The 2 x 4 Moment of Gratitude
Dear Soul Dive,
Allow me to define the 2 X 4 moment. You know those subtle taps? The gentle nudges from the angels, whispers from God and soft redirects from the universe? If you are one to hear those subtle invitations to see another path, live in greater purpose and choose more light, listen and respond, my hat is eternally off to you. But for most of us, myself at the top of this list, we aren’t so responsive to subtle. Enter the 2 X 4 moment. The moment where life slaps you upside the head, flattens you down to the earth and hits force quit on your world as you knew it - to the point you hardly recognize your own reflection in the mirror. Sound familiar? For good or bad, my highlight reel is chalked full of these 2 X 4 moments. It seems I’ve been deaf, dumb and blind to the gentle guidance from my ethereal tribe and so the big guy has had to pull in the big guns and pummel me down to the ground until I finally wake-up. Over. And over. And over again.
If you were in class with me on Saturday your 2 X 4 moment (or moments) might already be top of mind. For the rest of you, I’ll give you a second to align with one of life’s most uncomfortable, gut-wrenching experiences. The death, the divorce, the grief, the abandonment - the time where the door was so briskly slammed in your face it forced your body to ricochet back. The landings are hard. Nothing softens the blow of a 2 X 4 moment. And that’s exactly why they exist. They are a force quit, a divine reach down to lift you up and replace you back into your purpose - with a hope that the aftershocks are so strong you won’t go back to the way things were. So you wake-up, eyes with open and ears willing to listen.
We all have them because if I’ve learned nothing else, it is that no one - no matter the income, beauty or silver-spoon status - is immune to life creeping in and ripping the proverbial rug out from under your toes. The challenge doesn’t end with the awareness, healing and pulling yourself up off the ground. The challenge is only beginning with those things. The greatest challenge here is to find gratitude for the fact that the moment happened to begin with. Gratitude for your life before and your life after. That’s the thing with these completely life-altering moments. You were who you were walking in, and in a split moment in time, the person you’ll become after. I hardly recognize my 33 year-old self, and in fact, I’m pretty sure Alex 1.0 burned completely to the ground to make space for the 2.0 version you know today.
Thanksgiving week brings all the invitations for gratitude. It's easy to give thanks to the sunshine, beautiful food on the table, loving friends and the opportunity to connect. And by all means, please offer an abundance of gratitude for all your many many blessings. But my invitation to you is finding gratitude in the darkest, shadowy places. Can you be grateful for the 2 X 4 moment? Can you allow yourself to drop into the discomfort of reconnecting with the feelings of grief, guilt, shame, sadness and simply be with them. Allow them to cross into your mind and then breathe so deeply into each uncomfortable place that your exhales press these feelings on. When we allow ourselves to feel we have discipline over the thoughts to release. It’s a conscious decision, but it takes practice.
If we can practice being comfortable with the most uncomfortable parts of ourselves perhaps we can practice the art of listening a little more and connecting in with those subtle invitations to shift. Maybe we can hear the angels whisper and the soft tug of our palm as God guides us in another direction. At the end of the day, we practice listening so we don’t get blindsided, so we can stay aligned with our purpose and avoid the force that will inevitably happen if we stray too far from our path.
2 X 4 moments are exhausting, traumatic and leave us depleted and in need of soul-reviving life-support. If we could simply slow down, tune in and listen, perhaps we could save ourselves the trouble of going through all the drama in the first place.
I have faith in you, soul fam. We can practice the art of listening and allow the time on our mat to gently lift up the mirror and support our journey. In the meantime, be grateful for all the things that got you here. You’ve arrived, you are healing and there is absolutely nothing wrong with you.
Join our Gratitude Flow with Lisa at 10am on Thanksgiving!
Saturday, November 25th is Small Business Saturday!
Come practice with Alex and 10am and stay after to shop!
We are are participating in the Small Business Saturday Scavenger Hunt and hope you’ll spend some time hopping around to the lovely and locally owned boutiques along El Paseo.
With love and an abundance of gratitude,