Your Natural State is Joy
Posted on February 25, 2015 by Carrie Bowman, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.
Be serious. Be silly. Be whatever you want to be. But allow yourself to BE with your attention here and now.
“Your natural state is joy.”
I had that quote on my fridge for years.
Literally, years.
And every time I would pass it by, I would feel a moment of awareness, of seeing something with which an inner place inside me resonates as truth, and then it would pass and the moment was gone when my glance shifted to the next object, the next thought.
And that’s how I lived my life. From one moment to the next. Absolutely never IN that moment.
It was a hollow way to live. An afterthought of a life, really.
Today, experience is different for me. Things are not always amazing or wonderful, but I am here. I am experiencing right Now. This moment. Bring it on, because I am available for it. It does not have to “be” a certain way, and if I can disengage from the “need” for my present moments to appear how I feel most comfortable with them appearing (i.e.: usual, expected, labeled) than I can actually HAVE an experience.
Do you see that when you try to manage your experience by resisting how things inherently are than you never truly experience anything? Resistance naturally implies thinking-it is impossible to resist anything without simultaneous thinking (another example of why identifying with your mind can be so dangerous). The actual resistance is made up of words based on the thoughts that something is “bad.” The moment you mind starts narrating an event all is lost if you believe the dialogue has value. And the truly amusing thing about all of this spent energy, is that the resistance CHANGES NOTHING. Nothing that you are thinking has an effect whatsoever on what is occurring. We engage in this pulling back, backing away, squeezing shut our eyes, in an effort to change what is happening, and all this does is heighten our own internal aversive experience.
When we shut down from present moment awareness, we miss out on our entire existence. It takes a mammoth amount of emotional energy to resist, repress, distract, and continuously identify with your mind. It takes absolutely NO energy to sink down into the awareness of the now and open yourself to what is directly before you. You actually feel energized, rested, and replenished when you embrace the present moment. When the frantic mind is quieted (even for only brief moments at a time, for example, when you are washing the dishes, sitting at a red light, spending time with a loved pet) and you are no longer engaged in dualistic thinking (separated from the present moment and others/me and them/etc.), than you actually draw in strength, energy, and peace. You are better able to harness your own natural center and therefore are more innately productive and fulfilled. When we can accept the present moment for what it is and embrace the truth that there is nothing lacking from it, than we can stop trying to manufacture a different moment, and a different moment, and a different moment. When the manufacturing of artificial moments begins to slow, then your real life begins to appear.
I can do anything with these words, I hope to capture your attention for a moment. Because that is what this entire things is about, really.
Your attention. Your focus.
It’s like a light. A magnificent lighthouse beaming its powerful light all around and you have to ask yourself what is yours shining on?
Take this moment and consider this. Where is your attention? Ask yourself this.
There is no other question more important.
Write something down. DO something right now, this moment, to capture the truth of this (because we all share the same truth), and when you wake up tomorrow, before your feet hit the ground and you’re off and running, return to this place of knowing. You deserve that. The people in your life deserve that. The day, the collective day we all share, deserves that.
Capture the truth that you can experience joy in this moment. Smile. Actually see that there is a possibility, the slightest possibility, that everything is as it should be, and in this moment (if only this tiny one) try to actually enjoy yourself. Try to actually laugh and have fun. Be serious. Be silly. Be whatever you want to be. But allow yourself to BE with your attention here and now.
Every moment is made up of the Now. All your pasts are made up of a million different Nows. All your future is made up of Nows. So how about actually experiencing one or two of those?
Take a deep breath and resolve to be an active participant in your life. Resolve to slow down the frantic pace of your day and look around. Look someone else in the eyes. Say thank you, and truly mean it, when someone holds the door open for you. Place your judgments aside and allow yourself to just marvel in the beauty of the world. Allow yourself to marvel at the colors, the smells, the rhythm of the day. Allow yourself to be there. Allow yourself to direct your attention to this day. This hour. This moment.
There is no better way to have a remarkable day.
