difficult to find that sense of renewal amidst the dead and frozen landscape.  And this makes it tough to see new life.  Even though it is there, only waiting for the sun to burn a little warmer so that it can rise.  The same holds true for your spirit.   Life and contentment reside within you ALL the time.  The challenge is in your ability to heat it up when it goes cold and lies dormant, often keeping you awake at night.

Tackling even a novel task that is new to you creates new synapses.  This is one of the reasons regular exercise is so good for you.  Your body is forced to renew during every workout, especially during your recovery.  And every one of those workouts brings fresh blood, oxygen, and nutrients to cells that were dormant until you moved them.  Every one of your new movements, thoughts, and actions, creates out of no where an electrical impulse that moves you.

Spring is coming, and I can sense my own need for renewal, and a deeply rooted drive to carry it forward like a running back into the end zone.  I don’t look forward to the hits I’ll take along the way, but there’s glory in the end and along thw way…