Living in the In-Between

The struggle to stay in the moment is a life long practice. It seems like there is a magnet with the polars ends either being the past or future. The polar ends are always pulling at us to leave this present moment. I think this is the same with emotions and attitudes. This gap creates a wake of contrast that can be beautiful. 

This contrast is most visible when you look at moments that create an avalanche of emotions. If you have children, think of the times where they are so full of life that it creates chaos, life, joy, frustration, angry all in a span of 10 minutes. This energy can be enormous and certainly anxiety provoking. It can be beautiful chaos. 

I believe that we start out life with an idea of how it is supposed to work and along the way we begin to see things differently. It either happens gradually or abruptly. Either way, it provides us with the opportunity to regain that childlike faith. I liken this quest to recovery. Recovery doesn't have to be so much about recovery from a certain drug but more about recovering one's heart.

Life and recovery is about learning to live being uncomfortable. It is accepting and living in the contrast. The contrast of glad / sad, joy / sorrow, hope / despair, courage / meekness. We so often strive to have the positive side and flee from the negative all the while missing living in the in-between. Life in the in-between is a picture of surrender.

It is a surrender with hope still at bay. It is grieved gratitude. It is a picture of the already and the not yet. This picture beckons us to wait...as if we are still in the pains of labor...longing for our dream to be realized. The challenge is to see that life is happening and learning to wait and see.