The Preciousness of Being Alive

Working with cancer, shingles and now a possible knee replacement is all fuel for the struggling self that keeps me separate from the only moment that matters – now. And yet all these challenges bring me over and over again into the preciousness of my life.

I find myself saying to myself in grocery stores, on the freeway, hanging out with family and friends, pumping gas, waiting for a doctor, and sitting on my porch, “I am alive!” And that truth brings great joy for it has finally seeped into the morrow of my being that one day I won’t be here anymore.

It is so easy to miss this truth. It is so easy to hydroplane through our lives, lost in the past and the future, lost in wanting and resisting, lost in our stories about life rather than actually being present for it. But if you listen, your life is always saying, “Psst! Come here, rest in this moment where everything you truly long for can be discovered.” This moment is the real treasure we have been longing for our whole lives. It is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow! And it has always been here, waiting for us to rediscover it.

One of my favorite stories from Buddha is a story about the preciousness of a human birth. He likens the rarity of human birth to a blind turtle who lives in the seven seas of the world and on those seven seas, there floats one golden hoop. Only once every hundred years does the turtle surface and he surfaces through the golden hoop. That is how precious a human life is!

So in the vastness of all time and space you have been given the gift of life and no matter what it looks like, you are alive! Let that in!!

Even for me, after years of awakening, the mind is very crafty in its addiction to struggle, putting a veil between me and the preciousness of this living moment. But when I notice that I am again caught in the stories in my mind, there are several things I do to unhook myself and bring my attention back to the preciousness, to the aliveness, to the joy of this living moment.

My favorite is just to say I am alive!  Even as I write that, it brings great joy. When I open fully again to this moment, I oftentimes say thank you – for life, and for all of the challenges that have brought me back to life.

When my mind is very busy and my attention is caught in the web of struggle, I oftentimes tap my big toes together to bring my attention out of my struggling mind and back into my body. This is very helpful because we are so used to having our attention caught in our heads. Tapping my toes helps to bring it back to my body, which calms my mind.

Another thing I like to do is soften my belly and deepen my breath by breathing down into my body rather than just into my chest. There’s a wonderful mantra by Thich Nhat Hanh that helps in this grounding in the living moment, “Breathing in, I know I’m breathing in. Breathing out, I smile.”  It’s such a powerful mantra because the first half is inviting you to bring your attention out of your head and into the actual living experience of your breath. The second half is reminding you that you are alive and no matter what is happening in your life it is okay.

If your heart is broken after the ending of a relationship know you’re still alive!

If an intense cold or flu has captured your body, you are still alive!

If you have a difficult job, pause for a moment here and there and know you are still alive.

The invitation is to open into the pure joy of being alive no matter what is happening in your life. This healing is not only for you but also for your friends and family for the more you are present for your life, the more you engage with them in a healing way. It is also for the world for all the heartache you see happening on our planet right now is happening in people that are caught in their minds.

Come home my friend, come home to the only moment that matters, now!

If you connected with this blog and want to explore my message further, I invite you to listen to my upcoming radio show on Dreamvisions 7 Radio: Keeping Company with Yourself. It will air on Thursday, July 11th and 18th at 5am and 5pm HERE. After the 18th, it will be available on demand, along with every other radio show I’ve ever done HERE. Please feel free to explore my catalog and listen to topics that call to you.

Offerings:

If this post resonates with you, I invite you to join us for the next Free Live Call: Your Precious Life on August 20th from 5:30pm to 7:00pm PDT!

Life is such a precious gift and yet we live most of it caught in our heads, thinking about life, struggling with life. Join Mary in discovering how you can use your mind for the exquisite tool it is rather than being lost in it so you can know again now the pure joy of actually being present for your life.

If you can’t make it on the day, you can still participate by sending in your question, see the link for more details. I hope to see you there! Click HERE to learn more and register.