Suzanne and I are moving to a new home. We have just completed the process of finding a home and buying it. We are now in the stage of gutting the kitchen and building a new one.
This all sounds like fun doesn’t it. Well so far, we just suffer. We feel swamped emotionally with the hundreds of little losses and some large ones and with the transitions I wrote about recently. (See related articles at the bottom of the page.) We feel we have too much to do; we feel helpless much of the time and a bit hopeless. I fret and worry. Hopeless, helpless and scared form the ingredients for overwhelm. Overwhelm equals suffering.
I have been relying on all that I teach my clients -- rest, eat well, talk to supportive friends, exercise. Remembering the following phrase serves me as the most useful strategy I can apply myself.
You may have heard me use this phrase.
There is no-where to go and no-thing to do.
This phrase uttered repeatedly will echo deeply enough to remind me and pull me from despair.
“Ah, there is no-where to go and no-thing to do. Ahhh.” Then I can rest and open my heart and my chest, which I have clenched with worry. I rest in that truth while at the same time with a bit of Judo like leverage flip myself into peaceful action. I can go about my business, the activities of life knowing there is nowhere to go and nothing to do. I am calm and serene. It is a lovely trick that is worthy of mastery.
My recommendation: Play with the phrase and see where it takes you. Ideally, play with it before you think you need it. I say “think you need it” because in fact you need it right now. It is a core truth, which negates the lies of the modern world – everything is urgent and you’re late.
Here’s how Eckart Tolle says much the same thing.
Do you treat this moment as if it were an obstacle to be overcome? Do you feel you have a future moment to get to that is more important?
When I am in the midst of suffering I cry, “Yes! Of course, get me out of this. Now!”
But when I read his questions, take a breath, and remember that there is nowhere to go and nothing to do, I can relax and look for the joy and ease in this moment. In this moment as it is without need of changing anything.
The quote comes from one of my favorite books of Tolle’s -- Stillness Speaks. It is a collection of bite-sized truths. Here’s what you do -- read a bite-sized truth, close the book, and ponder. They can profoundly improve your life.
Buy it here => http://tinyurl.com/pvvhd
Go for it. And, oh yes, put a smile in your eyes.
William
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