Finding Your Balance in the Storm: An Invitation to Rise
Right now, many of us are living in a time of uncertainty—a kind of turbulence that stirs fear, discomfort, and disconnection. And yet, even amid all this swirling change, there’s a deeper truth we can hold onto: we are not human beings having a spiritual experience — we are spiritual beings having a human experience. It's my favorite quote, by Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.
When fear rises, our bodies respond—tightening, bracing, preparing for battle. We shift into fight or flight, and if we stay there too long, we become stuck in a toxic loop: the more we worry, the more stressed and unwell we become. But we have a choice. We can learn to notice the signs—racing thoughts, tense muscles, shallow breath—and lovingly guide ourselves back to balance.
Certainty, while comforting, can also be the enemy of growth. When we cling to the idea that we "know" how things will turn out, we shut the door on possibility. We close our hearts to tolerance, acceptance, and expansion. Real resilience is born when we surrender certainty and open ourselves to curiosity, to wonder, to the possibility that life may yet surprise us.
This is the spiritual practice of our times:
To get comfortable being uncomfortable.
To explore where emotions live in our bodies—and befriend them.
To pause, breathe, and choose how we respond rather than react.
To gently put on our "oxygen mask" first, tending to our inner world so we can show up wisely for the outer one.
How do we navigate through chaos? We create inner seatbelts—practices of attention, recovery, and restoration that keep us buoyant even when life feels stormy. We build new habits that nourish rather than deplete. We stay curious about our own emotions, thought patterns, and bodily signals.
And most of all, we remember: how we show up in this time of history matters. How we show up in our families, our workplaces, our communities—it matters. What energy we bring to our conversations, our choices, our presence—it matters. Are we being part of the healing, or part of the harm? Are we carrying the energy of hope, or the heaviness of dread?
There is so much opportunity for growth right now—growth in patience, compassion, skillfulness, resilience, and wisdom. It starts with values. Not political beliefs, not dogmas, but the core values that light our path: kindness, courage, openness, truthfulness, grace.
When we live according to our truest values, we create a personal narrative that uplifts, not drags us down. We float through turbulence, not because life is easy, but because we’ve become buoyant—soft, strong, and surrendered at the same time.
You don’t have to be tossed around by life’s storms.
You can rise.
You can heal.
You can create a magnificent human experience—and in doing so, help raise our shared humanity.
Let’s walk this journey together.
With warmth and hope,
Cheryl