We embark on the eleventh day of a 40 Day Practice, based on the energy of the Labyrinth (releasing – contemplation – receiving). If you have a local labyrinth, I invite you to walk the labyrinth with today’s theme as your focus. If you don’t have a local labyrinth, you can create your own, take a walk somewhere peaceful, or even sit in contemplation in your own home. I will be scheduling various public labyrinth appearances, and you are welcome to join me when and where you can, if you feel moved to do so.

The theme for today is Perseverance. The dictionary definition is “steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving success.” You might think of it as walking forward with determination.

Questions that might help you see what you can release: Where and when do you default to immediate gratification? Are you more familiar with hard work, or with things coming to you easily? How often do you complete something you have set out to do? How important does something have to be for you to push through to the end? Is your general workflow steady, or does it come in starts and stops? How does your self- image affect your ability to finish a challenging task? How do you deal with setbacks? Do you feel the need to know the outcome before truly embarking on a quest? How do react to making a mistake?

Suggestions for Contemplation: Have you ever watched a volcanic eruption? Lava flows, regardless of what might be in its way. It marches (ok, flows) steadily onward, even into the ocean, building on itself. Have you ever seen a tree that has grown around an obstacle? Imagine if plants had thoughts the way humans do, what the thought process might be for a plant encountering an obstacle. Are there any animals you associate with the idea of perseverance? What is your reaction to those animals? What might you learn from them? Is there a person whose perseverance you admire? Why? And how do they exhibit that? Do they have characteristics that help them to persevere? If you had those characteristics, what would you do differently? Have you ever thought about acting that way anyway? If you were magically bestowed with more perseverance, what would that change? What might the relationship be between the Divine and the concept of perseverance?

Today, you mantra for receiving might be “I open myself to receiving those qualities which contribute to persevering.”