Thursday, September 18, 2008

I Can See Cleary Now

Well, I have been in a great mood lately. Very calm, and peaceful. For a while I was feeling either at the beginning of a journey or at the end. I couldn't quite tell which. Then it occured to me. For a long time now, (like almost 2 years) I have been reading every spiritual book out there, listening to spiritual podcasts, going to church, watching spiritual movies and just soaking up lots esoteric and metaphyical information. I even read about spiritual physics. Check out the movie “What the Bleep Do We Know”. Now I can’t explain every thing I have learned, but it has opened my eyes to a new world.

Before the peace, I was walking around with this “wanting” feeling inside. But, I couldn’t figure out what I was wanting. Did I need to buy something? I knew this wasn’t the answer, but none the less I pondered long and hard about what I could buy. Nothing ever came to mind. Maybe I just need to find another book or spiritual podcast. I had spent almost a year I would say listening and reading the inspirational guru Wayne Dyer. Did I need more? Maybe I needed to read a “New Earth” again, spend some time with some mindfulness exercises.

Then it occurred to me. I need to live it. I need live mindfulness not just read it. I need to live peace not just listen about it. So at least I have a plan.

Part of it is to get into a daily yoga practice. It always makes me feel peaceful and content. So I need to plan to get up earlier in the morning. Waking up early has always been one of my challenges.

Another part of the plan came about because of some health issues. The issues forced me to watch what I eat. You know more veggies less sugar. Now I feel great. I have an apple everyday and even the recommended number of vegetable servings. I have been mindful of my eating habits. I enjoy my food and concentrate on the nutrition of each. It is working out beautifully. And in taking care of myself I have lost some of that wanting.

Below is one of my favorite poems.

"Wild Geese" by Mary Oliver

You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.
Meanwhile the world goes on.
Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain
are moving across the landscapes,
over the prairies and the deep trees,
the mountains and the rivers.
Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,
are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things.

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