Once upon a time, Buddha was quoted (or paraphrased) as saying, “Life is suffering.”
In contrast, many years ago, someone taught me that “Suffering is optional.” Somewhere in between that observation and what we long for as possibilities in our lives is a middle ground that beautifully holds the tension and exhilaration of how to reconnect with, and respond to, our innate desire to live Heaven on Earth, both externally and internally.
How is that possible? By each of us living as our highest and finest expression of who we truly, authentically are…unapologetically, yet grounded in the innate guidance that our individual Spirit offers us in every moment, if we’ll but listen.
One of the catches to this, though…living such a life of alignment with one’s Spirit has to be done no matter what our circumstances may be and (here’s the real clincher for a lot of folks) no matter what others may think or like.
We all know well the voices of the “Monkey Mind,” or ego, that tell us we can’t be this way, shouldn’t do that, don’t dare say “xyz” to someone, for fear of reaction and rejection.
We tend to forget that we’re born with a freedom and sense of unlimited possibility…no limitations residing within us. Yet, within our families and within our school experiences, that sense of “no limitations” gets squashed, distorted, adapted, and compromised to the point that we often lose track of where the “real” us – our essence – begins and the “socially acceptable” us ends. In maintaining the latter, we get tired, confused, frustrated, self-doubting, self-judgmental, short-tempered, shut down, and disconnected.
This effort ultimately wears us out, and the negative energies that can get so rampant leak out on our children (if we have any), on our colleagues, our spouses/partners, and back onto ourselves. This cycle is one I’ve seen with so many people. It’s a cycle I’ve lived and still live if I’m not paying attention, staying connected to my highest self and truth….and, if I’m not living and practicing love as much as humanly possible.
It may be considered a cliche (though I believe cliches become cliches because there’s a lot of proven truth to them) that – as the Beatles said – “Love is all you need.” My contention is that Heaven on Earth is achievable at ANY moment, simply by returning to our connection to love…not just self-love (as critical as that is), but love, period.
Not loving yourself and feeling lower than in the dumps? Love someone or something else. In that moment, perhaps you’ll notice you’re living Heaven on Earth.
I invite you to try that practice today, and then email me (at the email address above) to share your experience when you do that one simple thing. Or, if you believe it just couldn’t be that simple…let me know that, too.
