The *goal* my friends, is the *means* to the end.
But we’re taught that it is the end.
Oh no, you say, I understand that it is the journey, not the destination that matters.
But do you? Do you really get that? In other words, are you actually LIVING it?
You see, to be living it means to be increasingly present, to be increasingly ALIVE in each moment. And the only way to feel ALIVE is to be present to all that is UNCONDITIONALLY.
That means being at peace with all that is – good, bad, awful, painful, disgusting, unfair… (which are all thoughts of judgment).
This doesn’t mean that you condone that which you know (in a deep, embodied way) is unjust, unkind…Rather, you respond from the state of ALIVENESS, of AWARENESS which is very different to the right and wrong, good and bad, yes and no, this or that, erroneous mind of learned concepts and beliefs.
For those who experience it, Aliveness, Awareness presents a choiseless, ongoing response of Love, in Love. In other words, Aliveness is grounded in that dynamic state we inadequately attempt to describe with words such as Love…Bliss…Peace…Joy…Radiance…Delight…Rapture…Limitlessness…
But to come back to my question:
Do you really get that the goal is the means to the end? In other words, are you actually LIVING it?
Observe your thoughts and feelings, your frustrations and your fears, your deadlines and demands, your willingness and your unwillingness, your disappointments…endless disappointments, many of which you don’t even notice but which slink silently into your subconscious (including your body)…festering wounds that you will seek to protect…at the cost of your happiness…
So you build walls, strong defences, lines of resistance…
At some point, you will notice or someone will point out to you that you’re being hurtful, unkind, insensitive, defensive, negative…
And like any well-conditioned, self-respecting Ego, you will staunchly deny it, go on the attack, fight for your limitations, make heroes of them and villains of those who disagree with you…
And afterward, in the privacy of your own dark world, you’ll beat yourself up for having behaved thus, for being less than perfect or normal or good or a man or a woman or an adult or partner or colleague or friend …whatever identity has become the Ego’s predilection for the moment or the day or the month or year…
The *goal* my friends, is the *means* to the end.
What then is the end?
It is the moment to moment living of Life…You know?
Each of those bits that happen *between* the more recognisable events like breakfast or a meeting or a car breakdown or…as well as the bits that happen *during* those events…
Being there, in each of those moments or in some of them at least…
Recognising that this is where Life is…right here, right now…
Not in some fantasy ‘one day’ or ‘when I get there’ or ‘when that happens’ moment or event…
All that you could possibly want is here and now within you…and your external (tangible) goals and internal (intangible) ones are just the warm, inviting, encouraging light that draws you along the journey of moments…moments of ALIVENESS.
Take time to really get this…
All of the wonder and grandeur of Life is right here and now. Tune in.
Because if you don’t, then you will continue treading that wheel of PAST becoming FUTURE…a wheel of futile, Life-denying, You-denying repetition.
Days, months and years will pass and you will wonder why you’re not feeling that much better than before you’d achieved your goals (or not)…It’s a common story, all too common…
And I bet that even now as you’re reading this, those defences and lines of resistance are on high alert…
And yet my friend, this moment, yes, *this moment* could be the moment that you make a different choice.
The choice to be here. To honour Life which is You in this moment. To stop denying Life. To stop denying You. To recognise that now (and it’s always now) is the only moment you truly ‘have’, You truly are!
All other such moments in the future, while possible or even probable, are not guaranteed… As the person diagnosed with cancer discovers or the family of a friend who was killed by a car when she was crossing on a green light… (true story…just happened in the last couple of weeks) realize…
And no, not to make a different choice out of fear but to make it out of Love. Love and compassion for yourself…
This moment can put you on a different, more joyous, more fulfilling, more freeing trajectory…
This moment…
And it happens as simply and as effortlessly as with an intention:
Let me be here. Just fully present. Let me experience my breath. Let me notice the light…the sounds…the sensations, the thoughts…which are all happening in this moment and in this moment and in this moment…in the ever-present now…just notice…without judgment, without attachment, without rejection…
And then, let that experience inspire my thoughts, words and actions as I journey toward my goal.
Joseph Campbell so insightfully says:
People say that what we’re all seeking is a meaning for life. … I think that what we’re seeking is an experience of being alive, so that our life experiences on the purely physical plane will have resonances with our own innermost being and reality, so that we actually feel the rapture of being alive.
He’s right you know.
Peace, Love and Joy my friends.
MENTORING
Let Life express itself intoxicatingly, uniquely, powerfully and limitlessly in, as and through you. Don’t settle, whatever your age. Know your true Self. Follow your Bliss. Live the Life that you know you want to! Contact me here.
MINDFULNESS ONLINE
Join me every week to sit in the presence of your true Self and experience the greatness of Life flowing naturally, effortlessly and powerfully in, as and through you!