I Want To Know You!

I first heard Mountain Dreaming, by Oriah, at a workshop I attended a few years ago. It’s on the long side, but so worth the read. I think different parts will resonate at different times of your journey. I so want to know what resonates with you.

The following excerpt landed deep within me shortly after writing Wholly Sober, last summer.

I want to know

if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself

If you can bear

the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul

In it, I wrote of an incredibly vulnerable and difficult time where I had to be willing to disappoint the one person I felt held my reigns and kept me sober, my sponsor. I was accused of betrayal. My intention was not to hurt her. But I did to save myself, my soul. I could not continue the path I had started and remained sober. It was an unfortunate situation that tested me in many ways. I felt trapped and abandoned. But I persevered. Today, I have no doubt I made the right choices with over fourteen years sober. Uh-hmmm, excuse me, not just sober, but WHOLLY SOBER. I live in peace.

I love Oriah’s words and hope you find inspiration to take a thought or two deeper. Perhaps break out a notebook and open your mind letting it flow over the pages.

Allow these words to work through you and be aware of which words speak to you.

“It doesn’t interest me

what you do for a living

I want to know what you ache for

and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.

 

It doesn’t interest me

how old you are

I want to know

if you will risk looking like a fool

for love

for your dream

for the adventure of being alive.

 

It doesn’t interest me

what planets are squaring your moon…

I want to know

if you have touched the centre of your own sorrow

if you have been opened by life’s betrayals

or have become shriveled and closed from fear of further pain.

 

I want to know

if you can sit with pain

mine or your own

without moving to

hide it

or fade it

or fix it.

 

I want to know

if you can be with joy

mine or your own

if you can dance with wildness

and let the ecstasy fill you

to the tips of your fingers and toes

without cautioning us

to be careful

to be realistic

to remember the limitations

of being human.

 

It doesn’t interest me

if the story you are telling me

is true

I want to know

if you can disappoint another to be true to yourself

If you can bear

the accusation of betrayal and not betray your own soul

If you can be faithless

and therefore trustworthy.

 

I want to know

if you can see Beauty

even when it is not pretty every day

And if you can source your own life from its presence.

 

I want to know

if you can live with failure yours and mine

and still, stand at the edge of the lake

and shout to the silver of the full moon,

“Yes.”

 

It doesn’t interest me

to know where you live or how much money you have

I want to know

if you can get up after the night of grief and despair weary and bruised to the bone

and do what needs to be done to feed the children.

 

It doesn’t interest me

who you know

or how you came to be here

I want to know

if you will stand in the centre of the fire with me

and not shrink back.

 

It doesn’t interest me

where or what or with whom you have studied

I want to know

what sustains you from the inside when all else falls away

I want to know

if you can be alone

with yourself and if you truly like the company you keep

in the empty moments.

By Oriah © Mountain Dreaming,

from the book The Invitation

 

Teresa Rodden is the founder and owner of Pink Cloud Coaching, Author of Wholly Sober, creator of 28 Day Resolve, and of several woman based groups and organizations that recognize the unique needs and challenges of women.

She’s passionate about helping women identify their personal power and break the need to misuse life-sucking vices robbing women of their one and only precious life experience. Living Wholly Sober is not recovery! Click here to talk.