Working for Good Principle: Arriving

“We must not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we began and to know the place for the first time.” ~ T.S. EliotnnToday is my 51st birthday, another pause for reflection. One way of looking at it, is as the first day of the second half of my life. Pretty encouraging! This feels like a good opportunity to reflect on the principle of Arriving.nnI vividly remember one day when my daughter Meryl Fé was 8. As was often the case, I was in somewhat of a hurry, and needed to get her moving, out of the house, to the car, and on the road. The more anxious I was about leaving, the slower she moved. The more I beseeched her, the more belligerent she became. Until she finally said something to the effect of, “Dad, if you want me to move, then connect with me first. Don’t just try to pull me along.” Needless to say, that was like having a bucket of ice cold water dumped on my head. I immediately stopped, took a breath, got down onto my knees so I could be eye to eye with her, apologized, then told her how I was feeling, and that we needed to get going for very specific reasons. I then asked her if she understood and if she had any questions, thoughts, or feelings. She responded that she didn’t, and said, “let’s go!” which we did, with ease, joy, and great flow.nnTo go somewhere, you’ve got to start from somewhere. The place we start from is always the same. Right here. And the time of our departure is always the same. Right now. We can only start from right here, right now. And while we may be able to fool ourselves that we can begin without arriving here and now first, as my experience with Meryl Fé illustrates, this illusion is easily shattered when we try to do so with others.nnConnecting with our breath, our bodies, other people; welcoming, greeting, acknowledging; clearly articulating our intentions, objectives, and agendas can support us to arrive to right here and right now, and prepare the ground for moving with flow.nn“A good traveler has no fixed plans, and is not intent on arriving.” ~ Lao TzunnWishing you a rich and rewarding journey!nnYours in Working for Good,nnnJeffn nnwww.workingforgood.com