Thursday, January 18, 2024
It may seem like whatever is happening feels like it’s happening to you, but it doesn’t have to be personal. Nothing is happening to you, as if the events of your existence are pushing you around, causing you to stumble, or even promoting or elevating you. Events are happening, but whether you cause them or are caused by them isn’t the point. They unfold. You unfold. Do you accept that?
I shake off the idea that happenings are the cause of my troubles or joys. I shake off the idea that I am the cause of my happenings. I can respond to, ignore, or like or dislike a happening. I can just watch too. Very little of it is about me. I am not the event, and the event is not me. I maintain space and innocence, and I touch it as lightly as I can.
Is the event’s content that important? Or is it more about the observation, the awareness of the happenings that is the miracle of life? For without my ability to observe, I’d have no ability to judge, to feel, or to participate. The part of you that interprets, feels, and/or responds is nifty; but the part of you that knows that you interpret, feel and respond – that’s even niftier.
Is it the experience, or that you get to participate in the experience that makes life amazing? You’re being allowed to experience, and that’s what makes all experiences significant. Whether or not those experiences are “caused” by you or that they “cause” you to feel, respond, or interpret isn’t the point. The point is that you experience. Touch it lightly, and it’s likely not to burn as much. Keep some space, and it’s likely not to suck you into its tempting vortex. Watch and observe. Appreciate from a distance. That’s the miracle of peaceful existence.