The Secret Vow

I take a moment to be still and relax into my body and to this space. I breathe gently and I soften into this moment with my body and breath.  I feel my feet, my legs, my arms and scan my body, relaxing any tension I find.

In this moment, I connect with the deeper part of me that knows why I am here, that knows what my true contribution to life is.  I connect with the me that is wise, the me that knows the answers.

In this connection with myself, I notice the secret promise I have made, the secret vow I have made with myself to be here in a way that is aligned with my purpose.

My purpose spreads into what I do, how I am in my relationship to myself, my closest and most intimate mates, my family, my friends, my colleagues, those I teach or mentor, my neighbours, my acquaintances, strangers and people I have never met before. My purpose is the energy with which I hold myself in all of these interactions.

I take a moment to relax my body, to breathe gently and connect to the centre of myself and my life force.  In this place, I become intimate with my purpose, my energy, the ‘me-ness’ that I know so well, that hasn’t changed in all of time, through my birth, my childhood, my adulthood to now…..
I take some time now to remember the vow that I have made, and I can choose to make the vow from this place of truth right now, I can write my vow now or remember it – however it appears to me.  I can feel the vow that I have made and I let this become strengthened and expanded commitment to myself, my life and to everyone I touch – that I may be the loving kindness that I was made as.

This blog was inspired by the poem by David Whyte below:

All the true vows – by David Whyte. 

All the true vows
are secret vows
the ones we speak out loud
are the ones we break.

There is only one life
you can call your own
and a thousand others
you can call by any name you want.

Hold to the truth you make
every day with your own body,
don’t turn your face away.

Hold to your own truth
at the center of the image
you were born with.

Those who do not understand
their destiny will never understand
the friends they have made
nor the work they have chosen

nor the one life that waits
beyond all the others.

By the lake in the wood
in the shadows
you can
whisper that truth
to the quiet reflection
you see in the water.

Whatever you hear from
the water, remember,

it wants you to carry
the sound of its truth on your lips.

Remember,
in this place
no one can hear you

and out of the silence
you can make a promise
it will kill you to break,

that way you’ll find
what is real and what is not.

I know what I am saying.

Time almost forsook me
and I looked again.

Seeing my reflection
I broke a promise
and spoke
for the first time
after all these years

in my own voice,

before it was too late
to turn my face again.