Contentment means being present; grounded, conscious, accepting and devoid of intention other than authentic availability to the task and the circumstance.
It recognition that somehow, in a way we may not see our understand, our needs are met, and this experience is no more no less than the next step in the journey to knowing and being who we are.
This form of acceptance doesn't say things are ok, it is not resignation or submission. Rather it renounces judgement. It chooses to see that things are what they are, and that if they painful, it is only because of our desire for them to be different.
Contentment is the ground we walk on, what makes movement and change possible: Until we accept what is —ourselves in this moment, natural law, and where we are within our circumstances— we are trying to move away from a place that doesn't exist, we are navigating the world with a map to another place.
Returning to ourselves is a conscious decision to live by who we are as of now.
As we let all things be all that they are, our wholeness of being become an act of participation and harmony; We add our forces to the dance of life, the dance of impermanence.
Who we are is much more than what we can express or manifest in any given moment. The variety of moments and circumstances is life's gifts in exploring the full fledge of our expression —our feelings, thoughts and choices.
In the here and now, we perpetually discover and refresh the consciousness of our being, and with that, we expand our power.
It is on us to choose to be here, in our centre, where we belong, where we stand tall, where everything is ok —may it be in the quiet of the eye of a hurricane.
The avid mind wants to grasp, measure and assess, predict and project, endlessly aiming to outrun to pace of experience, at the expense of taking in what is on offer.
Each moment is time, and each position is space. Everything is in everything —our connection to "this, now" IS our connection to the Whole.
This moment is ours to take in; ie. contemplate, further and share. In embracing the gift of this moment, the dots connects, and the fibre of our being finally knows it is weaved into the fabric of the Universe.
Good deeds, ie. conscious contributions to harmony and joy, are deeply nurturing for our soul, and consequently the loving energy of the Universe.
When we overlook this authentic kind of satisfaction in favour of seeking acclaim and limelight, we rob ourself of the soul food, the ability to actually be content.
The pleasure of validation is fleeting and insatiable, whereas benevolent intention needs nothing, it is an overflowing cup that never runs out.
Judgement is a trouble maker. It creates the too much’s and the not- enough’s of the world. It pushes us into corrective action before we are ready.
Letting things be what they are, and grow into what they will, spares us mistakes and disappointments.
There is too much we don’t know. With everything we’ve gotten wrong so far, we know better than to wish and scheme for specifics, to get enmeshed or to bank on a promise.
Granted, no one is a good judge of themselves. Yet there is something profoundly disrespectful in telling people who they are —or in thinking we know who they should be.
The intention to change, influence and steer others is by definition controlling and distrustful. It says we don’t accept others for who they are or where they are at.
When we shift to seeing each of us as being on a journey full of mistakes, epiphanies, surprises and challenges, we find ourselves walking a beautiful path in company.
Contentment doesn't create unchanging truth. With acceptance comes the realisation that nothing is definitive; what we really accept is the impermanent and diverse, multi-faceted nature of truth and experience.
All things change affecting others in turn. Nothing is clear-cut, every side has a point. Several realities coexist within ourselves and between us and anything else.
We do not need to choose. Black or white thinking misses the colour, the opportunity, the compassion and the experience that is available in the tension between two truths.
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The Receptive
Accepting
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