JOY, Let us live in……

 

Reacting or Relating

Relationships can bring great joy or great pain – including the relationship you have with yourself. Awareness makes it easier to create the relationships you want because it allows you to understand your behavioural patterns rather than bein unconsciously driven by them. Emotional issues arising from relationships can become all-consuming, drain you of energy, and take you away from your peace. Being conscious helps you in observing your thoughts and feelings rather than being swept away by them. Awareness helps you to deal with your reactions and conflict in a health way leading to greater understanding and togetherness.

To be in touch with your internal happiness system you need to go beyond the chatter of your mind to a place where you feel loving. When you experience yourself as the loving individual you are, you will recognise that same love in other people. When you go beyond those thoughts, recognising that thoughts are not who you are, they are just thoughts or a trick of the mind, you will connect to the real you, which is love. You can then choose to base your relationships on love

Innately we all want to connect and get on well with others. Often a conflict can escalate despite our best intentions. Being aware of our “triggers”  and what is going on for us internally is the key. When we are aware of our thought and the resulting emotions it give us a choice in relation to any action we may want to take. The ability to consciously choose our behaviours is what determines how “conscious” we are.  Develop the ability to turn your focus inward in times of tension and stress and then choose your behaviour to experience the true joy of consciously connecting in your relationships.

 

THE GUEST HOUSE

(This poem of Rumi gets to the heart of mindful living in the most eloquent and beautiful way)

This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.

A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
as an unexpected visitor.

Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they are a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still, treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.

The dark thought, the shame, the malice.
meet them at the door laughing and invite them in.

Be grateful for whatever comes.
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.

— Jelaluddin Rumi,
translation by Coleman Barks

 

The Game we call life

“There have been years of searching for
the blissful emotion,
the perfect life,
the right things to do,
the desirable identity,
the comforting words,
the high profile job,
the picture perfect this,
and a sense of closure
within every event.

I wanted to be wanted.
I needed to be needed.
The yearning to be envied,
the way I envied the unattainable.
The sweet tasks of manipulation
in order to produce the golden moments.

The daily efforts to soothe and sedate
my worried mind.
The undercurrents of suffering
looked so pretty when they
were the seemingly petty sacrifice
to attain future goal.

So much self concern.
Self importance
Absorption
Myopic world.

*Deep breath*

And that’s ok.

That is the experience.
It doesn’t mean anything more.
It is the seeing of that state.
The observation of what that
kind of thinking looks like
and feels like.

It was lived through me.
It expressed itself through this
pretend body
and in this pretend life.
I don’t judge it harshly.
I don’t judge it at all.
Because there is nothing to judge.

There is no absolute ideal.
Just the natural intelligence
that observes what is happening.
The concepts
the ideas
the rules

the boundaries
the imperatives
the goals
the should’s
the passing of time
is all part of this game.

This beautiful
incredible
intricate
and
infinite
game
that we call life.

We take it seriously.
and believe in its impact.
We believe there is something
to be done.
That there is somewhere to get to.
That there is someone or something
That needs to be changed
or saved
or ended.

Like we ever really had control.
Like we ever really made any choices.
Like we were ever separate.
Like we were ever going to die.

You are Eternal.
Nothing can hurt you.
Suffering comes
and it goes.
Joy comes
and it goes.
the bottomless, boundless
ocean of Life
Of which you are.
Of which we are.
We are That”

-Unknown

 

Life

“Life is simple. Everything happens for you, not to you. Everything happens at exactly the right moment, neither too soon nor too late. You don’t have to like it… it’s just easier if you do. Nothing comes ahead of its time, and nothing ever happened that didn’t need to happen- Life doesn’t happen to us, it happens for us!”

 

Let life live through you

“It doesn’t matter if you draw,or write books.
It doesn’t matter if you saw wood, or catch fish.
It doesn’t matter if you sit at home
and stare at the ants or the shadows of the trees
and grasses in your garden.

It matters that you care.
It matters that you feel.
It matters that you notice.
It matters that life lives through you.

Contentment is life living through you.
Joy is life living through you.
Satisfaction and strength is life living through you.

Don’t be afraid.
Love, feel, let life take you by the hand.
Let life live through you”