When you can’t stand the endless cycle of suffering anymore, you begin to Awaken.

~ Eckhart Tolle

As Eckhart Tolle says, when you have had enough you being to Awaken. How long do we have to wait though until that time comes? Wouldn’t it be great if we could be aware enough to spot the source of suffering when it happens, notice it, address it, and move on from it? You can, you absolutely can. When we begin to Awaken we become more in tune with the essence of what is going on in us and around us. We notice our behavior, our motives and desires, our longings… and our sufferings. When we “notice” we then have the power to take action, make change, turn the course and move from suffering to living.

XOOXOX
Sandy

“I wonder. . . what will you be focusing on today? What will that focus return to you? What positive result will that focus have on your world?”

I just wanted to write a note of encouragement to everyone today, and hopefully start a conversation in your minds. Life is complicated, problems and challenges are diverse, and living requires a little bit of everything from us – intuition, skill, knowledge, talent, determination, long suffering, patience, acceptance, love, hard work, relaxation, selfishness, unselfishness, forgiveness  – it is all a delicate balancing act. Navigating our lives [the journey] is like forging along a river, you don’t know what is ahead, you just have to be prepared for what comes, physically, mentally and emotionally. It would be so much easier if we could just pick one thing to focus on. But in reality, that’s impossible. Living demands everything from us, and life wants it RIGHT NOW.
To some, the focus is on love [finding it, keeping it, making it, giving it] because that is the way we are built, to others, it’s work and achieving success, that’s the way they were raised. Some are driven by greatness, fame, and strive for perfection, that is what they long for and without it they feel worthless. I think there is a little of all of that [and all of us] in everyone. Learning how to let go and flow along in our journey is a skill that will bring us wisdom and clarity, grace and awareness. As we begin to live more strategically, don’t underestimate the value of learning to focus on the moment we are in and WHATEVER it is requiring – THAT is an art.  I wonder, what will you be focusing on today? What will that focus return to you? What positive result will that focus have on your world?
Love and Peace,
Sandy

“what screws us up most in life is the picture in our head of how it’s suppose to be”

‘Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons
of reason which today arm you against the present.’
~ Marcus Aurelius

Let it Go

Let it go. It’s impossible not to ever hold onto certain ideals … but if you see that the ideal is causing you pain, you can be compassionate with yourself and let go of the ideal. Sure, people should treat you nicely, but that’s an ideal that’s not always going to be true. Letting go of the ideal means embracing the reality that there’s a wide range of behaviors that people will have, and that’s a part of life. Humans don’t always act ideally. We need to accept that, and not force an ideal on reality.

Excerpt from The Survival Kit at ZenHabits.net