Life happens. It is the ever flowing energy of creation appearing as everything happening. It’s not personal. But we make it personal by bothering ourselves — by deciding we don’t like what’s happening.
If we like what’s happening we flow with it. The experience comes in and the energy flows through us and we experience the event, emotions and thoughts that come and go moment to moment. This is the purpose of our lives — to experience our lives.
But what about when we don’t like what’s happening. If what’s happening doesn’t meet the criteria we’ve placed on it to make us feel okay inside, we resist. When we resist, we trap the resistant energy inside and it creates inner pain points we try desperately to avoid activating. Yes?
If you’re taking what’s happening personally, you know you’ve attached your okayness to the externals going a certain way for you to feel okay.
We have these moments of enlightenment where we recognize the truth within us, and we feel like everything has now changed. Then at some point, a similar thing happens and we find ourselves reacting in the old way we did before we had our moment of enlightenment and we think, “Shit! Why am I reacting this way? I thought I was done with this. I already got this. I know the truth.”
What can we do?
What we have a tendency to do is to judge ourselves for ‘doing that thing again.’
But we’re not the reaction. We’re the one noticing that we’re reacting. Behind the reaction, is our self — The aware being we are which is untouched by reactions, beliefs and judgements.
That moment we notice, we also know we aren’t the reaction, but the one noticing it. So we can decide not to bother ourself with it.
We can relax and rest in our aware being —behind the story we’ve been telling ourselves and let the life force move through.
If we pause in that moment when we realize, “shit I’m doing it again— that thing I do when I don’t like what’s happening,” and soften behind it instead of attaching our identity to the reaction — we can relax and simply notice — and in the noticing, rather than defining ourselves as the reactor, which traps the resistant energy inside, we can rest in the awareness behind it and let it flow through… and flow with life rather than resist.
What’s happening isn’t really bothersome unless you’ve decided that you need it to go a different way for you to feel okay inside. That guy going 50 miles an hour in the fast lane isn’t your problem. Your problem is that you’re bothering yourself with it.
The key to working with these moments of enlightenment, is when you see your tendency to react in the old script, ask yourself, “Do I really want to bother myself with what’s happening or let it go.
The more we do this the freer we are to simply experience life — to fully experience all the currents of the ever-changing life showing up perfectly as it is, in this moment, especially for us to experience and appreciate. We don’t ‘need’ to do anything with it. Just not bother ourselves with wishing it were different. It’s not. This is it! This moment is yours!
Simply let it come in, feel its immensity, and let it flow on…
Have a yummy day!
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
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