“Time is of the essence.”, some say. “Knowing is half the battle.”, others say. “Make your mark.”, another common phrase. These simple roll off the tongue phrases are reflections and ideals that may be interpreted in a variety of ways depending on the context in which they are used. The conscious #interpretation may appear easily but the emotional layers of response change, revealing nuances in #beliefs, #values, and #impulses that drive #choices in the process to a desired outcome. Every path to a goal may be likened to our #InstinctualNature and learned skills like a #hunter or #gatherer seeking sustenance. The proverbial bow and arrow is a powerful symbol and #practice for getting close to what one wants, managing the impulses of #anticipation in order to focus on drawing the bow and releasing the #arrow to the heart of its mark, at just the right time. This #precision must be cultivated, not only left to chance. The skills for operating in unpredictable circumstances, no matter how familiar the terrain, are what expand one’s chances for success.
Anticipation for our #wants, #fears, and #curiosities is a primal #BehavioralResponse that becomes persistent #alertness and leads to action, in most cases. Anticipating opens the door to many emotional responses prior to, during, and after the call to attention and action. Even if these #EmotionalTides and conscious #speculation are subdued into the subconscious for the purposes of staying focused and acting, they are there to be sorted, released, and resolved in order to act at all or to find contentment after taking action, in some way. When the emotional cords from more intense experiences go unresolved, they incite further anticipation for similar circumstances while keeping the #MindAndBody connection from a sense of satisfaction or finality. When an individual does not acknowledge the behaviors that factored into an outcome, they decrease the opportunity to learn and practice effective behaviors as well as select out ineffective behaviors, misguided thoughts, and misdirected emotions. These un-witnessed or unattended elements are what most often lead to poor precision.
Finding the #StillnessWithin during the experience of anticipation helps one cultivate the skill of #patience. In this stillness, the flow of #awareness begins to allow broader implications of what is perceived in the environmental factors surrounding a goal or #intention. It also fine-tunes an individual’s focus on the best #strategies that become apparent in the path to achieving a desired outcome. If the #BestStrategies are not apparent, it gives an individual time and space to research new approaches, enlist the help of others, or clarify whether there is a need or desire to act, at all.
Without the capacity to subdue anticipation and the #CallToAction, an individual will struggle with the fall out of #ImpulsiveResponses, overcompensations, and unseen factors that mire holistic #perceptions of success. However, the experience of anticipation also exists as a catalyst in times of procrastination or ambivalence. It also reflects and augments #enthusiasm for enjoyment and relief. This is important to remember for those that perceive #anxiety, automatically, when a sense of anticipation occurs or cycles. Context will always clarify the role anticipation has to play when aligning intention and responses to circumstance.
Immediate responses can be successful and #empowering when they are informed by previous patterns of #cultivation in awareness of oneself, outside factors, the assessment of #StrategicChoices, and what becomes a practiced form of precision through embodied #wisdom and #instinct. Impulsive responses may be immediate but they lack the process of full assessment, clarity of intention for outcomes, and well-informed behaviors for #precision. Finding stillness in the eye of cyclical #anticipation engages the wisdom of #patience and total embodiment of a choice that may be executed at any pace one finds necessary with the holistic control of the mental, physical, and emotional body. Teachings of the Japanese Samurai and the book of “Bushido” are an excellent reference for considering the real and metaphorical value of strategy, centering oneself, and successfully resolving challenges in life. The same concerns for fighting #challenges and #adversaries outside ourselves must be mutually applied to the #InternalConflicts and barriers that arise within oneself.
The journey of life is a collection of many journeys within it. Remembering that a journey is a process with short-term and long-term effects, dictated by the trade-offs of one’s choices, is essential when the experience of anticipation arises and when it begins to feel persistent. You are the bow and your choices are the arrows. Clarity of vision, the balance of emotional tension and flow, confidence in the assessment of known and unknown factors, and the wisdom of direct or vicarious experiences are the power that leads the relationship of the bow and arrow as a unified force. The bend, the notches, the grains, the give and the resistance are all integrated into the artistry of the bow, itself. Your inherent qualities and learned behaviors as well as your dedication to practicing and forming connection with your abilities and #desires for #achievement are all apparent in the arc of your arrows to their intended or unintended mark, defined by #successes, near misses, and lost opportunities.
The art of anticipation, patience, and precision can be a fun and intriguing process. It requires the #curiosity to discover, the #discipline for #efficiency, and the focus to develop #strength for an invaluable life skill. It also requires #surrender to what an individual cannot see or does not know yet, along with #compassion for self when the bow resists or the arrow misses its mark. A successful #archer must get in closer to their intended goal, understand the nuances of nature, and the effect of oneself on the environment for proper alignment and #timing. Embracing the many layers of self through #MindfulAwareness and radical #accountability will unlock the evolving experience of #effortlessness, even though focused effort will always be required. This sense of #FocusedEffort is necessary #ToAct or #ToYield in the circumstances surrounding a desired goal. The effortlessness is a sensation that arises with familiarity to one’s abilities, confidence in the accuracy of one’s choices, and the caliber of successes through lived experience. A steady hand and an acute eye will show precision many times more than an emotionally charged impulse and blurred understandings of purpose toward a valued outcome.
Every archer must make the time and effort to learn how they operate in familiar and unknown circumstances. When gathering or hunting, it is essential to #ObserveAndLearn new environments or how familiar places have changed with the seasons. The landscape of belief, emotional awareness, and an individual’s #aptitude for connection to the intrinsic #resonance of an endeavor are #keys to understanding what is required to #align and achieve intended fulfillment. The balance of #perspective between a broader view of the land and the details layered within it that pose variables to navigate through to a goal is paramount for precision before one acts. This metaphor for perception applies to the external world as well as the terrain within oneself.
If an individual tends to see the #details, one must remember to step back, see the big picture, and weigh perceptions of value in the relationships of those details when filtering #fixations and discerning #meaning. If an individual tends to see the #BigPicture, one must remember to deepen into the network of intrinsic elements to define the #bias of one’s overview before dismissing their inherent value. Choosing one mode of perspective sets the heart and mind up to be snared by #illusion and #folly. Finding a balance between one’s bottom line perception and attachment to experiential details is essential to aligning with a well-informed truth as well as the choice to identify with that truth. Clarity and confidence in one’s truth aligns the #arrow for #precision. With the balanced #anticipation of an open heart and the #patience of a steady hand, the bow will bend with resilience through the #journey to achieve finality and #fulfillment in every season of life.
~As the wind builds and the landscape moves, find your center, and go within. Feel the rhythm of life’s tides swelling with anticipation and let your roots grow deep beneath the current until you sense solid ground to steady perspective. Harken your ear to the song of clarified intention and draw your bow with the wisdom of patience. Pivot and align in time, releasing the arrow, in the exhale of appreciation and creative inspiration.~
Excerpts from the Writings of Julie Hightman