Fully Alive
There are many different areas in my life right now that have me feeling a bit mellow and slow. But I think when we experience those moments of depair, there is still power to be owned. To borrow an idea from Eckhart Tolle, there is always "the power of now."
Sadness and disappointment are just a reminders that we are fully alive.
They renew the depth of our living.
They make us whole and strong.
They help us appreciate simplicity.
And they move us toward God.
It's interesting how happiness and sadness accomplish the exact same thing in the end.
Sadness and disappointment are just a reminders that we are fully alive.
They renew the depth of our living.
They make us whole and strong.
They help us appreciate simplicity.
And they move us toward God.
It's interesting how happiness and sadness accomplish the exact same thing in the end.
posted by Jen Austin at 9:44 AM
1 Comments:
I agree with some of what you have written here, but I humbly disagree with at least one: Sadness and disappointment are NOT reminders that we are fully alive. To have this as my understanding is to miss or deny the point Tolle makes about the true aliveness of our being.
Sadness and disappointment live on the border of other painful emotions, which arise directly from our thoughts. These are distractions away from experiencing the aliveness of who we truly are.
I am asking myself, "Why do I need a 'reminder' of being alive, when all I have to do is just become still and aware of the moment?" Awareness of my true state of "Fully Alive" is the natural result of stepping out of the smallness of my own thoughts and mental worlds. Once disconnected from my own thoughts, the blinders are off and I can see and experience the eternal moment.
What is behind the word "reminder"? Honestly, for myself, it can point two directions: either in my mind to a prideful selfish place ("Look how special I am for such a clever or lovely saying that makes me feel better to say it."), or in reality to a place where reminder is a tool to gently call me out of my head and into reality.
Where I do agree is here: We ARE fully alive in the moment, outside of our own thoughts and resting in the very being of God Himself. We do need one reminder: to step out of the experience of the smallness and deadness of our thoughts and in to the fulness of the experience of our true being within the present and eternal moment.
From another viewpoint, I might also incline to agree: If I use the painful emotions of sadness and disappointment as a reminder (clue) how I might be deep inside the worlds of my own thoughts and as a gentle call to come out of them in to the eternal present moment, then the reminder is helpful and useful for my own good and that of others around me.
Finally, I am reading back over this for the purpose of seeing, "Does this point to reality?" and "Are their any hints (clues|reminders) of my own imaginations and thoughts at work in it?" The answer is: Yes, there are some, but for the most part I think there are sufficient pointers to reality in it. As such, I hope and trust you'll see them too (chewing the meat and spitting the bones) and coming away with a clearer view of reality as well and finding value and goodness for yourself in it.
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