A friend of mine recently said, “None of us gets the luxury of being independent of our context.” As much as I try not to be a victim to my context, I must agree that the world around me, as well as the context of my biochemistry, brain development, life experience, (and much, much more), definitely all affect my perspective.
Life has been busier than ever. I used to pride myself on living a balanced life with a sane pace, yet the past few years have challenged me to move at a faster pace than my natural rhythm. This has left me with little time to monitor my thoughts, much less time for meditation, and a lot more unconscious meshing with my current context than is healthy for me. As such, I’ve felt a bit disconnected with the present moment, with my soul, with those around me. It’s become much easier to pull the “woe is me” card and wish things were different than they are. And that — wishing that things were different than they are, is a sure-fire, tried-and-true recipe for feeling miserable.
Lately, I’ve been reclaiming life. Reclaiming my body, my breath, my time, my presence. The shift in happiness has been real and tangible. I am able to better appreciate the joy in each task I’m working on when I honor my rhythm and let the rest be undone. I am more productive, I enjoy life, and I am more pleasant to those around me, when I am able to open my eyes and recognize the small joys within each task. I feel being while I’m doing and recognize what my favorite yoga teacher Rusty Wells always exclaims, “How blessed we are!”
Byron Katie uses the word God to mean, “what is”. Why fight things that are out of our control? Why argue with life itself? Why fight against God? Can we see God in the details of life, the fun things, the annoying things, the boring things? Perhaps this is simply a shifting of perspective, a shifting of our internal context — perhaps this viewpoint of God isn’t even removing context at all, seeing clearly, or becoming more enlightened. I’m not sure yet. But maybe creating our own inner context creates more opportunity for peace. Maybe it brings us closer to seeing more clearly. I know that something definitely resonates within my presence when I read this poem by Hafiz:
Buttering The Sky
Slipping
On my shoes,
Boiling water,
Toasting bread,
Buttering the sky:
That should be enough contact
With God in one day
To make anyone
Crazy.
Mmm — somehow I understand this kind of crazy! The complete openness to what is, the love affair with God. It is the fabulous combination of the mystical and the mundane. Sometimes I just can’t help but wish that I could stay crazy all of the time.
What do you do when life seems to busy to enjoy? How do you connect with your soul in the middle of seeming chaos?
I love the definition of God as “what is” or all there is. Seeing God as everything and everywhere is a way of accepting the world as it is. For me that doesn’t mean not trying to make things better–it just helps me accept things I cannot change.
I figured this out recently myself. Do things to have joy. Really live.
I have scrambling for so long to get my place in the next life ready, that 40 years have come and gone and I have accomplishments but very little joy. I’m spending the next 40, living life and making memories and loving people and being present in this life.
I read a list of regrets people who are dying made . . .
1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.
2. I wish I didn’t work so hard.
3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.
4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.
5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.
http://ben.casnocha.com/2010/11/regrets-of-the-dying.html