Live What You Know

In the journey of life, all roads worth traveling point to the stillness and going within.  Life cannot be lived well or peacefully focused without.  It doesn’t work.

“You find peace not by rearranging the circumstances of your life, but by realizing who you are at the deepest level.” ―Eckhart Tolle

Spaciousness is essential to realizing who we are and where true peace comes from.   As we put more space around everything — every choice, every word, every action, every emotion… we open up more room for peace and the experience of stillness to take hold.  The space and stillness is who we really are, it isn’t empty space, it’s where our essential selves are.  All the rest is our personality covering over the real us.  We can spend a lot of time working on the personality and training it to be all kinds of things, but, underneath it lies a joy and peace that we are all meant to dwell in.  This is the connectedness we share with all things.

We have all experienced how a few deep breaths can allow us to make a much better choice by cooling our temper or gathering our courage before a bad choice or reaction.  That breath took us to who we really are and allowed more of our true self to emerge and make the better choice.  We can work hard on our self-control, which is important; but, we must allow our self-realization to emerge so that we can live in the peace and joy as a permanent state of being.

We can put more space around each and every thing by really experiencing it, from the most challenging situation, to the sweetest gesture from a loved one and everything in between…simply being there with it in a more meaningful way, with a lot of pause and breath and attention.  It is the path to joy and peace.  Avoiding things or distracting ourselves from things we don’t like only keeps us stuck in the repetitive lessons of a shallow life.   Judging and labeling situations and people robs us from our peace and joy by keeping us swirling in our thoughts about things instead of immersed in life and being; those thoughts keep us from the space and stillness.  Accepting whatever comes our way and giving it the most of us will deliver us to our truest selves.

“Accept – then act. Whatever the present moment contains, accept it as if you had chosen it.  Always work with it, not against it.” ― Eckhart Tolle

I haven’t yet mastered the ability, nor found the time to sit on my meditation mat for hours each day.  Sometimes I wish I was better at it and could give more time to it, then I remember that there will be time for that.  I am sure of it.  I understand that I am in this busy time of life right now with so many different roles, goals, responsibilities and others counting on me, etc., and that is all just as it is meant to be.  I don’t have to wait for more space and stillness in some future that would allow more time, I can use my life situation just as it is now to bring more space and stillness to all that I am doing.  I can use all the little “doings” in my life to allow more of my essential “being” to emerge.  This is my practice.

“In today’s rush we all think too much, seek too much, want too much and forget about the joy of just Being.” ―Eckhart Tolle

To live a life of non-reaction means to live more deeply from your essential being.  It is so easy to let the personality respond to every little thing; it is also a dreadful way to live.  Adding space and stillness as you accept what comes is what can allow you to skip reacting and shift to being.  It amazes me how often I stumble into the truth that it is all in the little things.  I have heard that lesson from countless teachers, poems, quotes, signs, etc.  I tell my kids, “This family has big ideas, but we implement them with our little choices again and again.”  It is a great practice to honor all the little things…

“The significance is hiding in the insignificant. Appreciate everything.” ―Eckhart Tolle

Loving all little things and honoring them with enough space to be is a great practice.  Slowing down to be with each little thing.  Add a breath before and after everything.  Feel things more deeply.  Before you do or say or think anything, just be.  All the doing can become more miraculous.  Life can feel more meaningful; the key is in honoring each and every little thing you do…it all connects to the next moment.  Everything is sacred.  Cherish everything.

“Doing is never enough if you neglect Being.” ―Eckhart Tolle

There are many practices that can help bring more stillness and spaciousness to our days.  Many have gone before us and provided wonderful examples and paths for us.  Our souls lead us to the best path for us.  All paths lead to the same place. There is no need to wait until we can be great at our spiritual practice and fashion it after the great teachers before us.  We can just BE with the truest part of ourselves right where we are at doing whatever we are doing.  Yesterday, I found my space and peace (which had escaped me for a bit) by sitting in the middle of my son’s self-created game of “Airport” in which all his cars were in various lines waiting to take off on one of his planes.  He was completely immersed in the joy of playing and happy to share this imaginary world he had created.  He shared it with me so joyfully.  His playtime was naturally in the peace and joy that we all have waiting for us; I joined him there and blessed my soul with really truly being there.  He had set his game up right in front of my bedroom door; I was simply passing through.  I could have walked right though that amazing moment; instead, I stopped and found my soul right in the middle of his “Airport.”

I am wishing us all the wisdom to stop and be where we’re at and cease walking through the precious moments we are meant to experience.  I am wishing us spaciousness and stillness as a permanent companion so we can truly feel who and what we are and live in the peace and joy that has always been there waiting for us.

Thank YOU for visiting me here!  This is an important part of my practice and your visit honors it and encourages me so very much!