How do we want to remember our lives?
I was struck by a passage in one of the books I am reading, “The Mindful Path through Worry and Rumination: Letting Go of Anxious and Depressive Thoughts
This made me think, through what lens have I been remembering my past? Through what lens am I living my life NOW? And finally, through what lens do I want to live my life in the future? At the end of the day, how do I want to remember all this?
I come back, again and again, to reminding myself of the infinite power we have within ourselves to choose our thoughts.
If your current state of being is one of anxiety, worry, fear or chronic stress, ask yourself the question – what am I predominately thinking about? Very often what we think about induces your state.
The beauty of our existence is you get to choose your thoughts.
However, we’re all human and we ALL get into our ruts. That is when we take a moment to accept there is a bit of momentum going on and we give ourselves compassion. The words that come to mind when it comes to practicing compassion are: forgiveness, loving kindness, metta, light, past erased, future is yet, acceptance, and again… deep forgiveness.
It is important to surrender in moments of hardship and forgive yourself and others. The more you hold on to the thought of anguish, grief, worry, fear, or blame is another moment you are held in that particular state and it becomes hard to see any other possibility.
Once you’re in a more neutral state it’s easier to see life from a different perspective, a different lens.
If we’re really able to take a (huge) step back from our bubble of life, we can see just how beautiful and alive we are. We can see how connected we are to everyone and everything around us. Just as we are deeply alive so are the objects of “reality” we see in front of our eyes. And this changes everything.
Suddenly, the immense contrast between how you feel in a moment like this and the moment you felt when in your rut is…. scarily night and day. And in moments like this I am struck at the almost comical, yet awe inspiring and beautiful realization that ultimately we are able to see both sides of what we believe is REAL because of our highly intelligent, powerful mind and our ability to choose where we want to live out our lives.
Sure you can’t get to each and every moment with this realization, but isn’t it beautiful and empowering to know that your reality is yours to make?
We get to choose where we want to live out our lives. And for this I am thankful.
Namaste and happy weekend.