Welcome to the first article in a series called Awakened Qualities.
When you reflect on your everyday life experience, what do you notice? How do you meet the moments of your life?
Are you stewed in negative thinking and doubt? Does everything frustrate you?
Or are you peaceful, easygoing, and prone to joy?
Living in the Flow
Without the constriction of the idea of your mind-made separate self capturing your attention, infinite possibilities open up—available to you now and in every moment.
You may not be aware of it, but it’s absolutely possible to live in the flow of things as they are.
And when you don’t resist anything, life feels sane. You act from intelligence, clarity, and grace. This inner knowing is completely trustworthy.
In this series, we’ll explore some qualities of awakened living that you can experiment with in your own life.
Let the message of this article seep into the moments of your everyday life. Receive it in every cell of your being and see what opens…
The point is to bring these qualities alive in your own experience. And when you do, you’ll make the amazing discovery that everything you want may actually be here, right in this moment.
Enthusiasm—Being Divinely Inspired
Today we’ll explore enthusiasm. Every word contains its whole history, and the root of “enthusiasm” conveys being “divinely inspired, intensely eager, and rapturous.”
Take that in! Begin to imagine discovering the seed of divine inspiration and intense eagerness in the moments of your life. When have you felt that? It’s about living in the full-on Yes!
“Wow, I get to breathe right now! Wow, these colors, forms, scents, and sounds I’m experiencing right now!”
You may be wondering what I’m talking about if you’re not so enthusiastic about things in your daily life. Where is this enthusiasm? That’s because your attention is locked into the contents of your mind which tell you limiting stories about you and your life.
Where to Look
Most minds are filled with repetitive, anxiety-ridden stories, so it’s no surprise that you don’t find enthusiasm there. And you may be focusing on a situation, such as a job you’re not passionate about or struggles in your personal life. No enthusiasm there either.
You may feel bored, disappointed, or lacking. How could you possibly find rapture or divine inspiration there?
Perhaps you need to look somewhere else. Maybe this seemingly normal material world of people, objects, and events is not the whole reality of a given moment.
Maybe the way you’re thinking about these common everyday experiences is masking something deeper…
Beneath this seeming reality of the everyday human life is the energy of aliveness, the vibration of pure existence from which all things arise—here to be discovered in any moment.
It’s the open spaciousness that is aware and alive—and fully loving of everyone and everything.
Meeting the material world from this open spaciousness allows you to experience it in a whole new way.
- Instead of saying, “I’m bored,” you meet boredom with freshness and curiosity. Maybe it has something to show me…
- Instead of feeling stuck in a job, you go beyond the feeling of stuckness to expand your view. Is it my life path to be here? Since I’m here, how can I meet the tasks and people I encounter every day infused with love?
And eventually you live in the, “Wow, this is what I’m experiencing right now!” receiving whatever it is with full acceptance.
Beyond the Mind, Into the Moment
Can you feel into the possibility of going beyond what your mind is telling you and seeing familiar thoughts, feelings, and situations with fresh eyes? Here’s where you begin to access the Yes! to the moment.
When enthusiasm arises naturally in you, notice it and expand into it fully. It’s a divinely given experience that is a gateway into your true essence.
To find your inner enthusiasm, clear away your ho-hum ideas about things. Delete any history along with your assumption that things are familiar.
Then, with an awakened mind open like the sky, take everything in with exquisite freshness.
- Notice the energies and sensations moving through…never before experienced!
- What do you see, touch, and hear? So fresh!
- Encounter people with no story of you and other. Heart bursting open!
Try bringing this perspective to the places in your life that feel shut down and flat. Or even to just what you’re experiencing right now. Shed the layers of contracted mind, and discover the Wow! at the heart of every moment.
Gail I need to get The End of Self Help down off the shelf! Every once in awhile I get flashes of that enthusiasm. I ask myself sometimes “Could mundane tasks be perceived differently?” I witness this especially when I run into people who savor the simplicity of watching hummingbirds, serving a light lunch or experimenting with healthy choices. I want to be around them more….trying to emulate their fresh enthusiasm. One neighbor a couple of years ago (who was struggling with cancer) went to great lengths to save a baby bird who fell from its nest. I’m talking eye dropper feedings; the whole nine yards. I thought it absurd…birds are wild things who die all of the time. But a nagging thought kept coming up “Maybe the birds are just as important as us; maybe every life has value.” Such is my learning on this journey of living with the flow… which includes a natural respect for all living things. Instead of judging my lack of “enthusiasm” for the simple things, I try to be open hearted and observe the teachers in my life.
Hi Mo,
The enthusiasm comes from being directly in the moment without any mind interpretation. From this point of view, there is no such thing as “mundane,” as this implies a past – oh this again. There is a freshness to everything in the moment that is energetic, the pure vibration of life coming through objects.
So yes, no use at all in judging yourself for not feeling enthusiastic, and maybe enthusiasm isn’t the right word for you. See if you can see the aliveness in everything – and this aliveness is prior to the form itself. As for what you are moved to do upon seeing that aliveness also arises freshly in the moment. Your neighbor was moved to feed the bird. You might be moved to do nothing and respect the comings and goings of life in form. No judgment to any of that. How we’re moved to act comes only from listening within then responding. It’s not a personal choice that is made, although it may feel like that.
If you take your personal self out of it, there is just consciousness with forms arising and passing on. And as humans, we get to appreciate this life and live it as aligned as possible with the whole – that is the blessed journey…
Much love to you..
This was so helpful Gail. No judgment on watching the flow of life or what moves me to act. I have so much to learn. Much love to you always.