What Are You Holding On To?

My back is sore and stiff.

When I rise in the morning, it feels tight, and my whole body stiffens to protect itself.

Walking, I feel like a stick.

My mind talks to me to keep the body stiff and protect itself.

 Is the mind attempting to protect me from more physical pain, or is there an old experience holding the pain in place?

It is a contemplative question.

On the surface, it would appear that the self-talk is wanting to reduce the pain in my back.

However, I'm wondering if the answer lies at a deeper level.

My ego says it is part of the aging process. I will have to get used to less mobility, less flexibility, and less movement.

Is this true?

No, it is not true.

My ego is resisting something I need to know about myself. 

 Less mobility in life can show up at the physical and emotional levels.

Being stuck, being sore, and being stiff is a result of resistance to an aspect of our life experience.

 In one of his poems Rumi wrote:

"I have lived on the lip of insanity, wanting to know reasons, knocking on a door.

It opens.

I've been knocking from the inside!"

 That is how it feels.

Knocking on the door, thinking the answer is on the other side.

Doing insane things to be someone or look like someone or be somewhere that will, in the mind's eye, make you that which you think you are not.

When the door opens, you realize you have been knocking from the inside.

The realization is that here is where we are.

I am me right here, and right now, that is all.

Acceptance and awareness flood into my being, informing me there is only this moment to appreciate and be grateful for who I am.

There is nothing to hold on to that previously was held in high regard.

There is only someone to know.

What are you holding on to?

Namaste