The inertia of my long winter break has a gravity that I find very inviting.  It is easy to want to stay at home in my robe and slippers; in fact it isn’t something I can talk myself out of desiring.

Last night I asked myself if there were any job in the world I would feel like going back to after my year-end break.  I could not think of one.  If Professional Netflix Watcher were a job I would probably be okay with going back to that, and do quite well, but that is not (yet) in the realm of possibility.

I had two extra days off from work because of the bitter cold here in Chicago, and while I relished the prolonged period of rest, I found that my anxiety about returning to everyday life grew. The inertia of stagnation is powerful.  This object needed a force to act upon it.

I decided to commit to listening to another round of “Deepak Chopra’s 21 Day Meditation Challenge,” since any step forward would begin to create my future.  While my winter break mentality still lingers quietly in the periphery of my consciousness I can act upon my own state of being by taking just one small positive action at a time.

There is nothing too flashy or exciting about spiritual growth from the outside.  In fact everything on the outside seems to get a little bit quieter, even slower.  The same is true of the inner experience of spiritual growth at times when you are making the quiet effort to regain balance in life.  During today’s meditation the voice in my head was noisy, my eyes even fluttered open a few times.  There were no flashes of enlightenment or miraculous insights.

This is the quiet road to experiencing the true, inherent fullness of life.  It is in these internal pursuits that the real work of your soul, with its experiences, karmic obligations, and purposes can come to fruition.  The blossoming of your full potential is made possible by faithful tending to your inner state.  When you ask what lesson you are meant to learn in each life experience, you set yourself on the road to “graduation.”  You embark on the path of your reason for being.

In this small moment in my life where I am gently being guided back to balance I am reminded that the only necessary step is this one step.  What happens next, what will be required of me, is not my business.   My business is the present moment.

Whether it is focusing too much on “the big picture” or losing focus altogether that is causing stagnation in your life, choose one small step to gift to yourself.  Each conscious attempt truly will be a gift to your life, and the lives of everyone else, whom you are intrinsically connected to.