REleasing Struggle

"Being happy doesn't mean everything looks perfect and ideal every minute of the day.  It means that life is unfolding without struggle.  Anxiety and insecurity aren't our companions.  And the best time of our lives is now." -Deepak Chopra

The idea of moving through challenge without struggle is foreign to many of us.  The secret is in the now. Be in the moment, even with the difficulty.  You might be surprised at how much less struggle there is when you are simply present.

Possessed

"You get to the point where your demons, which are terrifying, get smaller and smaller and you get bigger and bigger." - August Wilson

When I came across this quote today it made more sense to me than ever before.

Not too awfully long ago I was working with my coach and feeling particularly challenged.  I said to her, I feel like I am possessed.  Her answer was, "That might be because it is like you are."  I laughed. Not exactly what one might want to hear, but it really validated the way I felt."  There was a huge lump of uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach that seemed like it was taking over me.  I was reacting to everything in my path.  I wasn't until I was able to really get present with it that it dissolved into this peaceful beingness that now seems like a refuge in a storm. Now after reading that quote I am realizing, I am becoming more me.

I love it when my Good Earth Tea (and in this case, Steve Jobs) speak to me.

"Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your inner voice." -Steve Jobs

And I would say, "Don't let the 'filters' of others drown out your true self."

Filters - baggage, B.S., triggers

And I would say, "Don't let your own 'filters' (baggage, B.S., triggers) drown out your true self."

All Paths

I am a believer that all paths lead to the top of the mountain.  Then comes the question, if all paths lead to the top of the mountain why does it seem like I am getting nowhere?

Great question.

I call that the comfort zone path.  The path that we find or plow which circles around and around the mountain seeming to get no where.  First let me say that I am also a firm believer that there is no where to get (more on this in a later post). Yet, this getting to the top is such a great metaphor to explore.

That feelings of getting no where, judging our own path or having expectations of what it should be seem to be related.  My most simple feedback would be to stop judging it and get present with it. Possibly more easily understandable, and by that I mean more readily accepted by those of us who want clear cut instruction ons what to do, might be to move towards whatever we are currently moving away from.

Metaphorically that might look like stopping on the path.  Maybe we have been running away from something that is asking for our attention. It might look like taking a fork in the road that we have previously overlooked or avoided.  It may be stepping up to a path that requires more "effort."  By effort I mean stepping into something outside our comfort zone.

Our "getting to the top" metaphor implies moving upward, which in the physical sense requires a physical exertion.  Metaphorically our mental exertion may be into a quieting of the mind which may seem counter productive until tried. It is a movement that can, just as physical exertion can be, uncomfortable.  Spiritual exertion seems an oxymoron or a conundrum. It brings us back to the getting no where but instead being present here.

Is it me?

"The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me." - Ayn Rand

This quote poses a good question. Further, I would ask, how often are we the person stopping ourself?

Do we believe in ourselves?  Are we consciously or unconsciously blocking ourselves from our good?

Take a moment to ask these important questions. Take a moment to listen within, unconditionally. Take a moment to be present to your response and whatever arises for you.

Everything Is Going To BE Ok

What if everything is going to be ok?

Hasn't everything worked out so far?  Hasn't it all been ok?  "No!" You say.  I had this horrible thing happen and this other terrible thing.  Yes, we have had challenges, difficulties.

When I asked myself this same question a number of hardships came to mind.  Yes, I have lost money. I have lost cars.  I have lost  my home more than once.  I have lost friends.  I have lost family.  I have lost face.  I have lost my temper.  I think I have even come close to losing my mind.  And yet, as I sit her right now, everything is ok.

What if we knew everything is going to be ok as it is happening?  I think it is worth re-minding ourselves.  As I have worked at this it goes something like this.  The phone call comes and I go into panic.  The thing I have feared starts happening. I read the email and I start to worry.  He/she says this or that and I feel anger rising.  I begin to remind myself.  "Everything is going to be ok."  More and more I re-mind myself  more quickly.  "Oh yah.  NOW I re-memeber.  It IS
all ok."

Setting Free

This is so true.  I hated that it might be true when I first read it, but as I have learned to apply this wisdom I have been so grateful for it.  I think the block for so many of us is we are challenged by forgiveness.  One of the most helpful things I have learned about forgiveness comes from Myrtle Fillmore who said that forgiveness is simply giving love where we previously gave an error thought.

Giving a loving thought where we are holding an error thought dissolves the emotional link that is stronger than steel holding us to what we don't want and sets us free!