This was to be the schedule for the next ten days. Every day eleven hours of meditation with light and sound deprivation, six hours of sleep, light food consumption, noble silence, zero physical contact, and limited physical exercise (walking to and from the different buildings was the only activity allowed). I was up to the challenge, or so I thought.
I know I would spend hours with the Sears Christmas catalog, scanning every page, imagining what it would be like to have this toy, that doll, or the latest board game. (Collectible horses were my favorite.) Then I would carefully write my list and post it on the refrigerator for all to see – and for Santa to fulfill.
When was the last time we took the same effort to determine and ask for what we want in our life? You know, really looking at all the options out there, reviewing each one, mentally trying each one on for size, and then writing a wish list of how we desire to live. My guess is that many of us do not take the time. But what happened when we were young and responded, ” I don’t know” to Aunt Sally’s question of what we wanted? That year’s gifts were tube socks, pajamas, and a well-meaning but misguided gift.
Our words are truly powerful. How we decide to describe our life is how we also decide how to live it. How are you the author of your life? Are you creating an joyfilled story or a horror film?
When we let our inner narrator prattle on, it often spins a negative, self-attacking story of victimization and pain. But we can retrain our inner narrator to write positive, uplifting life stories.
We all have problems or issues arise in our life; getting a cold, having business difficulties, having a sick loved one, unexpected expenses, having difficulty completing a simple task like buying leaf bags. In fact, if we looked closely there is probably not a day in our life that we do not have some issue arise. But it is how we handle the issue that provides us with the key to happiness.
The unconscious, primitive reaction I had to the news was fear. This fear sent me back to my safe place; back to those habits that I had in my youth. Habits that served a purpose when I was younger, but which are nowdeterimental to my happiness. It was amazing how these habits jumped back into my life and burst out as knee-jerk reactions. I would catch myself doing or saying something out of character amazed at my own unconscious actions.
The power of acceptance and forgiveness shown through a beautiful wedding. Imagine if you could go through the day and not judge anyone. What if you had the ability to see each individual as their pure essence? What if you could love them for their good without diminishing that good because of physical, psychological, or philosophical differences? This is pure acceptance. And it is powerful. There is unencumbered joy when there is no judgment but only acceptance and where there is no hostility but only forgiveness.
We are each unique. It is apparent in our eye color, our hair color, and our skin tone. We are unique in our clothing, our jewelry, and if we have piercings or tattoos. Differences are in how we talk, what we talk about, and what we value. We are unique in where we live, how we live, and what we love. We are unique in our humor, our knowledge base, and our careers. But how often do we criticize, fear, or belittle those who are different from us? How often do we become frustrated, angry, and disappointed by those who do not think and act the way we do? How often do we forget that we are all the same and that we all have value?
How often do we think and think and think through a problem only to feel that the logical answer is not correct? How often do we become sad and depressed when the logical, cognitive answer is not the one that makes our heart sing? How often do we receive flashes of insight on what to do or say? How often do we just “feel in our gut” what to do?
Research conducted by the Kellogg School of Management shows us how our intuition can be more correct than our logic. . .
Now if one is fearless but has no love
abundant but has no moderation
rises up but has no humility
Surely he is doomed
– From Verse 67 of Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu as translated by Jonathan Star
How often do we long for courage, abundance, and power? Yet when we see others who have one or all of these are they truly happy or admirable? How would Paris Hilton, Donald Trump, and Rod Blagojevich rate in Lao Tzu’s mind?
Recently I attended the first ever Martha Beck Coaches Convention.It was an amazingly powerful experience to be surrounded by over 200 women and men all striving for peace and understanding in our world. There was a joyful calm enveloping the event because there was a lack of competition, jealousy, anxiety, fear, and feelings of inadequacy […]