Good morning one and all!!
Well, I am amazed at the number of hits I've gotten on my "water to wine" post...it could possibly be because of the image that I used with the faucet...but hey...whatever gets ya here!! lol :)
I've been talking lately a lot about the power of "positive thinking" or just being grateful and appreciative and living in the moment and how the universe seems to walk hand-in-hand with you as you do. Actually, it will even appear to walk ahead of you--paving the way, and really, I think the latter example is more true. What I think actually happens is a series of natural events, unencumbered by our selfish resistance. One thing that I do know for sure is that our minds and our feelings have the power to change our reality. I've tested this theory over and over and it has paid off immensely. It has even gotten to the point where I feel a dramatic shift in how I react and respond to situations, circumstances, and other people. The inner peace this shift has brought to my life is immeasurable and has never been experienced before to this level.
There is no more boredom, no more dissatisfaction, no more "wishing". Oh, there are goals, there are aspirations, and there is imagination and my ever-present curious nature, but my FOCUS is on where within that bigger picture I am all of the time...and this is NOW. When you do this...when you are FULLY present in THIS moment...there are so many things that you realize you have missed by all of the distraction of the past and future . The ONLY reality is NOW. The past and the future are nothing but mind-candy---a thought...that's it--and thoughts bring in tow with them...emotional responses (both are of pure energy)...when we dwell on either, it is wasted energy. How is it serving us today? If we were to look deeply enough at it, we would probably say--it's giving us hope or it is stealing our hope away. Something that does not exist anymore or something that doesn't exist YET cannot give or take away ANYTHING. It isn't HERE. Hope IS. It is not given or taken away by time. We all live NOW. We all experience NOW. How do we FEEL now. What is around you NOW and where are YOU in the midst of it? Thinking of a past experience or a future endeavor?
As I began my "test" (so to speak) of this revelation, I would think---"wow, this is not as easy as it would seem" because my mind was so wild--and this is something that we just don't notice until we make it a point to. It was all over the damn place. When you really put your attention to all of the chatter that goes on, you almost wonder how at the end of the day (and shit even the end of the morning)...you're not completely exhausted with all of those thoughts and emotional responses that accompany them ALL OF THE TIME. And truth be told...it DOES sap a LOT of energy. When you begin this process, you find that it is almost a third-person proposition--as if you are observing yourself from outside of yourself. There is a part of you that has the ability to do this. This is the eternal part of you...the part of you that never changes..and that has the very same composition of EVERYTHING. You can literally "step back" and watch the pattern of your thoughts...and how many times they are everywhere but where they really need to be. The distraction factor is relentlessly high. However, what I have found the entire problem to be is FIXATION--which can be whittled away at by redirection little by little. It is the natural state of the mind to be BUSY all of the time and it wants to take you with it on it's merry-go-round nature of replay...and funny...WE GO, over and over again--and most times, the fixation of the mind immediately defaults to "negative." Example: Someone brings you a mixed bouquet of beautiful flowers, different colors, different species...what do we think? We immediately go to gratitude to the giver of the gift..."awe, thank you...and you begin to think...this person is so thoughtful" and there is nothing wrong with that. But now many times do we really (in that moment) look at the gift we have been given. How many times do we look at each of these flowers to appreciate THEIR beauty? Pretty much, we give all of the credit to the giver, throw them into a vase and that moment is ever remembered as "a time when so and so brought me flowers" because we concern ourselves with things that make us feel good, feel bad, feel whatever. If we were to actually appreciate the beauty of the gift itself and really SEE them, maybe we could feel integrated and whole. Maybe we could see ourselves as these flowers. Maybe we could get a lot more from the experience than our MINDS allow us to. Now, in keeping with this thought...(and this is a paraphrase of an example used by Eckhart Tolle). How long do we fixate upon the beauty of something compared to how long we fixate upon the past, the future, or something someone did TO us? We could revisit that same experience (literally) millions of times over the years, but how soon is the experienced beauty of something forgotten? You see, the mind is set on negative by default. Even if we BEGIN to revisit a beautiful past event, the avenger soon comes to take it over.
I dare you all to test this. This is what I've found: The more peace I have, the more I am given. The more patience I have, the less I have to wait. The less energy I spend wanting, the more things are given. The less drama I involve myself with, the less it appears in my life. The less I worry, the less I have to worry about. The more present I am, the more present God (or whatever you choose to call the ultimate power) is present with and inside of me. The more confident I am, the less mistakes I make. The more in tune I am with now, the less concerned I am with "then."
I'm not gonna lie, at first, it felt almost impossible to beat my mind into submission, but I also found that was the wrong attitude to have. Just being HERE NOW makes your mind WANT to work with you. I have found times where a straying thought enters in...and immediately my mind (believe THAT or not) says "redirect"...and I focus on the sunshine, the birds singing, and I validate that I am ALIVE by fixating upon my breath and immediately, that thought is gone and is replaced with now...and a smile just naturally comes to my face. It is amazing!! You don't have to DO anything...just BE here now---and the transformation just naturally takes place internally first...then externally.
I've had things that I probably could not have ever pre-conceived happen in my life--surprises that I could not wrap my mind around, even if I were to try (so I just don't--I just appreciate). Anything I could perceive as a potential problem or anything I could choose to fixate upon are just naturally nonexistent. They become fixed before they become broken. It is as if the universe removes anything to worry about before it becomes a worry in the first place. Now THIS is some pretty stellar stuff right here!! Our fixations are just the (very generic) and wanna-be form of what comes naturally. They want to CREATE your life..however, your life already IS. Our past experiences are of use, if they are used to their fullest benefit ONLY...which is through ACTION now. It is not about mulling it over and over in your mind to your own self-defeat. It is about empowering you to be the best you that you can be NOW. We make the mistake of wanting to "redo" this and that..."maybe if I did it this way instead"...and what that really does is create our today with little patches of a mindfully-tweaked yesterday hoping your future will be a better tomorrow. What a WASTE!! Do you agree?
Bottom line here is choice, redirection, transformation, and purpose---all of which the mind alone is too small to even fathom. Master the mind...and the purpose of your life will unfold naturally. Allow the mind to master you...and you die never knowing why you ever existed in the first place--and as in life, the past will haunt you and your last breath will come upon you in fear and without notice...just as all of the ones you were blessed with your entire life did.
Namaste
RainaMay.
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