“If all your problems or perceived causes of suffering or unhappiness were miraculously removed for you today, but you had not become more present, more conscious, you would soon find yourself with a similar set of problems or causes of suffering, like a shadow that follows you wherever you go.” Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now
Ugh. In all honesty, there are times when I feel like a nut. Some story has taken over my mind, and I am caught up again.
I might cry, I might get depressed, I might believe whatever crap my mind is trying to sell me.
And then! I wake up again.
I remember that this upset has twisted me exactly the same way the upset the other day did. And I’ll notice that today’s story had nothing to do with that last one.
The story might change but my upset remains the same.
My upset–regardless of the story–is so consistent that I’ve learned to see it as part of the process. The more it happens, and the more I practice, the more I know that this too is just part of the journey of waking up.
And the more I realize this and practice this and am successful in my practice, the less dire it all feels.
I may still have the stories bombarding me, but I am learning to change the channel with greater ease.
Same cray-cray, different day.
It’s not just my own brand of upset I am talking about… I am fortunate to support others with theirs too.
The stories are diverse… from relationships to money to pets to grief to aging to illness to body image, but the cray-cray is always the same: We believe life as we know it might end on some level because of this.
But it’s not the story we need to fix, it’s the way we respond to it which needs healing.
Doesn’t it make more sense for you to address your reaction rather than seek a solution to every problem? I mean, you are interested in joy and peace, aren’t you?
We’ve never not been OK and we will continue to be OK
My favorite part of the whackadoodly ride is witnessing how quickly things swing from okay to not okay to wildly okay to okay and back to not okay again.
I see this happen in myself and I see it in you.
In all the stories and all the people and all this diversity, there is one constant that is ALWAYS present: Okayness.
Okayness is always present.
Wildly OK
Not OK
OK
Sort of OK
Pissed but OK
Wildly OK
The situation at hand really isn’t a determining factor as to the okayness of our existence. Can we practice remembering this?
Here and now we are always okay and the story we are choosing at the moment is only a flavor or nuance.
Our mind will keep generating stuff for us to think about. Most of it is Crap with a capital C. Lies.
We are on a journey of waking up. It is important that we help ourselves remember that the sliver of upset is not all of the story. This is what contemporary mystics do: we stay present with the truth that there is something much bigger and always present and unwavering inside us. This upset, this moment, this fearful story is not the whole experience.
May we all see the something bigger that is always present and unwavering.
You are not your thoughts.
You are not your story.
You are more than the sum of your parts.
You are OK.
XO.
