Appreciating the World Just as It Is

We are living in a time where there is so much happening that is stressful and upsetting.  One of the primary antidotes for all this upset in our mind is appreciating the world just as it is. Isn’t this what awakening is all about – the ability to pull our attention out of our busy, struggling minds and grounding it in the newness of this moment? But we have so much conditioning that says life needs to be different than what it is, so mostly what we do is pay attention to our thoughts rather than being present for life.

In order to unhook from struggling with life so you can actually be with it, it is helpful to begin by appreciating the world just as it is.  A fun way to do this is to pretend you are a camera and throughout your day take snapshots of your life. You can even blink when you do this!  Be alert to moments where life is in pause mode, whether it’s standing in line or waiting for the stoplight to change or doing a repetitive task. When you take the snapshot, pause for a moment and let life in…exactly as it is. Really see. Really hear it. And if there are wonderful smells around, let them in too.

These kinds of moments begin to open us into the truth that life is a wondrous, alive, fluid, and constantly changing process. There are no two moments that are the same even though our minds say they are. And there is no such thing as an ordinary moment even though our minds believe that is so too.

When we have moments of truly being open to life, we begin to get inklings that there is something much smarter than us in charge.  If you doubt that know that at one time you were a cell that was so tiny you couldn’t even see it with the naked eye and yet that cell knew how to divide and divide and divide again into the 30 trillion cells that make you up.  And they all work together without a thought from you!

When you see the milky way, or hear the steady and faithful beat of your heart, or you notice how many things in life show up as spirals – seeds, galaxies, sea shells, the cochlea of your inner ear, hurricanes, the DNA molecule…truth begins to penetrate the denseness of your mind and you recognize that you belong to a highly intelligent process and it is safe to open to this moment, which is the only place that life is truly happening.

To open your view of life connects you with the deep relaxation of being with things exactly as they are. Slowly and surely you become comfortable with the newness of the nowness of life. So the invitation is to pause, take a snapshot of your life and then let life in exactly as it is and know, even if you have been in the same space a thousand times, this moment is completely brand new.

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