Life is Calling to You

This has been a very growth-filled time for me. For the past two years the pain that I have been experiencing from a head on automobile accident in my 20s intensified into surgeries, which not only didn’t help but increased the pain. And even though I have had difficulty sleeping, which has brought up fear, frustration and overwhelm, these challenges have opened me up into an aliveness I haven’t known since I was a wee one. This challenging time is teaching me on a cellular level not to resist any of it!

When we were very young, we were completely open to life. The vast and creative force that brought it all forth out of mystery flowed through us – as us. It showed up as exuberance and curiosity, laughter, and tears. We hadn’t yet learned how to resist any of it. Madness, sadness and gladness moved through us just like the clouds pass through the vast spaciousness of the sky. Because of that, we were truly available to life.

A friend told me a wonderful story of a walk through the woods with a 3-year-old girl. Coming to a bridge over a stream, the little one became completely enamored by the flow of the water, so enamored she had to lie down on the bridge, hanging her head over its edge. Every once in a while, she would look up at my friend and simply say, “Wow!” Three times they headed down the path beyond the bridge and three times the little girl turned around and went back to the wonder of the flowing water.

We all knew that wonder and aliveness very well when we were young, but we were all destined to leave it. We pulled ourselves up and out of our bodies and into the world of the mind, closing the door to the pure experience of living. Instead of being open to life, we are caught in a mind that usually struggles with life. We hold our breath and tighten our bodies, spending our energy wanting ourselves and life to be different than what they are.

This resistance to the flow of life cuts us off from our bodies and from the energy of bliss that radiates from each and every cell. It also cuts us off from our wisdom selves, which know how to respond to life rather than react and the price we pay from this disconnect can be seen on the evening news. All the greed, fear, divisiveness, violence and rage we see there comes from people caught exclusively in the world of the mind. And yet this is not our destiny. Life longs for us to return. Life longs for us to again know intimate contact with the present moment and the field of bliss that is awaiting us there. Life is showing more and more of us how to be wise and responsive human beings.

How do we know this place again? There are two very basic skills. The first is attention – the ability to see what is. This is one of the most powerful tools we have and yet for most of us our attention is exclusively caught in our wanting and fearing minds. If you were honest, you would have to say that for most of your life you experience life through your thoughts rather than the living thing!

To take moments throughout your day where you are present for what is is transformative. Human attention freed from the confines of the mind is an awesome thing! Don’t discount the power of those moments where you really taste your food, feel the softness of the evening air, or truly see your loved one’s face. Rather than always following thought, you can train the laser beam of your attention to be present for life the moment it appears out of mystery, even if it is the water cascading down your back while taking a shower.

The second tool for transformation is acceptance. If you were able to watch your mind you would see that mostly it is about wanting things to be different than what they are. This game of the mind is endless!  You will never make yourself or your loved ones or even your life perfect enough to suit the mind!  Acceptance takes you beyond the struggles of the mind into the field of bliss that your mind is floating in.

Acceptance is an alien experience for most of us. Instead we deem ourselves to be either too fat or too thin; too loud or to quiet; too busy or not busy enough. Acceptance is the act of resting, simply resting for a moment, and allowing life (especially you) to be exactly as it is. When we can say yes to whatever is, the cacophony of the wanting mind quiets down and we see that what we truly longed for is happening right here, right now!!

I leave you with an invitation. Cultivate moments throughout your day where you ask, “What can I notice about this moment of my life?” And explore it for a few moments with as much curiosity as you can. It could be listening to the sounds of cars going by or a tickle on your forehead. It could be becoming fascinated by the wall in an elevator! Or it could be a feeling of deep sadness washing through you.

Go to whatever grabs your attention and be present for it. Whatever you discover, say to yourself, “This too. I can allow this too to be a part of my life.” These two skills of attention and acceptance will place you again squarely in the middle of your own journey of awakening. For in all our searching most of us failed to discover that the pathway to our freedom lies in whatever experience we are having in this moment.  And, whether you know it or not yet, the pathway is completely trustable. It may not always be likable, but it is truly trustable.