I had posted before about being confused and kind of in the dumps because of several things going on in my life. When I start to feel this way, I read a lot of books. Interestingly enough, I already had a book in my possession called , "A New Earth, Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle. I had read his previous book about, "The Power of Now," and it was fantastic. The New Earth book, I had read last year and was disappointed, it didn't do a lot for me.
By pure serendipity, I found it again and decided to give it another try. What I read was absolutely astounding. The questions about life and what is my life's purpose were answered in the book. Tolle even says that if you are not at this awareness stage, the book will be meaningless to you. He talks about inner and outer purpose. Your inner purpose is to awaken, your outer purpose can change and be many things but without alignment of the two, there is no joy and it will inevitably end in some form of suffering. Transcending ego based consciousness is the key to happiness and the ending of suffering and conflict.
Everything I have been reading lately, points to "living in the present" as the secret to having a fulfilling life.
Thoughts dictate our lives 24/7 and if you can slow that down or as Tolle says, puts space around your thoughts, you will be living more in the moment. Meditation practice is the way to develop that space.
One of the questions that I have been asking myself lately is that I am almost 50 years old and what have I done with my life? This is an excerpt from the book, "My fear is that I will remain stuck with doing little things for the rest of my life, things that are no consequence. I'm afraid of never rising above mediocrity, never daring to achieve anything great, not fulfilling my potential.
The great arises out of small things that are honored and cared for. Everybody's life really consists of small things. Greatness is a mental abstraction and a favorite fantasy of the ego. The paradox is that the foundation of greatness is honoring the small things of the present moment instead of pursuing the idea of greatness. The present moment is always small in the sense that it is always simple, but concealed within it lies the greatest power."
This book spoke to me on so many levels and is now one of the most powerful and enlightening books that I have ever read.
6 comments:
It's sort of amazing that he said it would be meaningless to you unless you were at the point where you were ready for it, and reading it at one point - then again later - he was right!
All good things to think about, for sure.
Yes, there were a lot of things that I was thinking about that were addressed in the book, so pretty amazing, I think.
Hi there! At last with the weekend over I can sit down and read your blog properly. There's a lot to understand and digest in there!
As I see it, we should take pride and pleasure in even the smallest things we do in life and not let anyone undermine us (that's my biggest problem). You've brought up two great kids and what could be more important than that! Also, you've a wonderful gift for painting and creating which is something alot of people crave to be able to do. You obviously delight in what you see around you and want to put it down on canvas. Maybe that's a talent you could share with others in some way.
Your situation's a bit different to mine, but I still find myself having to justify my existence when I'm with certain friends. I worry about what I'll be like when my children have all flown the nest. But then I think, well actually, I don't want to live the kinds of lives some of my friends lead and the future should be embraced and welcomed. Stop looking back and move forward - I tell myself.
Anyway, I'm sure I've totally bored you to death now - sorry. I'll shut up now.
Catherine x
Catherine,
I appreciate you pointing certain things out to me. I think part of the problem is that I am not always thankful for the good things that are going on , small and big.
I have a tendency to dwell on the negatives and that can really skew the whole picture. I can also relate to you about justifying my existence to friends. I have a lot of successful friends with PhD's and it can be a little intimidating. I am one of two in our group that do not work outside the home. I know they think I stay home and do nothing everyday. My husband thinks that especially. Being at home can be a very thankless job, but I really do enjoy the freedom that it brings so definitely wouldn't want to trade places with anyone at this point.
You sound like me!!! I began doing voluntary work to get out of the house and do something away from the family. It really helped and it's led me onto other things. I have made a really great friend through this work who has encouraged me to push myself and be more assertive. The best thing she did was to introduce me to colour. It may sound strange, but finding the best colours for me really helped my self-esteem. She's also a christian, so we always have loads to talk about. She really has been a God send for me! It's also given me the confidence to start trying to sell my jewellery. So, when I feel low and start doubting myself I try to focus on all the good things that have happened over the last few years.
Oh dear - I've done it again - gone on far too long.
Catherine,
Yes, I too did volunteer work for several years and it helped. Now I do things for my church which is good and I visit the elderly in an assisted care facility. Doing for others is definitely a great morale booster!
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