I have a little black rock in my car. It lives in the folds of leather at the base of my gear shift...in the "gearshift scrotum." 😆I chose this rock in 2009 when I started looking for "something..." I didn't know what, but I wanted a job, a hobby, purpose…. I had been a stay at home mom since 2001, and after 8 years of that I was feeling ready to expand further along my life path. Ready for something more to fill my days than just laundry, dishes, and worrying about my kids every moment.
In my seeking I went to a gathering of friends one evening and there was a little ceremony about purpose and intention and dreams. At the end we were asked to select a rock from a bag of little black rocks. Upon pulling one out you were to say one word out loud that captures what you're looking for, or what the rock meant to you at that moment. I suffused my little rock that night with the word "potential". To this day every time I look at it I hear "potential "in my head. That rock has since lived in my car and travels with me everywhere I go.
Over the years since I've sometimes scoffed at myself for selecting the word "potential." "What a fluffy meaningless non-specific word," my ego says. "You should've chosen something more concrete like a business, a specific goal, etc. Why did you choose 'potential', which only reinforces your own lack of blooming?! You will always stay stuck now in the bud stage and filled with unused potential." (My ego is a harsh bitch sometimes.)
But truly I think it was the right word for me all along. Often we know from the pit of our bellies what's our truth. We may not like the timeline that it takes to fulfill it, but it is what it is. So when I selected that little rock in 2009 some part of me knew that my life had a lot of potential for growth and expansion than the way I was then living, and today I am at least 1,000 times expanded from where I was eight years ago. I got into yoga. Studied and started teaching yoga. Dug deep into years of self reflection. Found myself. Overcame anxiety in the process of all that. Opened our own yoga center this past year. Now we are following our dream and moving our life to Puerto Rico soon. Pursuing my dreams and living much more out loud!
Very grateful for this little rock who rides along with me everywhere keeping me mindful of never ending potential.
