“To take a long loving look at the real.” You may have heard this line before. It’s a famous definition of contemplation by William McNamara.

It’s hard to go forward well unless you know honestly where you are now. To look at our own lives from a contemplative stance requires humility. First, we choose to look. Then we take our time. It’s not just a cursory glance. We stop and truly notice. The challenge is to see our lives and our world with love. We tend to look with eyes of judgment and criticism, but at this moment we strive to see what is with love. And then we look at the real, at this moment – not at what we wish were reality, not at what we think should be, but at what actually is.

In some mysterious way, by taking a “long loving look at the real” of our l life at this moment, we can find a new freedom and we may just be able to discern more clearly the next step in our path. Today take a long loving look at yourself and your life.

Photo: “Eye C U” by Michael Gil on Flickr, creative commons license.