Consolidation Period

Have you ever felt like you've fallen into a rut and things don't seem like they're progressing very much?  I think it happens to all of us, and this situation used to create quite a bit of anxiety in my life. Since I started the "Daily Practice," I've come to understand that these periods of apparent stagnation generally represent a consolidation period.  Progress is being made, even if it's not apparent to me that it's happening.

To explain this belief, I guess I have to go back a bit and let you in on some of my underlying assumptions. The chief assumption I make is that no matter what's happening, the universe will conspire with you to make you successful.  Actually, the universe is always working with you for your success, but it will conspire with you if you let it.  To conspire with the universe you only have to have two things. You have to be willing to listen, and you have be a little bit patient.

Earlier in my life, my chief problems came about because I wasn't listening, and I definitely wasn't very patient.  Oh, I told myself I was open minded and had the patience of Job, but the reality was I'd shut myself off from the opportunities the universe was bringing to me and I was chafing at the bit for things to happen along a timeframe that I'd determined was right and proper.

The Universe Speaks - Anacostia River Sunrise - Washington, DC

I'd shut myself off from any suggestions that were being communicated my way, and I was following my own path with my own timeline.  That's a hard row to hoe, and fortunately for me, the universe in it's wisdom has taken me down from my towering ignorance and arrogance a notch or two.  In the last four years, I've been forced to admit I had a serious behavioral problem, we suffered the death of a child, I missed a promotion, and we were evicted from a very comfortable housing situation through no fault of our own.  I'm hard headed it seems, so it took quite a bit to wake me up to reality. The universe progressed from the kind whisper it normally uses to direct our lives to a full throated scream. It also woke me up, and I'm fortunate that through the work of folks like James Altucher, I'm in the middle (the foggy middle) of coming out of the end of my previous experience.  

During this middle a foggy phase of a transition, I've found that there are periods of consolidation.  They don't last long, and if I don't give up (the daily practice helps with that) I find that the universe has been working in the background on things that needed to line up that if I listen will conspire with me to make me successful.

I don't know what the outcome of all this is going to be, but I know that if I'm patient and I listen there will be opportunities presented to me that I have not yet been able to even imagine.

Consolidation Period

With the foot fracture coupled with the snow days and late arrivals this week has felt like a bit of a consolidation period.  There are certainly some things that I need to move forward, but it just doesn't seem like the time is right to really strike out in earnest on any of them. Based on my walking, I'm pretty sure this isn't true since there really is no better time than the present to start making some incremental progress in a number of areas.

Some of those things are things that I just don't want to do, and I'm not really sure why I feel that way. Perhaps it's the winter, and I'm fallen into the trap of a bit of a malaise.  It's time to do something even if it's wrong as Rory Conlan has suggested in the past.

One twelfth of the year is just about in the bag, and the last two weeks as thrown a spanner in the works in a number of areas for me.  The rest is just waiting for the future to be revealed in the fullness of time.

Time to strike out in new directions.

Another Consolidation Day

Today seemed to be another consolidation day.  Sitting quietly, working, and walking took up the better portion of the day.  Spent some time speaking with Rory.  It was good.

I'm going to bend one of the soft rules that I've had since beginning more regular postings.  I'm going to post some not contemporary photos.  These shots are of the reflected bit of the sunset from Sunday.  They weren't delivered by Google until Monday morning, and yesterday, I just forgot about them.  Here they are...the photos from a few days ago.

Severn River at Sunset

The sky and the reflected colors on the water are a pretty true representation of what I observed.

Severn River at Sunset with Triton Light in the Foreground to the Left

To catch Triton Light in mid-flash took a couple of tries and some quick deletions before Google came through with the panorama.  I really like this shot because it captures the light, the sea wall, the ELF antennas, and what used to be the David Taylor Research Center all in one shot.  There is a lot of history in the frame.

Capitol Building from the West Side

These two photos are contemporary from this evening.  Nothing really earth shattering here. Some more panoramic shots of the Capitol Building.

Capitol Building from the North East Side

I'm looking forward to the day that the scaffolding is finally removed after the restoration work is complete. The tarps have come down, so progress seems to be moving along according to the general timeline reported in this helpful primer by the Architect of the Capitol (AOC).