For most of us, the spiritual path is a path of hills and valleys, of what might feel like successes and failures. There are times when we feel like we aren’t doing good enough. Maybe we plan not to get angry, and then we get really angry. Maybe we plan to remember our Course lesson throughout the day, and then we forget about it for most of the day. Maybe we plan to meditate, and we fall asleep. Maybe it’s something else, but it seems there are opportunities to judge ourselves as not doing well enough.
One of my favorite quotes is from the movie, “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel.” Here’s the quote:
“Everything will be alright in the end, so if it’s not yet alright, it’s not yet the end.”
I noticed there was a similar quote near the end of the meta-secret film we are watching this week. In that movie one of the speakers said, “Failures are not final.”
That’s really an incredible concept, if you contemplate it. It means that if we haven’t achieved the successful end, we are simply still in process. We are learning, growing, and moving toward our goal.
There is great power in trusting everything, in trusting the entire process exactly as it happens for us.
This time-lapse video of flowers blooming is a great symbol of the awakening process. Notice how some of the flowers open up right away, some seem to open and close as part of the blooming process, and others bloom one layer at a time. Also notice that no matter what the process looks like for these flowers, each and every one of them blooms. Once the process starts, the end is certain.
Notice how perfect and beautiful the blooming process is for every one of these flowers. Our processes are just as perfect just as they are happening. I like watching this video in full screen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xW_AsV7k42o&feature=youtu.be