Befriending Limitation
By Gunilla Norris
Posted on
That limitation can become for us a sanctuary is a deep and paradoxical concept. Most of us want to feel free, to be about what we desire without hindrance. What then of the limitation we are experiencing now as we try to control the spread of a deadly virus?
No artist, no craftsperson, no athlete can gain excellence and freedom in their chosen field without hours and hours of concentration, limiting their engagement to the needs of their aims. They are exercising a chosen restriction for a greater purpose. The key, of course, is that whatever limitations they impose are accepted, even embraced.
But the limitations that come to us without choice are different. My beloved partner, Stanley, had Parkinson’s disease. In support group meetings we attended, I heard over and over again people saying that contracting the disease was one of the best things that had happened to them. A door in their lives had slammed shut and another had opened to living with more community, love and care. The limitation became an agent of transformation.
To take upon ourselves the thorough task of accepting a limitation of whatever kind will open us to new vistas if we are sincere in our acceptance. Embracing limitations, we are asked to consider what truly belongs to us. Can we accept the limits of being sequestered for many weeks now, of doing without, of facing the challenges we are living and will live with in the future instead of being distracted by entertainment or busyness?
There will be many times during our lives when a limitation must be embraced. A bird sanctuary is only as big as it is, and yet many species of birds will thrive there. A limitation is a field to explore where things about us can thrive that never had our attention before. We can grow strong within boundaries. Perhaps none of us can truly grow without boundaries. I love what Wendell Berry wrote in his poem, Real Work: “The impeded stream is the one that sings.”
Please consider something you are hampered by as a friend, as something that wants you to pay close attention to and explore the gift it may be to you. Make journal entries about it every day for a week and find the hidden gift that is there.
Gunilla Norris is the author of 11 books on the spirituality of the everyday. She has been a psychotherapist in private practice for more than 40 years. This fall, she will co-facilitate “Portals to Prayer: A Day Exploring Ways to Enter Stillness and Openness to God” with Frank Pendola, Music Minister at St. Vincent de Paul and Our Lady of Victory parishes in Rhode Island. Frank is on the Servant Leadership team of Contemplative Outreach of Connecticut. For details and to register click here.