Birthdays

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In our lives we meet our fare share of milestones.

From passing our drivers license test, graduating, the first job, starting a family, kids... Each of those are milestones in their own right ~ bringing you from one place to another. From a non-driver to being a driver. From being a student into your future. From having vacation jobs to having a ‘real job’. And on and on.

And with each milestone we are letting go of of the old ~ something we have had in our lives for some time ~ in order for something new to come into our lives. Sometimes we may know what that new thing is. Other times we may have expectations about whatever new and exciting is about to enter our lives ~ which may or may not come true.
Some milestones can be scary ~ both from the perspective of the actual event as from the expectation of what comes next...

The most common milestone in our lives ~ and one that is widely celebrated ~ are our birthdays!

Throughout our lives these particular milestones, our birthdays, have vastly different significance. As a child we couldn’t wait for the next milestone, the next birthday to arrive. With the celebration of that next birthday we would be bigger, and possibly allowed more things. Like going to bed a little later. Having sleepovers with family or friends. And maybe even a slightly bigger weekly allowance.
The we reach that age when our perspective on the world changes. And that means that the way we view others and ourselves gets to be something new ~ definitely something to explore...

Yet as the years roll by, our eagerness for these milestones seems to dwindle.

From the proud “But I am already nine years old!”, all too soon we become ‘twenty-somethings’, ‘thirty-somethings’, still the ‘right side of forty’ ~ all the way to “I am thirty-nine ~ again...”. Then suddenly we find ourselves ‘close to retirement’. Or just plain old and wise.

It seems that, as we say goodbye to our childhood, we start glossing over these birthday-milestones. And the funny thing is that as we do so, we also have a tendency to deny ourselves the practice of letting go of the old in order to invite something new into our lives.

Looking back, most of us probably have memories of years that they were happy when they were over. perhaps because something unpleasant happened or hardships were experienced.
Wouldn’t it be nice to take some time right before your birthday to take stock of the year that has passed ~ of the good and the ‘not so good’, and to consciously release the ‘not so good’; to let go of those experiences ~ such that in the new year of our lives there also will be that space in our lives to invite new and better things into?

Wouldn’t it be nice to celebrate our birthdays as the milestones that they are in our lives?
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Beauty

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Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Beauty, therefore, is something that is as individual as there are people in the earth. And although there are some things in life that pretty much everybody agrees are beautiful ~ like sunsets ~ most things may appear beautiful to one person while another person doesn’t care about the very same thing, or even feel that very thing is ugly...

Something else that is said about beauty is that it comes from the inside. In other words, while the appearance of someone or something may be striking, it becomes true beauty when this striking appearance is joined by something radiating from within; something that perhaps appeals even more than what shows...

This makes beauty an interesting concept to ponder.

It seems that beauty is not based in objective observation. When considering the beauty of a place, a thing or even a person there is some sort of inner dialogue that evaluates what can be seen on the surface, as well as whatever lies beneath that appearance.

And suddenly all kinds of other things start to weigh in...

Let’s for a moment look at nature...
While one person may decide a cultured park, for instance the park at Versailles, France, is the most beautiful nature can be, someone else may feel that a forest is even more beautiful. And yet another person may say that the wilderness where few people set foot will show the true beauty of nature.
Three vastly different perspectives on nature’s beauty... They are all true ~ albeit not for everybody...

This leads me to think that there are (at least) two things at play when we are considering beauty.
At first, beauty ~ what is beautiful ~ is a perspective. It is how one person sees it.
Second, the discernment on what is true beauty from the perspective of that person depends on the inner dialogue and may well be based upon the inner needs of that individual...

For instance, a person with a great desire for structure in their lives, may find a structured environment in nature more appealing than, let’s say, the rugged wilderness. Or a farmer, who’s livelihood depends on the fertility of the soil and how it can sustain and grow crops, may find more beauty in lush farmland rather than in a dry desert environment...

So ultimately what each of us feels is truly beautiful is based on how we look at things, how we think about things ~ and yes, even what we believe to be beautiful...
It would then also appear that whether we deem something that is outside of us beautiful depends on our inner dialogue, rather than on any ‘objective’ measure of beauty in the world around us...

So beauty indeed is in the eye (and mind) of the beholder!
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Health and Wholeness

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Our ‘health and wholeness’ often implies a sense of well-being. When we are healthy, we are well. When we are healthy, we have that wholesome look about us. When we are healthy, the vital energy is radiating from us for all the world to see...

Yet I often wonder ~ are our health and our wholeness really that tightly interconnected?

There is no question in my mind that when you are healthy ~ when you feel healthy ~ there is a sense of wholeness that can surpass the actual level of heath. For instance, you can have a sense of being healthy and whole and still feel that you are on the verge of being stressed out.
From a medical perspective, you can be absolutely healthy at that point. But are you truly ‘whole’ when you feel that stress is about to take over?

Looking at that, it seems to me that ‘wholeness’ implies a greater sense of health and well-being than can be measured from a medical perspective... And is this is true, There are immediately a couple of questions popping up in my mind:

• Could it be that medically a person can be brought back to health, but not necessarily being brought back to wholeness?
• If this is the case, then what does one have to do to not only be healthy, but to also be whole?

The first question brings to mind the fact that health ~ or illness, as the case may be ~ is often looked at as something that is affecting only part of us. As such, only that specific part of us is being treated when we are sick. And while this works great in most cases ~ there are also instances when a person regains their health from a medical perspective, yet still doesn’t feel healthy; doesn’t feel whole...

Apparently then, both health and wholeness are needed to really have a sense of well-being.

The implication is that in order to be and feel healthy, a person would need to be observed as the complicated being he or she is ~ rather than as the sum of the parts that make up the body... In other words, in order to create that sense of well-being for ourselves ~ that feeling of health and wholeness; not only do we need the parts of us to be healthy ~ we need the interaction between the parts of us; the working together of the parts of us to be optimal and fluent.

This then means that to gain an ever greater sense of well-being ~ we need to look at ourselves from a holistic perspective. To see ourselves as the whole being we are meant to be...
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Spirituality

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More and more often do I hear (or read) conversations about spirituality. Spirituality as the road toward a goal such as enlightenment or ascension. The ‘how to’ of spirituality in those type of conversations is fairly specific ~ it consists of certain elements or practices that one absolutely needs to do in order to reach that goal...

It makes me wonder... What would my life look like if I were to reach enlightenment? Or ascension? What does that look like? What would be the consequences? Do I still have a need or desire to live in the physical, even mundane world? Or would I become a hermit, shying away from contact with those who have chosen a different life path? Would I teach “the true path” whatever that may be?

And every time these questions come to mind I draw a total blank.
No way can I imagine what reaching that goal would look like in real life...

It brings me back to pondering what spirituality really is.

It makes me think of the fact that each and every one of us is a spiritual being in our own right ~ a system of mind, body and spirit. And each and every one of us articulates ourselves in our own, unique, individual manner. We all discover, explore and express our own potentials in the world we live in. The mundane, physical world that we live in being our physical selves ~ our bodies.

If we are all unique beings, with unique life paths, unique potentials, and unique ways to articulate ourselves ~ it stands to reason that spirituality is something that we experience and express in our own individual ways. That there is no one path that suits all. That there may not be just one goal each and every one of us is striving to reach...

That being said, there do seem to be commonalities for those walking a spiritual life path in whatever form or shape is best for them.
First, choosing the spiritual path implies at least the recognition of spirit. Mind, body and spirit!
Those walking a spiritual path may also tell you that it is a path of learning, a path of growth. A path that can bring an ever greater awareness of the world we live in. A path that permits aware experiences on every level of our being ~ of our inner worlds. And through that it can bring a comprehension of who we really are ~ as well as it can give us a better understanding of the world we live in.

And as we walk along that spiritual path, we are almost certain to reach our goals. Perhaps not the ‘popular’ goals of enlightenment or ascension ~ but the goals we have set for ourselves as unique, individual beings on our path of spiritual growth...
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Thank, Forgive and Release

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Now more than ever before we, and everything around us are changing as we, the earth and the universe itself are reaching and operating on ever higher frequencies of energy.

This is ~ in itself ~ not a bad thing. It is just something that we aren’t used to, and consequently have some difficulty handling. Especially as everything seems to be changing all at the same time. We are changing. The earth is changing ~ with different weather patterns; and even the seasons feel different... And some say that even the universe itself is changing.

After the initial reaction of being pushed into something new and different ~ no matter how much we have anticipated the change; the new things, or the better life we are building for ourselves ~ there will always be a part of us, a part of our lives, that we leave behind.
This means that, no matter how beneficial a new situation can be ~ there is often part of us that is grieving for what is considered lost...

Therefore, the process of thanking, forgiving and releasing the things that are no longer useful to us in our lives ~ the things we can let go of now that we and our lives are changing ~ is an important one.
It is easier to truly let go of the old when we start with thanking it for having been part of our lives ~ for the lessons it has taught us. Then to forgive that which we no longer need for the problems it may have caused, as well as forgiving ourselves for having kept it in our lives way longer than we needed it there... And finally to consciously release it. This can be by giving things away that you no longer use, or by transforming an attitude that has prevented the old way, the old mannerisms, to change. Either way ~ in consciously releasing the things you feel comfortable to let go ~  you are creating the space for whatever new personal cycle, whatever new adventures to enter your life.

This process of thanking, forgiving an releasing not only makes it easier to deal with changes that are going on ~ in a sense it even facilitate changes as it allows you to evaluate what is working for you in your life, and what is not ~ it permits you to see what things have value in your life, and what things are just ‘stuff’. And in releasing those things that no longer grow corn for you, in essence, you create the space for changes to manifest in ~ even if you may not have been aware yet of any changes that were knocking on your door...
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A time of change

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We are living in a time of change. Whether we like it or not, changes are going on all around us ~ an even if we don’t see changes happening in our own lives, most of us don’t have to look far to see changes taking place in the lives of others.

For the most part, changes can either be expected or unexpected; desired or undesirable... Whichever change it is, it is bound to bring a certain amount of insecurity into our lives ~ no matter how much we have anticipated something to happen, to make our lives better even, as soon as it is actually happening we get to that point where we are not sure where we are heading exactly, but we do know we cannot turn back. The way our lives used to be is over, and our ‘new lives’ are right in front of us and yet we cannot clearly see how it looks, feel how it feels...

From a spiritual perspectives changes come into our lives because the things we have, the life we are living is no longer serving us to the fullest. That doesn’t mean that what we have in our lives is bad ~ it just means that it is time for something different. Hopefully something better than we had before.

Changes can come into our lives with ease, or we can fight them tooth and nail ~ changes will come.

On average, us human beings don’t like changes very much, so we are more likely to resist changes than to embrace them. We feel better, more secure, when everything stays the way we know it to be. And even if we  hold on to the ‘status quo’ to the point that there is hardly anything left that is truly exciting ~ the point where we, in all reality, are just going through the motions ~ we, as human beings, tend to prefer that over change.

Until the moment that change cannot be stopped.

Maybe change comes as the loss of a job, or as a promotion. Perhaps as a move to a new home. Sometimes it can come as a realization that a certain cycle of our lives has ended and that it is time to embark upon new adventures. But often changes come quietly, like whispers in the leaves of the trees ~ or as shadows in the night. Unnoticed they arrive. And by the time we finally observe them in our lives, we are often way beyond the point of no return...

Whether we like it or not, in this point in time changes are a fact of life.
We are swept up in the currents of the changing energies in these changing times ~ and we can either fight it ~ or we can enjoy the ride!
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Signals

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There are signals all around us.
Of course there are the signals that allow traffic to move smoothly from one place to another. There are very commonplace signals that tell us where we are or point us in the direction we want to go.

The signals that we seem to pay the least attention to, are the signals life itself gives us...

Like, if everything is holding you up, all traffic lights are red, long lines ahead of you at the register of the supermarket ~ this might be a signal that the situation is not quite as stressful as you are thinking because the meeting you are rushing to get to was, unbeknownst to you postponed for 30 minutes.

Many people that are walking a spiritual path have found it helpful to be alert to signals like that. Even to the point where they look at them from the other side: If this is happening in my life, what is it telling me? What have I done, have I not done, have I forgotten, am I doing ~ that brings this situation, this signal into my life?

Most of the time this is a good thing! It helps to look at especially those things in your life that the signals around you are saying are working for you. Or, dependent on the signals you are getting, are not working for you.
You can then look at the facts, see what is going on in your life or how you are reacting to it and make the changes that allow things to work out (even) better for you.

But what if the signals continue to tell you that things are not working the way they should. What if you meet obstacle after obstacle without ever finding yourself in a flow where things come together effortlessly ~ where things seem to work together to make life easy for you?

It is easy to then start looking at all of those signals and the way your life is going from a perspective that says: I must be doing something wrong. It must be my fault that things are not working out...
The problem with that statement is that it usually comes with an unhealthy amount of guilt. And unless we stop ourselves right there, it is easy to start walking a downward spiral until pretty soon we don’t have the energy to accomplish anything at all...

A more productive perspective may be to notice that there are signals things aren’t working out for you the way you want them to work in your life. To examine whether you really still want those things in your life ~ and if so to observe how you have gone about getting those things in your life.
That is as far as your responsibility goes.

From that position you can make changes if you want to and move on.
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Living in the present

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Many people, especially those who are walking a spiritual path, will tell you that it is important to live in the present. To put your total focus in this very moment ~ independent  of what you are doing this very moment. Whether you are meditating or doing the dishes doesn’t matter ~ whatever it is you are doing, do it with all of your being...

For me, no matter how hard I try, I never quite manage to do it. To be ‘in the now’. To focus only on what I am actually doing right then and there.
More often than not I find my mind wanders... To the shopping I still need to do. Trying to remember when the last time was I did this thing or the other. To an appointment I have the day after tomorrow.
And pretty soon whatever I am doing goes sort of on an automatic pilot.

I am certain I am not the only one who is doing this ~ and in all reality, what is the harm in it?

The thing is though, that when we are lost in memories ~ good or bad ~ of the past, we do not experience what is happening right now. In a sense, any time we spend pondering things that have already happened, we loose out on the experiences we could have right now.

The same is true for worrying about things yet to come ~ things that may be (or are) in our future.

If we look at our past and future ~ there is nothing we can do about it now.
The past has happened already, and while it has made us into the person we are this very moment, the only thing we can still change about it is our perspective on it ~ how we look at what happened knowing what we know now. Knowing the outcome of events that happened way back when...
The future, on the other hand, isn’t here yet. Whatever might happen cannot be influenced right now. If we need any preparation for a specific event in our future ~ that we can do now; with all of our focus!

The only moment we can affect is now. The only time we can change what is actually happening in our lives is the present.

And that is why it is so important to focus on living in the present. To be in the now.
This is the only moment in which we can not only influence what is happening to us, it is also through living in the present that we can truly experience live as it is happening.
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