MUDDLING THROUGH

As we become aware we have purpose in this life; perhaps to grow and develop ourselves and aid those around us, we may find ourselves striving. Our egos may create fantasies of who we are and dangle them in front of us. Beware! Although, we are great beings of light, we are never what our ego portrays.

We don't feel like great beings of light, though, do we? We find ourselves enmeshed in our emotional reality and continually reacting to the emotional reality of those close to us. Sometimes we are happy. Sometimes we are peaceful. Sometimes we experience joy. Why can't we hold onto these positive feelings? Why are we so easily swayed? How come perfect days are rare?

We won't grow by striving. We will grow with acceptance. We talk of being in the now. We don't really know what it is. We, rarely, experience such a quiet mind that we are NOW. Generally, we build a wall around us. An opaque wall made with fearful expectations. We create it every time we have as fear thought and allow it to fester rather than dismiss it, knowing it is nonsense.

Regular meditation helps melt this wall. What if we are surrounded by unconditional love all the time, but can't realize it because we have walled ourselves off? Wouldn't that be ironic to know that paradise is always right there for us to live and breathe? Could it be true that being happy and being joyful permanently is always our choice?

How can we stop muddling along and walk into the sunshine?

Acceptance: we can make it a practice to accept every event in our life as a learning opportunity. Instead of fighting, like a fish on a hook, we can look for the learning. What can we love now?

For now, we may have to embrace our muddling. We shouldn't look for any grand scheme. We will all end our muddling and find the Now by pursuing small changes. We need to be scrupulously honest with ourselves. One of us might find that we need to be more pleasant. We might see that bringing more pleasantness into every interaction takes us a long way on our path.

Others of us, may see a need to be more gentle. We may see a brusque quality to our demeanor that could be attenuated.

Some of us may notice that we need to stop and listen more and not be so anxious to add our own view.

Some may realize they don't smile enough. Some of us may need to practice smiling at people, especially strangers.

Many of us need to curb our reactions. We don't need to react negatively to others thoughts and actions. We, then, need to go forward with the conscious idea of being more tolerant and patient.

Let us look at ourselves, we will come up with something helpful. Let us not overwhelm ourselves. Address one thing at a time.

We will find it amazing how a very simple thing, like a determination to being pleasant, can bring happiness to ourselves and the people around us.

Then, remember, we are one, and look for how we can be of service to those around us. When we are lovingly providing service to those around us, we are out of the muddle.

Love and Peace,  Gregg