EMBRACING LIFE...AS IT IS
- Alexis Cunningham
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Alexis Cunningham
11/25/2025
Embracing Life As It Is
A Reflection on Presence, Peace, and the Choice Between Love and Fear
It is becoming increasingly clear to me that as I practice embracing my life as it is, I open the door to greater peace, presence, and joy. Whenever I resist or try to control the natural unfolding of events, I feel myself tighten—emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually. In that resistance, I suffer. And that suffering ripples into every aspect of my life.
Over time I’ve come to see that there are fundamentally two ways to frame the experiences of life: through Love or through Fear. While I sometimes forget this, slipping unconsciously into one state or the other, the truth remains steady.
Each state expresses itself in countless forms:
Love may appear as compassion, empathy, acceptance, curiosity, joy, gentleness, or courage.
Fear may manifest as anxiety, control, contraction, doubt, overwhelm, or painful thoughts and emotions.
When I am unable to accept my own reality—or the reality of those I love—I find that I have framed the moment through fear. And fear is exhausting. It narrows my vision, closes my heart, and pulls me out of the life unfolding here and now.
But when I become aware that I am caught in a fearful frame, something quieter and wiser within me invites a pause. It asks me to inquire into the truth of what I am believing.I ask myself:
“Is it true?Can I absolutely know it’s true?”
The answers may or may not change my conclusions, but they always change the space within me that holds them. Inquiry turns rigidness into spaciousness. It transforms suffering into clarity. And that clarity restores my peace.
As I grow older, I notice how quickly life changes—how the tides of experience shift the inner landscape day after day. If I cling to how things used to be, or who I used to be, I miss the life that is here now. When I lose myself in the dramas of loved ones, the struggles of the world, or the stories of the past and future, I disappear from my own presence. In doing so, I am unable to help myself or anyone else.
To embrace my life as it is in this very moment is to return to Awareness.It is to show up fully for myself, for those I love, and for the world.
A Few Loving Questions to Consider
Is it possible for me to remain present, even in the face of adversity?
Is it possible to welcome the being I am becoming, without comparing myself to who I once was?
ALEXIS CUNNINGHAM
TRANSITIONAL LIFE COACHIG
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