In The Presence Of Truth Part 5: A Bedtime Story

Hello dear ones and welcome to today's reading In the Presence of Truth Part 5 As always just taking a few moments to arrive here in the space Letting go of your to-do list Knowing there's nothing you need to do right now And there's nowhere you need to be Letting go of the day so far And settling down for story time The days were growing shorter And the weight of autumn's presence was becoming undeniable The air had turned colder And the once bright golden leaves had now begun to wither and fall Carpeting the ground with a soft crunch When Emily arrived at Margaret's house,

The sky was overcast And there was a quiet stillness in the world around them Margaret was sitting by the window Her hands resting lightly in her lap As though she had been waiting for Emily The silence between them familiar and comfortable now Her face,

Though marked by age,

Radiated a quiet peace that Emily had come to admire Margaret looked up as Emily entered and her expression softened into a warm smile I've been thinking about you,

Dear,

Margaret said You seem lighter these days Emily felt a soft blush rise to her cheeks I've been trying to apply what we've talked about,

She said Taking her usual seat by the fire The part about letting go of the need to control About embracing the flow of life It's not always easy,

But I do feel different,

Less burdened Margaret nodded,

Her eyes gleaming with understanding That's the key,

Isn't it?

The release We spend so much of our lives trying to hold on To control things To make life fit our desires But in doing so,

We miss the beauty of simply being When we let go,

We make room for what is meant to come to us Emily sat quietly,

The fire crackling softly in the background She had come to realize that she was,

In many ways,

Letting go of not just her need to control her life But also the expectations she had placed on herself There was a certain freedom in that But there were still moments when the fear crept in When the world outside felt chaotic and unpredictable There's one thing I'm still struggling with,

Emily confessed Her voice more hesitant now I've been letting go,

And I can feel the difference But what if I let go,

And I end up lost?

What if I trust life,

And it leads me somewhere I don't understand Somewhere I don't want to go?

Margaret's eyes deepened with thoughts,

As she considered Emily's words Ah,

Yes,

The fear of being lost We all fear that,

Don't we?

We fear losing ourselves,

Being swept away by the current But the truth is,

Emily,

That the more we cling to the idea of being lost The more lost we become The idea of losing ourselves is a construct of the mind It is the mind that wants to categorize,

To define But the truth is,

That the more you surrender to life The more you will come to know yourself Because you are part of this great unfolding You are not separate from it So,

Emily listened carefully Margaret's words were like a thread,

Weaving through the fabric of her own fears Unraveling the tight knots that had held her back for so long So,

I'm not going to lose myself Even if I stop trying to control everything No,

Margaret said softly,

Her voice full of compassion You won't lose yourself,

Emily In fact,

You will find yourself more fully than you ever have before You see,

We often think of ourselves as fixed,

As static beings But we are always changing,

Always evolving You are not one thing,

Emily You are everything you've ever been and everything you are becoming You are the river,

Not the rock The moment you stop trying to grasp the river You will realize that you are the flow itself Emily closed her eyes for a moment Feeling a wave of calm wash over her Margaret's words felt true in a way that went beyond logic,

Beyond the mind They resonated deeply within her Like a bell ringing in a quiet room,

Sending ripples outward Letting go,

It's not about being passive,

Is it?

Emily asked It's not about giving up or resigning myself to whatever comes It's about allowing life to unfold naturally without fighting against it Exactly,

Margaret replied,

Her tone both reassuring and wise Letting go is not about passivity,

It is an active surrender It is about saying yes to life,

To whatever it brings Knowing that you have the strength within you to handle it It's about trusting that even the hard moments have something to teach you And that you will be all the wiser for it Emily nodded slowly She could feel something shifting deep within her And for once,

She wasn't afraid of the unknown The unknown wasn't an enemy It was a part of life's mystery,

A mystery that was unfolding with every breath I think I understand more now,

Emily said It's not about having all the answers It's about learning to be with the questions Without needing to rush to the end And Margaret smiled,

Her eyes gleaming with approval Yes,

The beauty of life is in the questions,

Not the answers The moment we think we have it all figured out,

We stop learning,

We stop growing Life is not a problem to be solved,

It is a mystery to be embraced And in that mystery,

We find our greatest wisdom There was a long silence between them As if the weight of the conversation had filled the room with something sacred And Emily felt a quiet peace begin to bloom in her chest A peace that was rooted in the understanding that like the river She didn't need to know where she was going to be okay She just needed to trust that she would arrive exactly where she was meant to be And Margaret's voice broke the silence I've lived a long time,

Emily,

And I can tell you this with certainty The less I've tried to control,

The more I've seen life unfold In ways I never could have imagined And in those moments,

I've discovered that everything in its own time has been exactly as it should be Emily's eyes glistened with emotion as she met Margaret's gaze She was beginning to see the truth of it Beginning to understand that she wasn't alone in this journey Margaret's wisdom wasn't just for her,

It was for everyone For all who were willing to listen and trust I think,

Emily said,

Her voice trembling slightly with the weight of her own realizations I think I'm ready to stop fighting,

To stop running,

To let life take me wherever it's meant to go Margaret's smile widened,

Her eyes filled with a quiet pride You are already there,

Emily,

You always have been As Emily sat in the quiet presence of Margaret,

The fire flickering gently in front of them She felt something settle within her,

A peace that had been waiting for her all along The fear,

The doubts,

And the questions were still there But they no longer had the power to control her She had begun to understand the beauty of simply being,

Of trusting the flow of life And in that trust,

She found the freedom she had been searching for all along Later that evening,

After Emily had left,

Margaret sat alone in her cozy living room The fire crackling softly as she gazed at the flames Her house,

Though modest,

Held the echoes of a life well-lived Every corner,

Every shelf was filled with mementos,

A faded photograph of her late husband A small wooden box carved with intricate patterns she had bought on a trip many years ago And the stack of journals,

Now worn at the edges That chronicled her thoughts for decades Each item was a piece of her past,

But Margaret didn't dwell on it She simply allowed them to be,

Like everything else She didn't need much anymore,

The world outside her window seemed distant,

Quieter now That her time was drawing closer to its end There were still small things that brought her joy,

Tending to her garden Watching the birds that came to her feeders And writing in the journals that had kept her company all these years But she didn't feel lonely,

Not really She had learned long ago that solitude was not the same as loneliness Solitude,

When embraced,

Was an opportunity to connect with the deepest parts of herself Margaret reached for her journal and opened it to a fresh page The ink flowed from her pen as she wrote,

Each word a gentle reflection of her thoughts The days pass by and I watch them unfold like the petals of a flower Time is both a gift and a lesson,

It teaches us the impermanence of all things Yet it also gives us the opportunity to learn I wonder as I grow older,

Whether the wisdom I've gathered will be enough to see me through to the end I no longer fear the end,

But I do wonder if the world will remember me once I'm gone Perhaps that is not for me to know I have lived and I have loved She paused,

The pen hovering over the page for a moment She had always believed in living fully,

Even in the face of death There was a beauty in the fleetingness of life,

A truth in knowing that nothing lasts forever Margaret had learned to accept that,

To embrace the impermanence of everything It was,

In fact,

Part of the great flow of life she had been teaching Emily to trust She was ready for whatever came next,

Whenever it came And the truth was,

She wasn't afraid She wasn't afraid of the unknown She closed her journal,

The weight of her own reflection settling in her chest It was enough to simply be here,

In this moment With the warmth of the fire and the quiet of her thoughts Life had been good to her,

And now,

In the final stretch,

She felt a deep sense of gratitude for all she had experienced Meanwhile,

Emily walked slowly back to her apartment,

Her mind still alive with the conversation she'd had with Margaret The cold air nipped at her cheeks,

But she didn't mind She felt strangely clear-headed,

The fog that had clouded her thoughts for so long beginning to lift She had always been a woman of habits,

Of routines,

That kept her safely within the walls of her own comfort zone But now,

Something inside her was stirring,

Something that wanted to break free It wasn't just about the lessons Margaret had shared with her,

Though they were profound It was also something deeper,

Something more personal She reached her apartment building,

The familiar hum of city life surrounding her,

And yet she felt detached from it all There was a moment of hesitation at the door,

A feeling of not quite belonging here,

In this world of constant motion Inside,

Her apartment was neat,

An echo of her inner world She had never bothered to decorate the apartment,

Preferring the simplicity of bare walls and neutral tones It was easy to forget about the world outside,

When there was nothing to remind her of it As she dropped her bag onto the couch,

She made her way to the small kitchen,

Feeling the weight of the evening pressing down on her She hadn't realized how much she had been craving this shift,

This change But now that it was happening,

It felt almost like a sudden flood A sudden rush of energy,

Of possibility She poured herself a glass of water,

Her eyes catching the reflection of herself in the window She didn't recognize the woman standing there Was this really her?

The woman who had spent so many years hiding So many years afraid to let go,

To step into the unknown She felt as though she was seeing herself,

For the first time,

In a new light There was something raw and beautiful in that Emily took a long sip of water,

Her reflection still haunting her thoughts She wanted more than this,

She wanted more than the quiet existence she had built for herself More than the wall she had created to keep the world at bay But where would she go?

What should she do?

She didn't have all the answers yet,

But she was starting to realize that perhaps she didn't need them Perhaps the answers would come when the time was right When she had learned to trust in the process of life itself Sitting down on the couch,

Emily closed her eyes for a moment She could hear Margaret's voice echoing in her mind Trust the flow of life,

You are part of something greater than yourself The words resonated deeply,

She didn't need to have it all figured out All she had to do was keep moving forward,

Step by step Trusting that the path would unfold before her For the first time in a long time,

Emily felt a sense of peace settle into her heart It wasn't a peace that came from having all the answers But from knowing that she was moving in the right direction Towards something that she couldn't yet name,

But that felt true nonetheless Both Margaret and Emily sat in their separate spaces Each of them quietly reflecting on their lives The wisdom they shared was already beginning to shape Emily's path in ways she couldn't yet understand While Margaret,

Despite her age and the looming finality of her time Was content with the knowledge that her journey had been one of purpose,

Of learning,

And of teaching She had shared her wisdom,

And that was enough As evening turned to night,

Both women sat in silence In their own way,

Fully aware of the present moment The world outside was a swirling storm of chaos,

But inside there was peace They had both learned that peace didn't come from the absence of turmoil But from the ability to be at peace within it