Freedom!!

I had a startling realization the other day – the golden thread of accepting attention has shown up in three of my books, in short concise ways, that allow you to access its healing power as you move throughout your day. 

In my first book, Belonging to Life, this powerful way of engaging with life showed up as the statements of what is and this too. What is is all about bringing your attention out of your thoughts so you can use it to be curious about what you are experiencing right now. In other words, rather than thinking about what is happening, you are actually experiencing it. It is startling to realize most the time you think about your life rather than being present for it.   

This too is all about not struggling with whatever you are experiencing, giving it the space to be here because most of our suffering comes from struggling with what is. When you stop resisting what you are experiencing, the bound-up energy – whether it shows up as thoughts, feelings or sensations – begins to dissipate. You don’t need to fix, get rid of, rise above, or figure out your struggles. That just keeps you lost in the land of struggle. It’s a powerful moment in your awakening when you recognize attention heals!  

In my book, The Gift of Our Compulsions, it became the four questions: 

In This Moment, What Am I Experiencing? 

For This Moment, Can I Let This Be Here? 

For This Moment, Can I Touch This with Compassion? 

Right Now, What Do I Truly Need? 

And in my book, What’s in the Way IS the Way, the statements became As is, I’m here and I see you, I’m here. All three of these carry the same intention – to actually notice what you are experiencing rather than just thinking about it – allowing whatever is here to be here in order to give it the healing light of your accepting attention.  

And now these statements have morphed into three new statements, the first two being, Without changing anything, notice what is here and Without changing anything, allow what is here to be here. Why are they so powerful? It may be because they all begin with without changing anything. Our minds are all about fixing, changing, resisting, and trying. They are incredibly busy. Without changing anything lifts our attention out of the world of thought so we can use our attention to see what is going on rather than struggling with it.  

But the place where lasting healing happens is encapsulated in the third statement, Without changing anything, bring tenderness to what or who is here. This one invites you to give whatever you are experiencing the healing light of your own heart. For it is in your heart that all true lasting healing happens. 

As it says in The Course in Miracles, “Everything is love or a request for love.” All the various components of your conditioned self, whether it is anger, shame, fear, despair, loneliness, etc, are requesting the kindness of your heart. The more you get to know these parts that come and go all day long, you’ll see that everything is asking for you to say hello – “I see you!” – and is asking for the healing magic of acceptance – “You are welcome here!”   

This can be very scary in the beginning because we feel this kind of acceptance will give our reactions permission to take over. The opposite is true. Try this with smaller storms in the beginning and see that they dissipate under the gaze of your kind and accepting heart. And as the clouds move on through, the vast blue sky of your true nature will be revealed. 

The invitation is to use these new statements to lift the veils of your conditioning so you can come home to yourself and to life exactly as it is in this moment, not only for your own healing but for the healing of every being that makes up this beautiful planet we call home.  

If this post speaks to you, please consider checking out my radio show of the same title on Dreamvisions 7 Radio on Thursday at 5 AM & 5 PM PT or after that click Previous Episodes On Demand.