A Resolution to be Resolution Free

2014.

I resolve for the first time ever, to not make any resolutions. Of course I need to lose weight and get fit; of course I still need to do different at work - whether to work more, less, smarter or change my career; of course I still need to take that trip and tick off another item of my bucket list. 

But I'm simply going to not resolve to do anything. Except go with the flow of life. Live each day as if it were filled with a new opportunity to resolve to be fitter, to plan a trip, to make a life changing career decision. 

No pressure. No direction. No stress. Except the simple belief that the direction that my life will flow in will give me chances to choose myself and what I want, and in those moments I'll resolve to choose me, to choose my life. 

The rest will then happen on its own. 

Happy New Year! 

Detachment Made Simple

Among the most complex concepts to understand, hardest acts of will to follow through with and yet central to the teachings of Buddha and The Gita,  is detachment.

"Karm kar fal ki chinta mat kar," says the Gita but finds so much resistance to even the acceptance of this statement. Reason resonates, how do I not love and therefore expect from my husband and children? How do I not hope and wish? How do I work so hard but then not care about getting my due in rewards or recognition? How do I not want more, expect more... And similarly how do I then let go of all that I posses in people and materialistic belongings? 

It's actually really simple. Feel, experience, love, work, enjoy, bless and let go. Detach. 

If someone makes you feel wonderful - enjoy the experience to the fullest. Let go. 

If someone does you wrong, get angry and be mad. And then, let go. 

If you have a family you love, love them at the present moment to the fullest. Then let go. 

If you worked hard on a project, enjoy it's success or review it's failure and then, let go. 

Detach. Allow the memories to simply remain memories. 

Detachment sets you free. It allows you to experience this very moment to the fullest without the baggage of the past or the fear of the future. It sets you free from maintaining records of happiness and sadness, from maintaining a 'hisaab kitaab' of people in your life. 

One deep breath. Now, simply just let go. 

The Dark Night Of The Soul

You go about life, breathing, working, doing as you were supposed to. And then slowly, a nagging thought that your not happy starts to creep in. You begin to realise that your existing, but not living. Your surrounded by people and things that are supposed to bring you much happiness, but you're unable to feel the joy. Everything that made perfect sense in the past, and the future you planned for yourself, doesn't make any sense in this present moment.

Your not sure you understand what's going on. The ambition you thought was to bring you the ultimate success is now but an abysmal goal in comparison to what your actually seeking. You have so many questions that continue to cause you despair. Everything around you seems to be pointless and your soul yearns to understand what you're supposed to. 

Welcome to the dark night of the soul. 

I never understood why people have to go through so much pain and experience to finally discover happiness. Why they have to be lost first, only to be eventually found. To be so low, that everything around them crumbles - The lowest point in someone's life. The storm. The desperate call for help. The desperate yearn for understanding. Only when you get here, can you learn to understand what happens when the day turns. You understand the meaning of your life, of your happiness, and a chain reaction starts to stir from something that moves within you. 

There is a new sunrise. Then comes the morning. A new day with calm waters. Where you can learn to live with each breath. Where joy and happiness are contained inside of you. Where life has a purpose, relationships have new meanings, love and compassion are what make you one. You then  start to truly live

There Are No Coincidences in Life

This post is going to be extremely short and sweet.

This weekend my lesson was very simple. There is no coincidence. Everything happens for a reason. 

And there is always a lesson in the reason. 

Ask why? If you thought of a friend, and that friend contacted you, ask why? What did this person say to you? What was the message? 

Look out for answers in patterns. If you continuously see a pattern - numbers or words, or names or places show up unprecedently, maybe there is a reason for you to figure out what they mean and what they're pointing you toward. 

We can continue to live our lives without acknowledging the existence of subtle messages sent to us by the universe ( for lack of a better word) or we can choose to try and look into these signs for answers, for clarity, and direction. 

I read somewhere that if you had a question and you put it out into the universe - to God, to a religious figure, a saint, an angel, an archangel - the answer or the sign can come to you in a magazine, a book, a movie dialogue. The key is to keep our eyes and ears open. And to always always ask - what is the lesson in this for me? What is this saying to me? 

And you shall be told. 

Rather strange that this comes up now. My first story about signs was the story of a little girl who wanted God to make it snow on Christmas. As the year ends, it's the time for rebirth and new beginnings. Look out for what is coming your way...

Give up or Give in?

There comes a time when your just plain tired. Not just the physical body, but your mental, emotional and maybe your astral body as well.

While I was sharing and lamenting about how tired I was, and how I was ready to give up, not fight life anymore, a friend asked me, give up or give in?

So started this chain of thought... 

Giving up means admiting defeat - toward yourself, your own happiness and what you believe is worth fighting for. Giving in means surrending completely - while you continue to follow your path. 

The biggest change and the biggest challenge when you give in is a detachment from the result. Knowing that whatever or whoever ( the supreme being, the universe, god?)  is taking care of your business and that life will unfold as it should. 

It means becoming emotionally detached from the persons involved. Giving up on expectation from them, while still not giving up on them.  

It means resolving to consciously not react with pure emotion under any circumstance. Allowing yourself to process any situation objectively changes the way to choose to react to it. Logic typically triumphs over emotion - conscious action prevails over anger, frustration, or a breakdown. 

Lastly it means not giving up. Staying hopeful, knowing in your heart that a higher power is always looking after you. What will be, will be, and will be for the best. It means to continue to have faith and to trust with full faith. 

Giving in means not to give up. Giving in means to open up your life to the opportunity of an unexpected life!