Life on the Edge
I like to carve a little time out for myself in the morning for self-care, on most days the first part of my routine consists of plopping down on my cushion for a meditation and then reading an excerpt from The Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo (it's both delightful AND insightful - great combo).
I freakin' love this book. It has a centering thought/theme for each day of the year all wrapped up in a pretty package with a quote, a short passage, and a meditative-type exercise to do at the end to help the teachings sink in.
It's like having your own personal little buddha buddy by your side.
I picked up the book after my medi yesterday and got the exact message I needed to hear re: something I've been thinking about a lot lately - feeling centered in my truth (i.e. who I am beneath the constant noise that my mind, and the world around me, creates).
Yesterday's message was all about knowing that we already have everything we need for happiness within us, and encouraging us to stop looking externally for answers and validation.
This resonates with me in a huge way - and I'm guessing it's going to resonate for you, too.
Our culture is largely focused on making us believe that we don't have ANYTHING that we need within us to be happy (they have to - otherwise how could companies sell stuff to us?), so feeling confident in the fact that we already have everything we need takes major practice.
Practice pays off, though - because each time we're able to acknowledge and pull ourselves out of an external-validation-seeking spiral, we're training our thoughts to gravitate somewhere internal vs. external - forming new, positive neuropathways in our brain.
Each time you're triggered by something that causes you to look externally, make note of what sent you to that place. Those triggers will reveal parts of yourself that you need to give a little TLC to - they're your roadmap to finding your center and your truth.Without further ado and blabbing, here's that kickass passage from The Book of Awakening, because it's way too good not to share:
"Life on the Edge
You are that which you are seeking. - Saint Francis
When I feel lonely, my first thought is that you hold the key to my loneliness.
When I feel confused, my first thought is that you (or someone neither of us knowns) is more clear, if I can only find them and get them to speak.
When wanting respect, my first thought is that it is waiting on the other side of some mammoth achievement I must devote myself to.
I try so hard to find what I need or want outside of myself, certain it is waiting for me somewhere just over there.
In the end, seeking only brings us to the edge of knowing ourselves. If we never look inward, we tend to become experts at life on the edge, while seldom unlocking what all our seeking means.
We can become masters at climbing the mountains of the world instead of breaking trail to the center of our woundedness.
We can become masters at driving fast cars through the night instead of moving through the dark corners of our mind.
We can become masters at seducing strangers in the name of love instead of embracing the softer, less perfect aspects of who we are.
Seeking in the world has always been a way to mirror to us where we need to work inwardly, but seeking danger outside has always been a way to divert the soul's cry for us to take a genuine risk inside.
Meditate on something you are seeking. It may be love, power, wealth, or the thrill of jumping out of a plane, or the recognition of being famous.
Now imagine that what you seek already lives within you, and as you breathe, hold what you seek before your mind's eye like a door you must enter if you are ever to be whole.
Inhale deeply, and feel what you seek as a part of your spirit that needs attention.
Exhale deeply, and though you may not know how, give yourself this attention."