I was having a conversation with a really good friend. We walk and we talk. Something we do often. We talk about issues significant to our lives. We’re about the same age. So we find ourselves talking about the same issues.  Where we are at this point in our lives. Our significant relationships. What’s important to us? How much time we have left? Our connection to the divine.

My friend shared with me how much of his life came down to three very basic needs. Am I safe? Do I matter? Am I loved? Those three very basic declarations caused me to pause. I could feel them resonate deeply in my nervous system. I could feel how these basic and fundamental questions drive many human behaviors. I could feel how they influenced much of my own movement in life.

When a child comes into the world, there is a primary seeking for love and safety. Children will do almost anything to fulfill that need. It would seem much of the story we create about ourselves arises from the pursuit to fulfill those three primordial human requirements. That human imperative runs deep in our nervous system. Most of the time not even on a conscious level. The need for love, inclusion, and safety becomes the essence, the gist of the stories we create about ourselves. They are the ingredients for the soup of our creation story. Stories we author at an early age and continually play out as we grow into old age.

I recently lost a friend. Someone I had met at the ashram I lived at many years ago. He passed away from complications of Covid. I took a moment to feel into what his last thoughts might have been. I can imagine what they were.

So how do I at 69 years old continue to nourish and fulfill those so basic human needs? How do I make sure the story of my life unfolds in such a way as to support the clearest expression of who I am? As I have mentioned on other blogs, I need a community of people that will love me for where I am in my life. Friends that are willing to hold me accountable to live the life I envision. At times, I need a mentor, a spiritual teacher, and plant medicine. I need a constant reminder that all things arise from the Mystery that lives us. It is a never-ending process to deepen my sense of being and connection to the world I live in.

Amidst the chaos and uncertainty of life, I remain open to Grace and the gift of my life.

If you have any questions, please email me at leanfowardlife@gmail.com or call 734-249-9948.

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