How open are you? How vulnerable do you allow yourself to be?
Most of the people I have ever spent time with (including myself for much of my life) are guarded, protective. We build a little wall around yourself to keep from getting hurt. We close up. We become someone else. We put on a mask and a uniform and pretend to be someone other that our true self.
A few things happen internally when we create these mental and emotional barriers.
First, we lose our connection with our True Self, the actual person that we are. By hiding behind protective barriers, we start thinking of ourselves as fragmented pieces rather than as a whole human. Every time we think ‘I wish’ or ‘what if’, we are losing something from the truth of the moment. Simply choosing to be honest and open with ourself is the most powerful decision we can make, for in being truthful we have the ability to discover potential beyond anything we can achieve when we are investing our energy in hiding.
Second, we lose our connection with the people around us, our family and friends. Each layer we create takes away from real communication. Instead of being able to communicate from total integrity, we are falsifying ourselves by presenting something that isn’t authentic. We are perhaps exposing who we want to be, but we are hiding who we truly are.
Third, We lose our connection with the universe we live in. I am a body, and a mind, and an ego, but deeper than that I am a presence in the universe, an individual yet also a single piece of something much, much bigger than I can comprehend. All the layers that we create around our true selves takes away from life experience. Shedding the layers is a path to a much more rich and fulfilling life.
The barriers we assemble can be compared to the petals of a flower. We are not the petals, we are not the flower: what we are is the beauty of the flower when it is open to radiance of life. Only by opening can we fully experience what the sun has to give. Only by opening can we share that beauty with the rest of the world.
So is your heart open? Do you present yourself from truth, or do you try to be someone you’re not? Can you accept yourself for who you are in the moment?
I’m not suggesting we have to be unchanging people, always content with everything about ourselves. What I’m suggesting is that we are each perfect in this moment: I am, you are. And in the next moment, we’ll each be a little different, and we’ll both be perfect in that moment too. It doesn’t matter what we’ve done right or wrong in life. It doesn’t matter what our economic status is, or our race, or our political beliefs, or our religion. What matters is that we are open to the perfection of the moment, each one of us, and to the perfection within everyone else.
Can you disagree with someone and love them anyway? Can you be threatened by a person and love them anyway? Can you love yourself for who you are in each instant?
How open is your heart?
Other news
- We discover, yet again, that our eating habits kill us: Western diet hikes breast cancer risk in Chinese
- It’s not which one you choose, it’s how dedicated you are to the long-term: Most diets work about the same, study finds
- It’s not if you have temptation, it’s how you respond to the temptation: Vegetarian readers share tales of temptation
Book review: The Power of Now
I have only read about one third of this book so far, but it is by far the best book on spiritual maturity and personal enlightenment I have ever run across.
In The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle delves deep into what it means to live in the present. Key to this, as I’ve discussed before, is letting go of ego and other forms of ’self’ identity and simply existing. This book both helps you understand what enlightenment is and also is a hands-on guide to achieving your first (or hundredth) direct experience.
If you’ve ever struggled with ego issues of any kind, if you’ve ever had relationship problems, if you’re having a hard time finding yourself and figuring out your purpose in life, then this book will help you. If you understand the value of living with complete peace of mind, this book is for you.
I can’t recommend this book highly enough. Buy it today!
Healthy thoughts,
Jeff
