Eckhart Tolle calls it the eternal now, and says, "Realize deeply that the present moment is all you will ever have. (Cause it's always the present moment, get it?)
Abraham, through channel Esther Hicks says, "Life is a series of delicious moments."
Wayne Dyer adds, "You have everything you need for complete and total happiness right now."
And a lot of us scratch our heads and say, "Huh?" Because let's face it, sometimes, our "right now" stinks on ice. So how do we go from a present moment that is rather miserable, to being happy in the moment? What if our "now" includes a horrible disease, or the loss of a loved one, or something awful like that? How does anyone find any sort of contentment in moments like those?
And why would anyone want to?
Well that's the first thing to tackle, isn't it? Why would you want to find contentment, peace, even happiness, in the horrible moments of your life? I'm going to tell you why, and the short reason is this. Every single experience in life comes to us for vital reasons. The bad times come to teach us. They come to push us forward to where we're supposed to be. They come to bring clarity about what we really want. And they come because they have to come. The reality we live in this moment is the only way things can possibly be in this given space, in this given moment, in this particular reality. And everything that happens fits together like the pieces of a giant jigsaw puzzle. If one piece was shaped differently, the entire puzzle would fall apart.
So the bad moments, the challenges, the losses come because they can't not come. But these moments can last for as long or as short a period of time (time being an illusion) as we choose to allow. The more miserable we are in the bad moments, the longer we're stuck in them. Only by finding contentment and peace within the moment, can we ever hope to move past it.
So that's the why, that's the reason to find contentment and peace in the horrible moments of life: because they're going to stay with you until you do. But what about the how? How do you make peace with something awful?
There's always, always a deep spiritual message being whispered to us in everything that happens. In the loss of a loved one, something I've experienced many times, I've found more spiritual growth than at any other period of my life. (We'll do a blog on death and dying another time, soon I promise.) But the core to remember is that this is that person's journey, not yours. There are reasons they came, and reasons they went when they did. Reasons that involve the fulfillment of their own purpose, their own plan. And in fact, everything that comes to you in life is a part of your own journey, your own plan. Everything. If you can accept that everything happens for a reason, and then begin to seek the lessons within the hardship, meditate on them, peel away the layers and get deeper and deeper, journal it all, you will in short order begin to realize that this hardship brought a lot of blessings with it.
There was joy in your life before the tragedy or illness or loss, wasn't there? That joy didn't come from outside of you, it came from within. Your capacity to feel happiness is your own. You hang it on events and circumstances beyond yourself, but the truth is, it's all yours. That capacity for joy is still there, and the earth is still filled with things that can bring you smiles, here and there. Look for those things. Make it an absolute quest to find things that help you feel a little bit better, that give you a little relief, that take your focus away from the awfulness. The more you do this, the easier it will get.
Instead of struggling against the bad thing, (we all talk about battling cancer, fighting addiction, beating depression) just relax into it. Know that it came for a reason, that it will stay for as long as it has to, and that it will go when the time and your vibration are able to release it. Relax into that. Really accept it. Trust that there is a plan, and that all is exactly the way it's supposed to be right now. It is what it is. It is the only way it can be. And we'll understand the reasons eventually. The more we can stop pushing against our obstacles, the more at peace we are, and the more at peace we become right here and now, the more easily we can expand on to the next phase, and the next.
Gregg Braden talks about this very subject and more in this half hour interview that will be a blessing to all who watch it. It's worth the time, I promise.
I want to tell you how much I needed to read these words today. Thank you for the reminder that all things, good and bad, do happen for a reason. My past few "moments" (days, months) have SUCKED! I've been working hard to find a way to deal with them but relaxing into them just didn't occur to me. I'm going to journal about it all and relax and see what happens. Thank you so much; you have helped me remember. I'm looking forward to watching Gregg Braden's video a little later. Everything I've read of his has been awesome. Thanks again!
ReplyDeleteHi, Jordana! I'm so glad the piece spoke to you at the right time. Synchronicity rocks! Look for good things where you are, too, because that's going to help immensely. Find those joyful bits, and blow them out of all proportion. :)
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ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing compilation of several pieces of thought and idea that have finally coalesced into a constructive whole for me after reading them here, ma'am. When we had to put our oldest cat to sleep recently, grief hit me like a sledgehammer.....and kept coming back and coming back again until I had to relax in it just to function. I daresay I've grieved more over this soul than anyone else except my grandmother. (That said, I have lost many friendships over the years, but thank the gods and goddesses, not many people.) At the time, the grief made sense, but the sheer intensity of it made no sense. After several days I came to realize that the grief I was feeling now was in proportion to the sheer amount of love that Shaney was and that he gave and received. (The guilt lurking about the fact that 'we should have noticed something was wrong with our little friend much, much earlier' was another thing....) If he taught me and my lifemate nothing else, it was what being the essence of true, complete, unwavering love - the love the Universe (by whatever name or names you choose to call it) has for all of us. (He's also taught us again and again what love and loyalty are as he's still here WITH us, at the same time being Above waiting for us. At times I'm concerned for his spiritual well-being, still having a portion of his consciousness here with us has got to be distracting - but then again, it's his choice and he loves us THAT much...and yes, it makes life easier on us still having him around.) I daresay we are building as many happy moments with him a spirit-cat as we did when he still had physical form!)
ReplyDeleteMaya, you can let go of the guilt of not knowing something was wrong. When one is aligned with spirit (as animals always are) one never leaves before his or her time. Shaney's journey took her to the other side.
DeleteWhen Oprah asked Deepak "where do we go when we die?" He said, "if the building we're sitting in fell down, what would happen to the space inside the building? Where would it go?" And Oprah said, "Nowhere." And Deepak said, "that's your answer. We don't go anywhere. Our physical container does, but we remain."
The difference is that we can not experience our loved ones who've passed, by using our physical senses. We have to figure out how to experience them in another way. Without sound, touch, smell, taste, sight. We have to feel them. I think we do that best in our imaginations and in our dreams.
When I hear my dear Lee's voice in my head, hear her laughing at something, instead of thinking that's what she would have done if she were here, I think that's what she is doing, because she is here, and that "imaginary" experience of her in my mind isn't make believe. It's the new way we can stay in touch. Spirit to spirit. :)