We come from love and we return to love.  Love and wholeness are our birthright.  But when we are suffering, it can seem like our suffering will never end.  Love, life, hope…all seem to be too flowery, wimpy, or way far off and unavailable.

The ocean offers a great metaphor for how we can navigate the waters of suffering:
Think of suffering as a wave. Regard your anxious thoughts, your bouts of anger, your grief late at night…all as waves.

Sometimes your grief can seem like a wave that goes on forever.  Sometimes your anger seems like a wave that tosses you around.  Sometimes your anxiety feels like a wave that washes over you several times a day.  But…it is a wave.  And it belongs to the ocean.  It rises from (and in) the ocean, and it returns to the ocean.

There is something within you that is bigger than the wave, that holds the wave.  There is something within you that is the ocean.  Call it Self or God…whatever language resonates with you.  But YOU are the ocean. The Love and Light that is within you – that is the ocean.  The “voice within”, the Spirit within, the Sacred Space within you – this is the ocean.  The waves are a part of you, but you are much more than the waves.  You are the ocean.

You call forth the waves.  You call them back to you.  They belong to you.  They may rise and cause some commotion on the surface.  But your deep waters know a deeper truth than the illusion you are temporarily believing in the middle of experiencing a wave.

Go to these deep waters when you are suffering.  Trust the gem of wisdom these deep waters speak to you.  Find a steadiness here that is a refreshing relief from the surface waters that change with every shift in your emotional weather system.

And ultimately, you will experience and know in your bones, you are the ocean.  You are love.  And it is Love that will have the final say, no matter how strong or long the wave of suffering.

The next time you experience an unpleasant wave and you are suffering, say to yourself:  “I remember now that I am the ocean.”  And watch the wave rise, fall, and return back to you as the ocean. 

It sounds simple.  And it is.  But it’s not easy.  When we are suffering, everything in us wants to tighten up, get control, get a grip.  It takes conscious, mindfulness effort to remember to soften and say to ourselves, “I am not only this wave.  I am the ocean.”  And it takes discipline to say it again and again and again in the throws of the habitual waves we are used to experiencing.  So take heart.  Be gentle with yourself.

*Need support in riding the waves?  I can support you with my style of life coaching – “Compassion Coaching.”  Over the phone, over skype, or in person, I work with folks who want to live with more delight, compassion, and connection in their everyday lives…waves and all!  This summer, I have a few spots open.  Maybe it’s time for you to invest in YOU — so that you can then BE the ocean for your dear ones.  Contact me to learn more or ask questions.  Let’s have you resourced and living your life from a sacred place within you.