Noel’s Reviews > Hope Leans Forward: Braving Your Way toward Simplicity, Awakening, and Peace > Status Update
Noel
is on page 217 of 275
A powerful metaphor for the spirit or soul element of living a genuine and authentic life sits on my desk: matryoshka dolls, sometimes called Russian nesting dolls. They speak of the ever-deepening quality of spiritual and soulful awakening, of layers revealed. To explore spirit is to risk those layers becoming visible: there is always a part of the inner journey we are not fully awake to or aware of.
— Sep 16, 2023 11:57AM
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Noel’s Previous Updates
Noel
is on page 256 of 275
Walking seems to “solve” whatever might be holding me captive in the moment. Walking is a way to cultivate wisdom grounded in the body and alive to the environment in the moment.
— Sep 17, 2023 10:20AM
Noel
is on page 256 of 275
One of the most beautiful ways that I know to come home to myself is through walking. Often when I am wrestling with choices and challenges, with a sense of purpose, direction, and meaning, I go outside on a long walk. I put the worries and choices aside to allow them air to breathe, to rediscover the wisdom that is already here that I cannot see or feel.
— Sep 17, 2023 10:19AM
Noel
is on page 245 of 275
Many of us confuse goal-setting with life purpose. Having a sense of purpose contributes to meaning in life, and meaning is about what matters most to you. It guides the direction of your life, which changes over time. Living purposefully is living your values—to reflect, understand, and align your values with your actions.
— Sep 17, 2023 10:19AM
Noel
is on page 242 of 275
You belong to you. Like ocean glass, you are formed by the world around you. You belong to the community of humans, plants, and animals that share this planet. Allow everything that comes your way, like the wind and waves that shape glass to a frosted, polished surface, to reshape your heart until you become a fuller, richer, more alive expression of you.
— Sep 17, 2023 10:18AM
Noel
is on page 242 of 275
To belong to community and with others, we must first belong to ourselves. Accept yourself. Find yourself. Be kind to yourself, and then find others to share the feeling.
— Sep 17, 2023 10:18AM
Noel
is on page 220 of 275
To practice equanimity is to reorient toward our strengths and find what supports us. It is about attending to painful life events and reshaping our stories of loss into stories of meaning. It is about moving from what bad thing happened to you to who you choose to become because of it.
— Sep 16, 2023 12:19PM
Noel
is on page 218 of 275
A soul-centered life may not always feel good, but it always feels real. We reach out and keep reaching out with our uncertainty, our ambiguity, and our unresolved longing. And when we offer acceptance of that which is hidden within us, of our longing, this is like a seed in the wind that finds a fertile place to take hold. Risking your heart, risking again and again to love, reveals the soul.
— Sep 16, 2023 12:05PM
Noel
is on page 210 of 275
Sometimes we can get attached to or stuck on practicing meditation to achieve enlightenment or some other goal. Mindfulness is deeper than striving for goals, even great goals. Instead, a foundational element of mindfulness is nonjudgmental awareness. We reframe our stance to one of openness and curiosity, non-attachment, non-clinging even to a goal.
— Sep 16, 2023 11:41AM
Noel
is on page 206 of 275
Truth telling is about not just doing our best but about giving ourselves space. It's not about getting rid of the feelings of loneliness, half-belonging, self-doubt, or isolation but about befriending them. Truth telling acknowledges the hairy monster of striving to succeed, to prove myself, to perform even when conditions beg for ease, cry out for softness, tenderness, and space.
— Jul 07, 2023 03:58PM
Noel
is on page 205 of 275
Truth telling is essential to healing ourselves and healing the world. It is about waking up from the social conditioning that keeps us on the hamster wheel of productivity, perfectionism, and performance. It's not that those things aren't important, but through my own life, I've discovered these have been way out of alignment with living authentically.
— Jul 07, 2023 03:55PM
