It’s more about where we are, than where we want to go.
In a culture obsessed with goals, growth, and vision boards, it’s easy to become too future-focused. We chart out destinations, chase aspirations, and design ideal lives. I’ll be at peace, when this happens, or that has been done, or when I achieved that and such. There’s always a next projected target.
But the Sakura Lifestyle gently pauses us with this question: Do we know where we are now?
This quote brings us back to one of the essential benefits of the Sakura Lifestyle, presence. It reflects the idea that real transformation doesn’t begin with a plan, even though a plan is helpful at some point. It begins with honesty of where we are.
To know where we are is to turn inward, to listen. It means recognizing what we’re feeling without judgment. Noticing the patterns that repeat. Becoming aware of what energizes us… and what drains us. From that grounded awareness, the next step becomes clear, not because we “figured it out,” but because we aligned with truth of the present moment.
The Mirror of Life
In the Sakura Lifestyle, this idea is beautifully embedded in the transformative tool of the mirror of life. Our experiences, environments, and relationships reflect back to us what we may not yet see clearly within ourselves. When we stop and pay attention to the elections in these mirrors, we begin to locate ourselves, not in abstract ideas or identities, but in the felt experience of the present moment.
When we allow the reflections in the mirror to ripple through us, we get a good sense of where we are. This is the practice of acceptance and that doesn’t mean we agree with it. Agreeing is a mental concept, not an experience. As long as we animate the story that the origin of these reflections, especially the ones that trigger us, lie outside of ourselves, we’re helpless and remain in a victim role.
The question to ask is;” what lies within myself that I’m not aware of yet, that has been triggered”. It’s not because it belongs to us, that we’re at fault. It is simply part of being human as described in the fundamental principles of our human nature.
Without this awareness, even the best intentions can lead us further from ourselves. Like a traveler with a map but no clue of their starting point, we wander in circles.
But once we become rooted in the now, transformation becomes organic. We obtain the possibility to stop reacting from old scripts and begin responding from presence. And that’s where true growth happens.
Practice for the Day
Pause. Ask yourself: Where am I, right now, in my inner world? Without trying to fix or change it, name what you notice, it helps to re-direct our mind. Emotions, thoughts, physical sensations.
Just notice the stories going on in your mind, don’t engage or animate them. Simply observe them and create some space between you and the story.
The awareness of the present moment is your home base. From here, every next step can become intentional and an act of conscious co-creation.
Steven, for Sakura Living.