One of my personal favorite blog posts was written after I'd finished my guided meditation Expect Miracles. If you like miracles and you like coffee, then this post is for you! And if you feel like everyday life is mundane and even devoid of meaning, then this post is for you also. Click the image below to go to the post!
I have been thinking about this quote I heard from Cormac McCarthy all day. He said, "You never know what worse luck your bad luck saved you from." I love this quote because it relates to one of my favorite spiritual principles, that if things aren't working out it might be because something better is lining up for you. Just as easily as your bad luck can save you from something tragic, your bad luck can also be blocking you from settling when something really freakin' amazing is about to happen. To wait for this better thing requires trust, patience and an ability to surrender without giving up. It also requires stepping away from obsessing over what's not working and staying open to what you do want, to the positive. (I'm not always able to do this. But I've written other posts about the importance of embracing how you feel, so I'll leave it at that. Don't be afraid of your feelings.) We aren't always blocked because something better is trying to happen. Sometimes we have conflicting beliefs, or a core feeling that we're not worthy of the thing we desire. In order to find this out for yourself get quiet, breathe deep, and ask yourself what's going on. If you aren't sure about your answer, or you hear nothing, ask the Universe to send you a sign. It will, and you'll know it when you see it. Today I got a beautiful and fun sign. I was sitting in Starbucks waiting for my tall mocha. It never came and I filled out some paperwork and it still never came. I went up to the counter to ask if I could get my mocha. They apologized for having forgotten. When it was ready it'd been upgraded from a tall to a venti!
This for me was a reminder that when things don't work out right away that there truly might be something better lining up. I ordered the tall because I only had a few dollars on me. I would've loved to have gotten something bigger, and when it showed up I said, "Awesome!" It's easy to say, oh but that's just a coffee. That's small. So what? How does that help with the big stuff? Well for one thing, sometimes you have to start with the small in order to believe. When you believe, things start aligning, doors open, and suddenly the big stuff is there, just as easy. It also helps by being a signpost. You have to be willing to see the signs in your own life. If you disregard something as too small and insignificant then that's a choice you've made. The small stuff is important. Sometimes, the small stuff is life itself. The most elegant tree starts as a small seed. And so if you are willing to value the small, to say thank you and trust it's leading you to the big stuff, you'll find that your life is full of messages and signs, and that you are never walking alone. Old friends pass away, new friends appear. It is just like the days. An old day passes, a new day arrives. The important thing is to make it meaningful: a meaningful friend - or a meaningful day. - Dalai Lama What is it that would make today full of meaning for you?
When I thought about this, the answer that came wasn't what I expected. At first I wanted to say it was all the good stuff. Feeling loved. Feeling happy. Hugs from friends. Laughter. Joy. Success. But when I really thought about it, I couldn't imagine a meaningful life without the heavy stuff too. Sadness. Anger. Frustration. Those things don't detract from the meaning and depth of a day, they just provide contrast and feedback. Upon further reflection, I realized that what would make today meaningful for me would be to simply be aware of the present moment. Be in the moment, with whatever it brings, breathe into it, and know that I'm alive. The sun is shining through the window. My heart is beating in my chest. A cup of warm coffee is sitting beside me. I am alive. My presence is what makes today meaningful. Whatever you feel would make today meaningful for you, it's correct. What provides meaning in a day changes for us by the week, the month, the year, the decade. We're in a constant flow. All that matters is that you ask yourself what's true for you, and you hold onto that truth and embrace what's meaningful with all your being. Almost a year ago, I went on a road trip through Arizona, Utah and Wyoming. At one point I was in Flagstaff, which is a fun little college town up the road from Sedona. While staying there, I would go for runs along the trail between my rental and the University. I kept passing this area with arrows and the word Labyrinth, all pointing up. I finally decided to see what was up there, and came upon a walking maze, or a sort of walking meditation. You may have seen this sort of thing before. They are often built in the same way - in the ground, you walk along the dirt, and the lines of the maze are created from rocks, which gives it all a peaceful and natural feel. The maze generally weaves in zig zags, so that eventually you stop trying to figure out which way it'll turn next and just let go. You can set an intention while you walk, ask a question, or just consider it time to relax, commune with your soul, and breathe free. When I came upon this particular meditation maze there was a bench nearby. Underneath was a notebook, and they encouraged you leave an inspirational or spiritual message. I read through them and took pictures of a few. The message below was one I loved the most. For one, it's so true, and two, it's not often someone quotes The Land Before Time. I felt this quote needed to stick with me for awhile, so afterwards I set it as my Facebook cover image. If you want to do the same just know I cropped this, and the original works better, which you can download by right clicking below (there's a shadow from my thumb on it, but if you use this on FB your profile pic will cover it).
Over on my homepage I discuss how my meditations use subconscious visuals and phrases to deepen your meditation experience. I use The Blue Flame meditation as an example of how this works. Here is an excerpt from the homepage: A few minutes into The Blue Flame you hear the guidance, "Let your mind be like a drop of red ink that falls into a huge pool of clear blue water." Consciously, this line assists in your relaxation process. It helps you to imagine your mind being something that slowly opens and goes from red, a color often associated with intensity and even anger, to the color blue, a color associated with serenity, the sky, and the ocean. On a subconscious level things get more interesting. When you first hear this line your subconscious might associate the pool with your soul or spirit. And so as you see the drop of red ink dissolve in the blue pool what you get on an inner level is your mind opening and dissolving into your aura or energy field. This helps your mind to no longer feel like it has to be in hyper drive, controlling everything, but instead opens it up and allows it work with your heart level, your chakras, and so on. This will help you to ease out of separation and return to wholeness, allowing all aspects of yourself to work in harmony. The Blue Flame is my second highest selling meditation (the first being Ho'oponopono). It was featured on the Insight Timer meditation app, and below are some comments that were left while it was on there. The mp3 of the meditation is 17 minutes long, and available for purchase for $4 here.
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