To be at peace in any endeavour,
we must release our need
to control the outcome.
I’m reading a fantastic book right now. This book is speaking to me in all kinds of intersting and new ways. The book is the one that the quote above is from.
Something I’m really starting to learn these days is how to shut off all the outside “voices” (i.e. radio, T.V., my imaginary friend “Caleb” <—ha ha!) and just listen to myself. I used to think meditation was a bunch of bunk. That to sit quietly and breath in all sorts of peaceful things and breath out all your frustrations and agressions was pure nonsense. Then…I tried it.
Some have said that prayer is a way for you to talk to God and that meditation is a way for you to listen. I’d say, if you are religious in any way, that that is a pretty fair assessment. Sometimes you need to talk to “God” (not necessarily the christian god, btw) and sometimes you need to sit your ass down and just listen.
Last night I came to a section of the book about nature (which I thought was going to bore me to tears), and it’s totally fascinating to me. I suppose it’s fairly common sense stuff and things that I already kind of knew, but I never really listened before. Has that ever happened to you? You can hear a quote a thousand times and never quite “get it” and then one day it just slams into your brain and makes all the sense in the world. That’s what reading this chapter did for me.
I find myself looking around more and more at the world around me. I haven’t turned into some sort of tree-hugging hippie or anything like that, but from my own personal experience I am slowly starting to recognize the design of things. The way of life and all it’s intricate details. I even have a new little friend that has come to visit me everyday at work–a little bird with an orange belly.
I first noticed the little fella when I was outside smoking. I was there, just minding my own business, when out of nowehere I catch this thing coming at me out of the corner of my eye. I, of course, being the nervous little ball of energy that I am, jumped about four feet in the air. Startled the heck out of me. When I calmed down, I looked over and she (or he) was maybe 10 feet away from me getting a worm out of the ground.
In that moment I started to ask myself, “Why did this happen?” I got all excited because I’ve heard of things like this having “meaning” in the universe and I asked someone about it and they turned it into an anti-smoking campaign. *sigh*
But the little fella never fails to visit me everyday. Not in the startling manner, but it never fails that I am out there and see him getting his daily worm. I kind of enjoy his presence, even if I haven’t figured out yet what the fuck a bird is supposed to symbolize.
The moral of this story is simple…love thyself. The common saying is “Know Thyself”, but I think that that is grossly incomplete. It’s only half the story. If I were writing it, I would say “Know thyself, Love thyself”. Accept yourself for who you are–flaws and all. Don’t be afraid to change and improve, but don’t stress about it. The biggest improvement we can make in our lives is to learn to be secure in who we are, know what we want, and then just simply…accept who we are.
I know that ever since I began to think more like this, that I have been a lot happier. It’s a truly freeing experience to just enjoy the now, whatever the situation is, and realize your balance with everything else. Whether you want to be or not, you are part of a big machine (a grander plan) and, while you can’t see the big picture, all the little things that happen to each of us fit into that machine. The way you deal with what you are alotted in life is of utmost important. Don’t be bitter because you are a good person that bad things keep happening to. Love yourself! Accept yourself! And be patient. These are the things that I am learning right now, and I feel at peace with myself for it.
