Mastery = Vision + Will + Trust + Release

Originally published September 20th, 2019 in Medium.com’s Change Your Mind, Change Your Life.

We are manifesting beings capable of mastery

I imagine being a huge eagle, soaring, almost effortless, catching the currents of wind, playing, trusting the currents. My wings are spread wide. The breeze is cool. I twist and turn and glide, enjoying my buoyancy. Far in the distance, I see a rabbit moving. There is no hiding from me, for I have extraordinary vision. I have mastery.

To live life like that. With ease and grace. With mastery and trust. It is a goal of mine.

I think about crisis mode. The woman who runs to lift a car off of her child. The rush of adrenaline. The inhuman boost. The collapse, exhaustion, and relief when the child has been rescued. While this is a one-time occurrence, sometimes we live in an ongoing state of crisis. It is as if what life brings us causes us to stay in a crisis state.

There is a stark contrast between the natural mastery of the eagle and the moment of crisis that occurs in an endless feedback loop and runs our lives. Living out of emergency is difficult on the body, the mind, the emotions, the soul. It leaves us no space and no room to play and stamps out our vision. There is no breath left with which to be.

Yesterday the water in front of my house was violent. Whitecaps. The waves crashed against the shoreline. Sailboats rocking violently side to side, their masts swaying. Today, it is smooth, looking almost like gray-blue silk. The white of the sailboats popping as the sun hits them.

My life. I want it to be smooth. I want to be the eagle playing in the currents of wind, enjoying the freedom, the master of myself, and my world.

Maybe it all just is, with moments of significant energy expenditure like the woman lifting the car and moments of peace, like the water in front of my house which so rough yesterday, is smooth as silk today.

Choice

How do we choose? How do we learn to both go with the flow and also master our environment? How do we step out of crisis mode and into a more masterful life?

I don’t know the answer in an exact way, but I can feel it. I can feel the breeze on my imaginary outstretched wings ruffling my feathers. I feel it as I am playing in and resting on it. I feel the thrill of the twists and loops as I navigate easily through the tapestry of currents. And I can feel the unending sense of stress and emergency. I am aware of the difference between the space of the eagle and the constriction of crisis.

I know what my path has been. It has been rough. I’ve had to focus on gaining mastery. Mastery of myself. Mastery in engaging with my environment. The mastery of knowing I can do what I think I can do — meaning if I can imagine it, I can make it happen. That is vision and will. Pulling those two things together.

And now I add in trust. Trusting my vision. Believing that I am supported by a kind universe (that sometimes does not feel kind). My path has taught me to focus on and integrate these elements into my way of being.

I’ve had to unravel bit by bit the emotional entanglements in my psyche. So I don’t panic, don’t worry, don’t fall into despair, desperation, or depression. So I don’t get caught in negative thinking patterns. So I begin to both trust and also master my thinking and feeling processes.

I learn step by step that I can master my thoughts, soothe my emotions. I’m not soaring quite yet, but I’m starting to play in the currents. And my vision is getting sharper. Like the eagle.

I’ve learned how to make things happen in this world. I’ve learned to visualize the outcome I want and then take the steps that I need to allow my dreams to manifest. Sometimes those steps are difficult. Sometimes what is being asked of me feels like too much.

At times I feel as if I am carrying the world. Like the woman picking up the car. But carrying the world isn’t over in a moment. The stress of it continues on until I put the world down. Until I say, “I will do my part, and I will do my best, but I am also going to trust that I will be held by the currents and release this.”

It is a big world and an expansive life. Can you soar? Can you play as you fly and enjoy the feeling of mastery? Do you know where to start?

Vision

I have the capacity of imagination and of seeing what I desire. This first step of vision sets a course for me. I cannot manifest what I cannot see. Once I see, whether it is the internal vision of seeing into my psyche, or another person’s or situation, or an external image of something I would like to happen, I can then begin to tackle the steps needed to make that vision become a reality.

To take a simple example, I might envision myself learning to drive a boat. That is the first step. After that, I would have to get a boat and most likely take lessons. But it started with the vision. Without the vision, nothing can be born.

Will

What is will? Resolve, determination. Our will begins to show itself during the terrible twos. “No,” we say resoundingly. We learn no before we learn yes. Yes is the other side of our will. “Yes, I will make this happen.”

Will is the engine that follows the path created by the vision. Will allows me to persevere and put energy into manifesting my vision.

Trust

The other side of fear is trust. Without trust, we can end up like Sisyphus, rolling the rock up the hill and over and over and having it tumble back down on top of us. We may have a vision of the rock on the top of the mountain. We may have the will to attempt to get it there. But do we have the trust to soften from the hardness of pushing to knowing that a path will appear, and it may not be the way we imagined? Can we let go of the fear that blocks our trust? Pure will is hard. Sometimes the road isn’t going straight up the hill. Trust will soften us enough that we will see another way and allow it in. Rather than straight up, the rock may need to go up the mountain in a spiral fashion.

Release

I have the ability to let go. I can say, “I’ve done my part, now I will let go and see what happens and whatever happens, it will be okay.” I’m not talking about the release of giving up, but the release of waiting. Release cannot happen without the previous step of trust. Letting go means, I know that I’ve done what I can and I trust and am waiting for the magic of the universe to put all the pieces in place. Like trust, release is gentle.

Mastery

Where are you in your mastery? Are you the eagle dancing in the wind? Are you living in crisis mode? Do you hold your vision and follow it no matter what? How strong is your will? Do you trust? What? Who? How easily can you let go?

We live in a magical universe. We are manifesting beings capable of mastery. To navigate through it, we need to activate our tools. Which tools do you need to develop or sharpen?

You can learn relationship mastery skills with WeConcile. 

Have you read any of my posts on WeConcile’s Blog?

One of my favorite pieces on this Blog is My Teachers, The Trees.