DailyOM - "Contracting Before Expanding"

I subscribe to the DailyOm, and for the attractive price of zero dollars, each weekday I receive a thinking prompt. Often, I skim through it because I don't feel connected to the topic, but sometimes... wow. And a couple of days ago, the message felt spot-on targeted directly to me.

Contracting before Expanding

It is a natural part of being, that our lives sometimes contract before expanding. Sometimes our lives contract before they expand. We may be working hard on ourselves spiritually, doing good in the world, following our dreams, and wondering why we are still facing constrictions of all kinds -- financial, emotional, physical. Perhaps we even feel as if we've lost our spirituality and are stuck in a dark room with no windows. We may be confused and discouraged by what appears to be a lack of progress. But sometimes this is the way things work. Like a caterpillar that confines itself to a tiny cocoon before it grows wings and flies, we are experiencing the darkness before the dawn.   When things feel tight, it's easy to panic or want to act in some way to ease the feeling of constriction. We might also spin our wheels mentally, trying to understand why things are the way they are. However, there is nothing we need to do at this time other than to be patient and persevering. We can cling to the awareness that we are processing the shift from one stage to another, and the more we surrender to the experience, the more quickly we will move through the tightness into the opening on the other side.

I recently stepped back from Facebook for two reasons. One, I need to spend some time focused on my own emotional and mental wellbeing and not just worried about helping and supporting everyone else. And two, I want to work on my course content for upcoming webinars. But I've been struggling with my own mood and with staying on track with the work. And then I got this DailyOM email and the words resonated so strongly with me. Yes, it feels like I have contracted and my world got smaller. But that's okay and even to be expected. I have turned my energy inward and I'm concentrating everything on two tasks. I don't need to worry that my absence from the spaces I normally occupy are somehow permanent. Everything I know and love will still be there waiting when I return. And that helps me focus even more intently now on the work I really feel called to do.