Saturday, February 7, 2015

Choosing Ease as My Reference Point

Hard work is not the path to well-being. Feeling good is the path to well-being.You don't create through action; you create through vibration.And then, your vibration calls action from you.-Abraham Hicks


I love this photo I took on a camping trip to Notch Peak.  This grove of aspen trees was powerful.  There was not a soul around except for myself and my two friends.  We each took some time to sit still and listen.  That moment is still living inside of me.

I've been experimenting this week with what happens when I use my sense of ease as a reference point.  I want to share what I've learned.  I started with this inquiry:  "what is worth losing my sense of ease?  My inner experience of well-being?" Here is the answer that came to me:  "nothing is worth losing my inner sense of stability and calm, my experience of ease."  This is just a different way of saying "don't sweat the small stuff" and "its all small stuff."

Throughout my day there are multiple invitations towards dis-ease.  Challenging people and situations tempt me to go chasing down some black hole of anger, or complaining, or shame, or blame, or confusion.  But the truth is, these invitations are simply not worth it.  As Annie Dillard reminds us, "how we spend our days is how we spend our lives."  I love this.  From my experience, the means we use to achieve an end are inextricably woven through the end we experience.  They are the material we use to create our lives.  I want my means to be ease-ful, peaceful, and bright.

My life is just like yours- complicated, frustrating, and challenging.  I watch myself become impatient with my students, annoyed with family members, critical of myself.  And then I notice the long-standing, open invitation to return to wholeness.  Why not be happy?  Why not relax?

I've just finished a very long week of work, household chores, exercise, social engagements, obligations, difficult relationships.  I have not had enough sleep, or time.  But I can sense within and around me a feeling of abiding ease.  I know this ease is available to me always, but I also know that I have to consciously chose it.  I am choosing to keep this sense of ease as a reference point,  I can notice when I leave, and I can choose to come back quickly.

I can remember the untroubled aspen.  I can inhabit that space also.  Even in a busy life.  And, as the quote above states, my outer world will begin to reflect my inner state.

Wishing you ease, lightness, and abundant joy this coming week.  Thank you for reading.


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