find comfort in discomfort

Words.

January 26th @ the ROM

A collection of letters arranged together.

Instead of understanding them just the way they are, I look in, between and beneath them as they dance around and around my head.

  

Last night at the first installment of the lululemon expansion series, our instructor Linda Malone (iam yoga), encouraged us to "find comfort in discomfort," breathe deeply and resist the urge to come out of challenging poses. In these instances, where does your mind go? For anyone that knows me well, you can agree, that I struggle with living in the moment. Despite genuine efforts to be present you will hear me reliving a memory, fixating on something I cannot control, or gearing up for the next phase of my life plan. My Mum has urged me time and again to be less rigid. As shoot her a smile of appeasement, my nods are really saying "blah blah blah." 

  

...but perhaps she is onto something.

  

Her sentiments were echoed last night, "find comfort in discomfort." Whether an elaborate yoga pose or the uncertainty that lies within every one of life's funny twists and turns, find your breath - it won't last for forever.

"I'll wait here for you."

Happiness. Simple concept, profound meaning.

A pioneer in women's free skiing, Sarah Burke surpassed expectations and re wrote the rules for female skiers after her. She followed her passion for extreme skiing across North America, to the summit of dozens of peaks and eventually the top of the national podiums. From here, Sarah spearheaded a campaign to integrate freestyle skiing into the Winter Olympics and boy was the ski community excited to see what she had in store for us in 2014.

Today, surrounded by friends and family, after sustaining a critical ski injury Sarah lost the fight of her life. Far too often does it take a tragedy to remind us that we are not invincible. All we can take away from something that cannot be reversed is a sense of urgency. Urgency to laugh. Urgency to learn. Urgency to never go to bed angry. Urgency to set an intention for everyday. Urgency in the pursuit of happiness.

Let Sarah's full life be an example to us all. RIP our fair Ontario girl.
Be present. Love deeply. Be grateful.