Wonder Woman

I am not Wonder Woman. He tells me that every now and then. I have a tendency to commit to causes, projects and people, keeping my schedule full and my body and mind in continuous motion. I refuse to say that I am stressed, ask for help, admit that I am overwhelmed or quit anything or anyone that I have made a commitment to. He sees what I put myself through and lovingly warns me that, at some point, something will give. It does and, when it does, it is usually my health, my personal projects or my writing.

We try to be Wonder People trying to help everyone and every cause. I am not alone. Why do we do this? Why do we spread ourselves too thin? Maybe we are afraid. Maybe we don't want to disappoint.    Sometimes I get so excited about an idea being presented to me that I just can't say no when asked to be a part of it. It all comes from a place of eagerness, yet also from a lack of faith and from a place of fear. We forget that we don't have to prove what we can do or what we know. We say yes fearing that another opportunity will not come around. It is also arrogance stemming from that fearfulness. We think that no one else can or will carry the idea through. We forget that sometimes our meeting with an idea begs of us to simply encourage and enjoy it.

Image from drawingforkids.org

Today came full of complications that affected most of my plans for the day and, consequently, the projects I am involved in. Rather than giving in in frustration, or struggling against every obstacle, I surrendered to the flow. "I am not Wonder Woman," I chanted as my mantra. I have many gifts, many talents, a path and a purpose. As long as I stay true to those and to my deepest desires I am able to make commitments that I can keep without difficulty, constant striving and struggle. "You are wonderful...a wonderful woman," he says, even if I am not an amazonian warrior princess. He is right.

We are wonderful when we make decisions from our True Selves rather than from our anxious egos. When we commit to causes, projects and people from our wellspring of clarity, spiritual power, knowing, belief...from our essential nature, Universal forces join to give us direction, strength, awareness, knowledge, stamina, time, the ways and the means to do what are meant to do. To know what we are meant to do, we need to tune out and tune in. True heroism involves authenticity and the courage to commit to what we are really passionate about, forgoing all other great ideas. We tune in to our heroic selves in silence and stillness, asking ourselves over and over what we want, what we are meant to do, what is our purpose. Without a doubt, we begin to know, understand and move in that direction. We start rising to our best selves, doing wonderful things, joyfully, and becoming the wonderful beings we are deep inside.