What if our happiness and personal fulfillment in life is entirely dependent on the way we label whatever happens—whether in the world at large or what directly affects us?
Life just happens. People put in all the meaning. What if our unconscious or learned expectations that create a mind of shoulds is a source of anxiety, because we listen to these voices without ever asking if they are currently true for us? Let’s play with this possibility for a bit.
To live in the world in peace with what is and at ease with who we are is an invitation to the wisest and humblest in this world. It is not merely the purview of the wealthy or socially powerful. What if we all have access to ease and peace AND what if the key to our access is deep within the heart’s wisdom of each of us?
What this means is that creating time and space to be quiet—disconnected from the voices in our heads, the television, smart phone and other technology, and other people—is the way to hear the wisdom in our hearts. If this is true, then it is not only productive and efficient to use some portion of our days to create and live into this space, it is the recipe for finding our own truth, dreams, passion, and peace, which in turn changes the world we create together.
One specific example of how all of this would work is to look inward for what it means to contribute to the quality of life on this planet. Many people search for ways to feel valued and in so doing give their power to others to tell them whether they are of service, whether their contribution is meaningful. When we unconsciously choose to follow the shoulds and learned labels for our titles, positions and roles (parent, executive, worker, artist, and the like) we get lost in formulas for what counts as ambition, achievement, and success. While useful formulas to build discipline as children and to learn what it takes in this world to play the games, these formulas are particularly destructive to adults searching for a sense of peace, ease, and meaning. Because the answers and formulas were never means to be the formulas for joy, ease and peace.
If we find quiet moments-literally moments-where we experience beauty—in any form, we create the space to feel our own light, and to become acquainted with the steps to living in peace, with total acceptance of who we are. AND labels will not be useful. They are distractions. It is time for only feeling calm and quiet, for listening into the silence for the wisdom that awaits. AND when the words or images come to us that put a smile on our face, it is also time to trust the wisdom of the heart, which means not judging by human standards whether what we imagine or feel is good or bad, achievable or not, smart or dumb—the labels create illusions. The new metrics for truth telling and accessing peace require that we only be present and experience. That is it. The truth is in our experience.
So, if in 2012, we want to change the world, we will need healthy, centered individuals who are at peace with who they are. What if the light each of us brings is the greatest contribution to an enlightened world, and most of the rest is a distraction? AND what if this week, every one of us commits to testing these ideas by setting aside a few minutes every day to be quiet, in some environment that evokes beauty to see what happens? I look forward to your comments on your experience.
