In order to gain inner peace we must live in the present moment. All too often we are burdened with thoughts and experiences from our past. I have no doubt that you, like me have often heard it said “the past is gone, the future hasn’t arrived, so the only time available to us is the here and now”. I appreciate that this motto can be difficult to live by, every moment of every day. It takes practice. In my early mind matter blogs I asked that you do some meditation (embracing silence) to help bring you to the present moment, and to remain open minded, both as steps towards finding inner peace.
We’ve all had experiences that we believe had shaped us. We tend to use these experiences to assign some responsibility to, for our lack of contentment or our perceived failures. “I had a difficult childhood”, “my parents were divorced”, I wasn’t treated as well as my siblings” etc. While these may be your thoughts or opinions they are only that. They are not responsible for how you choose to feel at any moment in time. We also look back and reminisce about how things were back then, ” people respected authority, and their parents, we got more for our money etc. Times are different, people are changing, our expectations are much higher. However that does not mean we are any more content.
We cannot change the past, it is over and done with so we need to park it. This will allow us embrace the present moment and enjoy it. Whether sitting alone, driving your car, on holidays or in company try to remain present and engaged in the people with you or your immediate surroundings .There is no doubt many have had burdens of huge proportion, whether through illness, loss, abuse, loneliness, poverty or otherwise and may be carrying these burdens today. This is a stumbling block to being present and enjoying life now.
I was very fortunate to meet an amazing spiritual healer a couple of years ago, through a good friend of mine. He instantly recognised I was carrying heavy burdens on my shoulders. He said he was surprised I could stand upright, as they were seriously weighing me down. He asked me to take a pen to paper and to write down all my perceived hurts/burdens on paper, and to acknowledge the people who I believed had inflicted those hurts on me. He advised that I then wrap the paper around a brick and tie it securely. He instructed me to go for a long walk in the countryside near a river or a lake, I had to carry the brick and list in a backpack while I walked for two hours. Then I had to release the brick and my list of hurts into the water by throwing it over my shoulder. Without looking back, I had to walk away and let them go. I found this exercise liberating and so effective. I actually felt a stone lighter, I physically smiled and sighed with relief.
My challenge for you this week is to reflect on your past and acknowledge any burdens or weights that you have experienced. Write them down and make a conscious decision to release in any way you feel appropriate. Then you can begin to experience the joy of the present moment.
Have a great week.
Image/quote courtesy of pinterest,