Choose a path

Every moment, you are invited to choose a path. Alongside everything that unfolds, the mind detects the struggle between your sense of good and evil or, what is good or bad for you. Which choices are acceptable or unacceptable? What seems to lighten your load or weighs heavy on your conscience? What feels right in the heart or confronts you with a chilling test of integrity?All choices have consequences, foreseen and unforeseen.

This is an opportunity to master the fear that prevents you from living the life you dream about.  You choose exactly the right people to encounter with perfect timing, even if you do not accept it. If ever you feel bothered by someone, reflect on who your real enemy is. You may vent frustrations on everthing around you to no avail. Can a desire for revenge ever be satisfied? And if not, what is the purpose of the experience?

Notice anger is not directed to what you think but ultimately, at life itself. This offers a timeless message: man needs what's worst in him so to awaken and access what is best in him. Ponder the blessings in anger and fear. Why are emotions such wise teachers?

"The greatest sign of success for a teacher... is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist." -Maria Montessori

Be aware

Be aware.  Step back to observe how the mind functions. Notice stillness and what is engaged when you think or feel a current.  What is your focus of attention as you choose to agree or disagree? If you dislike something in your life, notice what happens as you change your thoughts. Harness the power of mind. Recall who is actually captain or master of this ship.

It is always possible to detach from conditions, to stop thinking, comparing, judging. All it takes is  letting go. Call it a shift inward if you will. Flow into a new mindstream. Engage the senses mindfully. Notice the waves simply arise and pass through you. All currents, forms of resistance, emotional reaction and suffering, cease. Peace and compassion flow freely now.  Feel it.  Be that.

"In fact, everything we encounter in this world with our six senses is an inkblot test.
You see what you are thinking and feeling, seldom what you are looking at." -Shiqin

Access untapped energy

If you feel worn out or even tired inside, you are likely asking yourself how you can access untapped energy.  The mind is always thinking, doing, believing.  Its like a dog between your ears that never stops barking. What happens as the mind and movement of thought freezes?

Stand still like a statue.  Feel how the joy and delight increases in stillness.  Recall how it feels to keep your body inactive.  Watch.  Pretend you are a tree. Appreciate mimes you see in passing busking on the street. Stillness allows energy to build up and recharge. Keep the mind perfectly still a few minutes. Tiredness dissipates.  It only exists as you think about it.

Get to know how it feels to be in the present moment. You do not have to describe it. The path is where no traveller is seen. As the mind rests, "you" disappear. The mind recharges its superpower. It loses interest in the past. Allowing stillness to be a focus boosts your energy.  As the mind strengthens itself, it regenerates its own energy, sees past problems.  You think clearly without making mistakes.  Revelations emerge. Notice which 'inner knowings' you are now ready to hear.

When you are at peace with yourself, you are easier to live with and its easier to live with yourself. In many cases, physical, emotional, social problems appear to arise based on stress.  This happens when the mind is overactive, tired, brittle. When it is soft, nothing bothers you.  What do you notice as you open to more stillness in daily life? What does the experience feel like? How does this affect you?

“There is a point where in the mystery of existence contradictions meet; where movement is not all movement and stillness is not all stillness; where the idea and the form, the within and the without, are united; where infinite becomes finite, yet not.”  -Rabindranath Tagore

What to look forward to?

Life is a journey.  You decide on paths to forge, what to look back on, and what to look forward to. You imagine each destination, the nature of the roads you take to get there, and how peaceful and content you feel all along the way.  You can focus on that which has yet to be or become the change you wish to see in others and the world.  What do you look forward to?

 “I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness…” –Martin Luther King Jr.

“We look forward to the time when the power to love will replace the love of power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace.” - William Ellery Channing

Somebody is here

At some point in your life, you may be motivated to take steps to "become a somebody."  You may develop the idea that in order to be known, to leave a legacy, to do worthwhile things, you cannot be a nobody. If you relate to this, an underlying restlessness is intepreted by the mind as dissatisfaction. What if there is another reason for this apparent unrest?

What if somebody is already here?  What if that somebody is reaching out for conscious recognition of its existence?  What if imbalance is your body's way of letting you know you are not valuing true self? What if everything that you feel invites you to see your life from different points of view so you rediscover what love and freedom truly feel like?

If you feel inspired by a new calling, have the desire to take course, certification or qualification, know that every choice or pursuit is always helping you in some way. If you feel compelled to change careers or cities because you outgrow a dream or activity, that's your perogative. If you feel drawn to leave a job or put a relationship on hold in order to assist sick family members, this decision is as valid as any other.  Only the inner judge prompts you to believe otherwise. Are you  missing the bigger picture?

Stop where you are. Take a moment.  Explore deeper reasons for your current focus.  If you totally forget the bigger picture and only experience life close up, you can also opt to put down the magnifying glass.  See what else is here.  Without the judge, we're all the same. 

"Its only after we've lost everything that we're free to do anything." -Chuck Palahniuk