To you who still believe you live in time and know not it is gone, the Holy Spirit still guides you through the infinitely small and senseless maze you still perceive in time, though it has long since gone. (T-26.V.4)
Have you ever gotten frustrated by a traffic jam, particularly when you are in a hurry to get somewhere?
How about angered by something another person said?
Do you ever find yourself complaining at work – perhaps the boss isn’t a good leader or maybe your co-workers don’t pull their fair share?
Are you envious of someone else’s life?
If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, then you are – like all the rest of us – resisting what is.
What is is a fact.
I used to have the same recurring dream, over and over.
It took place underwater, and I was being chased by a shark. In the dream, I would struggle to run away from the shark (nevermind that I could somehow “run” while in water).
The shark kept getting closer and closer, and my legs felt like they were trapped in molasses.
I knew the end was inevitable.
And just before the shark would get me, I’d wake up.
Sweating. Heart racing. Wide awake.
I’d then lie there for a long time trying to fall back asleep.
This dream would recur periodically for years.
And then one night, everything changed.
When I was in high school, I couldn’t wait to get to college in order to escape all the typical teen trauma drama, study fascinating subjects, and really get to enjoy life.
When I was in college, I couldn’t wait to graduate, start working a full-time job making decent money, and really get to enjoy life.
When I was working in industry, I couldn’t wait to start my own company so I could eliminate corporate bureaucracy, work on solutions that could help improve the world, and really get to enjoy life.
That’s the challenge with looking to the future for such happiness and fulfillment – it’s always in the future.
One of the benefits of staying at a hotel is the magical “Do Not Disturb” sign that you can hang on the outside of your door.
The sign is magical because it has an amazing force field that radiates out from it. If people are walking down the hallway and they see that sign, they automatically get quieter. “Ohh, someone in there doesn’t want to be disturbed. We should lower our voices.”
Of course, it really doesn’t work like that. But it should!
The sign does send a message to the housekeeping staff that you don’t want your room serviced yet, and it works pretty well for that.
But imagine if we really had a truly magical Do Not Disturb sign that we could “hang out” of our mind anytime we wanted to enter into a peaceful state. When that sign was out, nothing would interfere with our calm.
Have you ever used the phrase “I need to …” as a way to remind and urge yourself of something you really ought to do?
I need to start exercising more.
I need to do a better job asking people for help.
I need to become a better leader / boss / friend / partner.
I really need to leave my job and start my own gig.
When we use that phrase “I need to …”, all we’re really doing is acknowledging something we don’t like about our current situation.
But then we let it stop there.