by Marcy Heller
Shakespeare’s age-honored words, spoken by Polonius to his son Laertes in Act I of Hamlet, is very clear. They tell us that in order to maintain honest relations with others we must first be true to ourselves. Yet if Laertes were to be totally honest with himself, he would realize that his father may as well have told him to catch the wind. After all, to which “self” are we to be true? It is the $64,000 question…
The great news is that you can’t fail at being ‘You’. Simply because that is who you will always be, in all ways! Whatever it is like to be You, is your own personal unique experience. We aren’t here to be following anyone or anything. We are here to find our own path and upon doing so, empower ourselves with the Spirit to make our own History! We are here simply like Michelangelo’s David chipping away what no longer is working order to uncover the Divine which is within us! It’s simple, just not easy!
Fast Forward. Taking back our power and remembering who we truly are is the winning game. As humans we tend to want what we think will bring us happiness and avoid at all costs what we fear and/or could be unpleasant! After all, fear is the anticipation of pain. So we try to do whatever we can to avoid what we perceive of those painful experiences!
Michael Singer in his bestselling book, ‘The Untethered Soul’, wrote “What if you were to live every day as our last? At this point you should ask yourself why you aren’t living that way. You are going to die. You know that. You just don’t know when. Every single thing will be taken from you. You will leave behind your possessions, your loved ones, and all your hopes and dreams for this life. You’ll be taken right out of where you are. You’ll no longer be able to fill the roles you were so busy playing. Death changes everything in a flash. That’s the reality of the situation. If all these things can be changed in an instant, then maybe they aren’t so real after all. Maybe you should look deeper. The beauty of embracing deep truths is that you don’t have to change your life; you just change how you live your life. It’s not what you’re doing; it’s how much of you is doing it. What is it that won’t let us live our lives? What is inside of us that is so afraid that it keeps us from just enjoying life? This part of us is so busy trying to make sure the next thing goes right that we can’t just be here now and live life. All the while, death is watching our footsteps. Don’t you want to live before death comes? You’re probably not going to get a warning. Very few people are told when they’re going to die. So start using every day to let go of that scared part of you that won’t let you live life fully. Since you know you’re going to die, be willing to say what needs to be said and do what needs to be done. Be willing to be fully present without being afraid of what will happen in the next moment. That’s how people live when they face death. You get to do that too, because you are facing death every moment. Learn to live as though you are facing death at all times, and you’ll become bolder and more open. If you live life fully, you won’t have any last wishes. You will have lived them every moment. Only then will you have fully experienced life and released the part of you that is afraid of living. There is no reason to be afraid of life. And the fear will fade once you understand that the only thing there is to get from life is the growth that comes from experiencing it. Life itself is your career, and your interaction with life is your most meaningful relationship. Everything else you’re doing is just focusing on a tiny subset of life in the attempt to give life some meaning. What actually gives life meaning is the willingness to live it. It isn’t any particular event; it’s the willingness to experience life’s events.
And love cannot do other than love. Your God is in ecstasy and there’s nothing you can do about it. And if God is in ecstasy, I wonder what He or She sees when looking at you?”
Since we are all at this great threshold that requires change on personal, collective and global levels, I invite you now to begin embracing what is. The more I realize we can just remove ourselves from being a hamster on the wheel of life. Endless suffering by thinking just because the world is not giving us what we need right now, right here, doesn’t mean we have to suffer any longer. I use to wake up feeling like I was in the Amazon (and it was not the book store!), anxious of what would happen. Now, I am just happy to wake-UP! I never realized that I was trying to control my life through manipulating what I thought would make me happy. Perhaps we can all use that power of acceptance and awe to open a new doorway for hope and renewal. It is so very freeing! Instead of being involved with what my mind is thinking, I am just acting as my life is a constant meditation. When thoughts and challenges come up as they will instead of reacting I can watch the movie and choose to relax in just being instead of listening to my mind or my emotions that have been so tethered to fear and anxiety up until now.
As the great poet Rumi wrote, “I will soothe you and heal you, I will bring you roses. I too have been covered with thorns.” Isn’t it time we gave ourselves a break from ourselves! We have gone through so much so often. And now can we just allow our selves to sit back while some of these challenges are coming to us fast and furious? Not to react. Can we just witness instead of running on the wheel? Now isn’t that what this path is all about!
