It sure seems like a strange world out there, with the challenges appearing to escalate every day. Past-due bills. Housing values going down. Job frustrations. What do you do about these challenges?
When it comes right down to it, you have three basic choices. (1) You can just sit there and be frustrated with everything. Or (2) You can hit the "flash button" by either by pretending that what is happening is not happening or by finding a numbing distraction---TV, alcohol, marijuana, escapist novels, stupid foods in volume, violent movies....
We see more and more people taking the distracting or denying choice these days. Obesity is rampant. The popularity of violent "sport" in which people try to hurt each other is rising. The market for romance and fantasy novels is exploding. Our external world seems to be telling us that we should be fearful about our prospects, angry about our apparent powerlessness, and ashamed that we are not happier, richer, or more calm.
We've looked to all kinds of external sources for happiness: the affection and appreciation of others, inspirational books and seminars, faith in political leaders, religious institutions and scientific research. Yet, collectively, we still have an edge that is stubborn: We want more. More money, more happiness, more peace in our lives.
The chocolate ice cream, the steamy movie or novel, the silly television program, the new anti-depression drug you can pitch to your doctor do not ever seem to offer anything other than very temporary relief. When we watch the news or read the newspaper, we get constant reminders that the state of the world--and our own state---seem to be spiraling into chaos.
When it all seems to hit the fan for you, what do you do? Do you "hit the flash button"? Do you pretend it's just not happening? Do you go for something that will numb you from the pain in your life?
On to the third of the choices I mentioned at the beginning of this article. When it seems like we've exhausted all the opportunities offered by the external world to help us be more calm, happy and contented, there remains a very viable and effective alternative of which few are aware. Let me conceptualize it for you: We all have an inner "pause button", a way of finding more peace, happiness and presence with ourselves and our world. Using this pause button can be a master key for one’s spiritual empowerment, the only empowerment that really matters.
If we choose to recognize it, this pause button can help us live much more powerful and happy lives. What the outside world can never fully satisfy can indeed be satisfied by our willingness to go inside, into the quiet we can create there, into the love and peace of the heart. This concept is so foreign to so many that their immediate response tends to be one of fear. Many have not spent any time exploring the inner. When they think about the idea of coping, they think of the next drink, bowl of ice cream, injection, sexual encounter, TV comedy or latest novel.
The basic and infallible law that applies is this: When you rely on something outside of yourself for happiness, contentment, or loving power you will always be either disappointed or soon feeling as though you are not getting enough of it.
So choice (3) when faced with any life challenge is to simply get in touch with--"click on"--your inner pause button. I find it easiest to see that pause button as my heart, which I see as the seat of my soul. If you close your eyes and put a hand over your heart, and take a few deep breaths, it can be rather amazing what you will discover. If you then put a smile on your face and empty your mind of self-destructive thoughts, you just might experience an explosion of calm or inspiration. It's really a matter of shutting up the idiot mind, the mind that is never satisfied, always fearful, always doubting.
Right now, your mind may be telling you: "This is all so stupid. I don't have a pause button. My world is really in the dumper right now. I have to deal with it. Maybe that pint of chocolate ice cream in the fridge will help. Maybe that cute stranger over there might get cozy with me. Maybe that novel on my dresser might help me to forget. Maybe one more toke."
Do you have an excuse for avoiding yourself? And do you really want an excuse, or do you have the courage to put your mind on pause by getting in touch with the power, the peace and the happiness to be found in your heart?
It sure seems like a strange world out there, with the challenges appearing to escalate every day. Past-due bills. Housing values going down. Job frustrations. What do you do about these challenges?
When it comes right down to it, you have three basic choices. (1) You can just sit there and be frustrated with everything. Or (2) You can hit the "flash button" by either by pretending that what is happening is not happening or by finding a numbing distraction---TV, alcohol, marijuana, escapist novels, stupid foods in volume, violent movies....
We see more and more people taking the distracting or denying choice these days. Obesity is rampant. The popularity of violent "sport" in which people try to hurt each other is rising. The market for romance and fantasy novels is exploding. Our external world seems to be telling us that we should be fearful about our prospects, angry about our apparent powerlessness, and ashamed that we are not happier, richer, or more calm.
We've looked to all kinds of external sources for happiness: the affection and appreciation of others, inspirational books and seminars, faith in political leaders, religious institutions and scientific research. Yet, collectively, we still have an edge that is stubborn: We want more. More money, more happiness, more peace in our lives.
The chocolate ice cream, the steamy movie or novel, the silly television program, the new anti-depression drug you can pitch to your doctor do not ever seem to offer anything other than very temporary relief. When we watch the news or read the newspaper, we get constant reminders that the state of the world--and our own state---seem to be spiraling into chaos.
When it all seems to hit the fan for you, what do you do? Do you "hit the flash button"? Do you just move onto something else or pretend it's just not happening? Do you go for something that will numb you from the pain in your life?
On to the third of the choices I mentioned at the beginning of this article. When it seems like we've exhausted all the opportunities offered by the external world to help us be more calm, happy and contented, there remains a very viable and effective alternative of which few are aware. Let me conceptualize it for you: We all have an inner "pause button", a way of finding more peace, happiness and presence with ourselves and our world. Using your pause button can be a master key for one’s spiritual empowerment, the only empowerment that really matters.
If we choose to recognize it, this pause button can help us live much more powerful and happy lives. What the outside world can never fully satisfy can indeed be satisfied by our willingness to go inside, into the quiet we can create there, into the love and peace of the heart. This concept is so foreign to so many that their immediate response tends to be one of fear. Many have not spent any time exploring the inner. When they think about the idea of coping, they think of the next drink, bowl of ice cream, injection, sexual encounter, TV comedy or latest novel.
The basic and infallible law that applies is this: When you rely on something outside of yourself for happiness, contentment, or loving power you will always be either disappointed or soon feeling as though you are not getting enough of it.
So choice (3) when faced with any life challenge is to simply get in touch with--"click on"--your inner pause button. I find it easiest to see that pause button as my heart, which I see as the seat of my soul. If you close your eyes and put a hand over your heart, and take a few deep breaths, it can be rather amazing what you will discover. If you then put a smile on your face and empty your mind of self-destructive thoughts, you just might experience an explosion of calm or inspiration. It's really a matter of shutting up the idiot mind, the mind that is never satisfied, always fearful, always doubting.
Right now, your mind may be telling you: "This is all so stupid. I don't have a pause button. My world is really in the dumper right now. I have to deal with it. Maybe that pint of chocolate ice cream in the fridge will help. Maybe that cute stranger over there might get cozy with me. Maybe that novel on my dresser might help me to forget. Maybe one more toke."
Do you have an excuse for avoiding yourself? And do you really want an excuse, or do you have the courage to put your mind on pause by getting in touch with the power, the peace and the happiness to be found in your heart?
