Take a lesson away

This morning, in a public place, a friend of mine lost her 22 month old toddler. This woman was frantic. It appeared to her as if everyone around her appeared unaware or simply minded their own business. A few people were helping but not panicking. As my friend raced around, looking high and low, her focus shifted from composure to fear.  I reassured her and yet she felt time was running out and so, started calling the police.

Even so, I continued to search the immediate area. Soon afterwards, I discovered the child happy as can be. This toddler had innocently wandered out of a busy library, unnoticed by a manned reception desk, by automatic doors to the street, run down a corridor, by an open toy library, passed doors to toilets and by people before entering a playgroup area. The child easily blended in and started playing with toys. This child continued acting as if all is well.  How you would respond in her mom's shoes? Feel relieved by a hug and move on?  Come what may, are you always calm as a cucumber? Or do you struggle to let go of fear?

Very often the body is here, but the mind is not.  It gets caught in the net of uncertainty.  It is not totally here.  The past is totally gone and future not yet here. Breathe mindfully to focus on the present.  The next time you are fearful, follow your breath.  You touch the miracle and insight of being alive.  Exhale tension, fear, anger, regret and guilt in the body.

It may surprise you that nobody in the area responded as if a wandering toddler is out of the ordinary.  Even the adults near their children attending playgroup did not look for a missing parent. Its not about others though, is it? Its about how each of us responds to the situations life throws our way. Every situation offers lessons. We can be grateful for guardian angels, and focus on knowing all is well, or assume the worst.  Notice visions triggered in the mind.

What causes you to shift away from peace of mind?  What do you take away from situations that scare you? Who or what prompts you to lose your cool and freak out?  How is each new focus of attention a true gift? When are you 'calm, cool and collected?'

“Happiness is not the absence of problems, it's the ability to deal with them.” -Steve Marboli

"God is happiness and available twenty four hours a day." - Andre Gide

Choose a path

Every moment, you are invited to choose a path. Alongside everything that unfolds, the mind detects the struggle between your sense of good and evil or, what is good or bad for you. Which choices are acceptable or unacceptable? What seems to lighten your load or weighs heavy on your conscience? What feels right in the heart or confronts you with a chilling test of integrity?All choices have consequences, foreseen and unforeseen.

This is an opportunity to master the fear that prevents you from living the life you dream about.  You choose exactly the right people to encounter with perfect timing, even if you do not accept it. If ever you feel bothered by someone, reflect on who your real enemy is. You may vent frustrations on everthing around you to no avail. Can a desire for revenge ever be satisfied? And if not, what is the purpose of the experience?

Notice anger is not directed to what you think but ultimately, at life itself. This offers a timeless message: man needs what's worst in him so to awaken and access what is best in him. Ponder the blessings in anger and fear. Why are emotions such wise teachers?

"The greatest sign of success for a teacher... is to be able to say, "The children are now working as if I did not exist." -Maria Montessori

Be aware

Be aware.  Step back to observe how the mind functions. Notice stillness and what is engaged when you think or feel a current.  What is your focus of attention as you choose to agree or disagree? If you dislike something in your life, notice what happens as you change your thoughts. Harness the power of mind. Recall who is actually captain or master of this ship.

It is always possible to detach from conditions, to stop thinking, comparing, judging. All it takes is  letting go. Call it a shift inward if you will. Flow into a new mindstream. Engage the senses mindfully. Notice the waves simply arise and pass through you. All currents, forms of resistance, emotional reaction and suffering, cease. Peace and compassion flow freely now.  Feel it.  Be that.

"In fact, everything we encounter in this world with our six senses is an inkblot test.
You see what you are thinking and feeling, seldom what you are looking at." -Shiqin

Access untapped energy

If you feel worn out or even tired inside, you are likely asking yourself how you can access untapped energy.  The mind is always thinking, doing, believing.  Its like a dog between your ears that never stops barking. What happens as the mind and movement of thought freezes?

Stand still like a statue.  Feel how the joy and delight increases in stillness.  Recall how it feels to keep your body inactive.  Watch.  Pretend you are a tree. Appreciate mimes you see in passing busking on the street. Stillness allows energy to build up and recharge. Keep the mind perfectly still a few minutes. Tiredness dissipates.  It only exists as you think about it.

Get to know how it feels to be in the present moment. You do not have to describe it. The path is where no traveller is seen. As the mind rests, "you" disappear. The mind recharges its superpower. It loses interest in the past. Allowing stillness to be a focus boosts your energy.  As the mind strengthens itself, it regenerates its own energy, sees past problems.  You think clearly without making mistakes.  Revelations emerge. Notice which 'inner knowings' you are now ready to hear.

When you are at peace with yourself, you are easier to live with and its easier to live with yourself. In many cases, physical, emotional, social problems appear to arise based on stress.  This happens when the mind is overactive, tired, brittle. When it is soft, nothing bothers you.  What do you notice as you open to more stillness in daily life? What does the experience feel like? How does this affect you?

“There is a point where in the mystery of existence contradictions meet; where movement is not all movement and stillness is not all stillness; where the idea and the form, the within and the without, are united; where infinite becomes finite, yet not.”  -Rabindranath Tagore

What to look forward to?

Life is a journey.  You decide on paths to forge, what to look back on, and what to look forward to. You imagine each destination, the nature of the roads you take to get there, and how peaceful and content you feel all along the way.  You can focus on that which has yet to be or become the change you wish to see in others and the world.  What do you look forward to?

 “I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness…” –Martin Luther King Jr.

“We look forward to the time when the power to love will replace the love of power. Then will our world know the blessings of peace.” - William Ellery Channing