Getting Off the Merry-Go-Round
Sometimes we call it the merry-go-round, sometimes
the rat race or the same-old, same-old. There are many names of the zombie
like state that we sometimes fall into as we go through the motions of
each day. Angeles Arrien calls it "the procession of the living dead."
The culture that we are living in seems to require us to march through
the same motions day after day. We work a lot to get money to buy things
that we then don't have time to use because we are working. Or even when
you are not working at a job, your days are filled with an endless "to-do
list." Fortunately many are waking out of this collective trance
to wonder why we are living as we do and whether there is another way.
There are several signs that you are moving out of
the procession. One is that you start getting rid of stuff. It seems as
if so many are doing this right now, no one else wants it! A second sign
is feeling like you don't want to work so hard or much. Since we have
all been told that we are being lazy when we don't want to work, there
is some guilt with this move. Even children are just wanting to stay home
these days instead of running here or there for all their activities.
Perhaps our guidelines need to be changed around work and activity. What
if the most important thing was that whatever we do must be fulfilling?
How would that change things?
Life is meant to be fully lived, not just endured.
How many people do you know that worked hard hoping to retire, and before
or just after retirement, they died. More and more people do not even
have retirement as they are struggling financially to live day-to-day,
so even retirement is not an option to get off the merry-go-round. Dying
is certainly one way we get out of the rat race, but wouldn't it be nice
to really live first?
If we imagine what a fully alive life would look like,
it would include approaching each day as an adventure. Awake and aware
we would be present in the moment, noticing the ways that we are connecting
with and sharing energy with all that is around us. We would be tuned
to our body's need for rest, activity, and food. As we give energy to
others it would be replenished as we receive from others and from the
natural world around us. Each day would inspire us as we inspire others.
Work would be easy and refreshing. What work we do and how much would
be determined by our own inner guidance that honors body, mind, emotion,
and spirit so that our lives would be lived in true balance.
Sound nice? Great! Then let's create such a
life here and now. Visualize it, feel it, and begin living whatever part
of it you can in this moment.
Step into the flow
Where each day is fresh and new
Balance is restored!
If you have comments on this newsletter or ideas for future topics, call Linda Heron Wind at (585) 924-5620 or send e-mail to LHWind@aol.com.
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