*.`~ Embracing Change ~`.*

“Embrace change, hold on to your values and let go of what’s bitter. Letting go can be a painful yet necessary part of life, but letting go can also result in feeling free.”

― Angie Karan

22 July 2009 at 19:03
  by Angie Karan

Opening yourself to change...

Sometimes we fear change because we are unsure of what may

come next. We become so fearful that we begin to hold on

tightly to what is about to change. For example: a job that we

really didn't care much for, but it still "was income" or a

partner/lover who we realized probably isn't the best for us but

we are comfortable and wonder

if we can go at it alone.

We have programmed and conditioned our Selves to fear that

which we do not know or understand. Those who break out

and embrace change are sometimes looked upon and judged as

reckless, risk takers, etc. As we begin to move forward into

the light we begin to take notice that the way we now look

upon things is changing.

We no longer live in fear of something we do not

understand. We begin to develop a sense of trust in our

intuition, a sense of knowing if you will, that whatever it is we

are currently experiencing is nothing more than an illusion. An

illusion, which was created within our thoughts, our own

beliefs.

Try for just one day, not to act on impulse, but to follow your

intuition. As you awaken each morning ask for guidance

throughout your day. Ask that your path becomes illuminated

and ask that all change which is necessary for your spiritual

growth be as painless as possible and the choice to welcome

Change with open arms!

You'll be glad you did...as change is truly a constant you can

count on through each and every day of your life.

That which does NOT change become Stagnant. What happens

to a stagnant pond?

Shine your light upon the world you see before you

and watch your world

as it begins to illuminate!

IS A MONKEY MIND ROBBING YOU OF YOUR PEACE AND SERENITY

Monkey mind is a Buddhist expression which refers to the incessant chatter that goes on in our heads. When unchecked, it can drive us nuts (excuse the pun!)
Like a restless monkey jumping from branch to branch, the mind is always on the move, producing up to 100,000 thoughts per day (astonishing, isn't it!)!
With the frantic pace of  life these days, the modern monkey mind is more like King Kong crashing through the jungle on amphetamines. It is little wonder that inner peace can seem difficult to find.

It is estimated that our brains are bombarded with seven times as much stimuli as our grandparents experienced.
Add to this the rising stress levels caused by increased working hours and longer traffic jams and it is a wonder that many people can cope at all.

The good news, however, is that, no matter how busy the mind is and how distant the prospect of finding inner peace seems, it is always there, right under our noses (actually above our noses). We just need to know where to look.

Finding happiness and inner peace is an uncovering process. They are not experiences to be gained anew. When we strip away that which is covering it up, (the main thing being our addiction to thinking) we discover that the peace we are seeking has been there all along.

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My days used to go something like this. i would finish eating breakfast without noticing the food because monkey mind was already thinking about the day's schedule. I would then arrive at work with no recollection of getting there, having been lost in obsessive thinking. At work, I was busy planning the weekend. My mind was never where my body was.
I was rarely present in the here and now (which is the only place where peace and joy are to be found.)


I remember taking my daughter to the park when she was about three years old. She pointed to the sky and excitedly squealed "airplane". I hadn't even noticed the park - which is amusing in a way but also tragic at the same time.


This is why children experience so much joy. Being largely free of mental chatter, they are absolutely present in the here and now. Their monkey minds have not developed yet.
In truth, happiness never leaves us. We are simply unaware of the happiness which is always there, through being constantly distracted by our monkey minds. We can only notice the wonder and the beauty that surrounds us when we are present.
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PEAK EXPERIENCES

At times, everyone has, what psychologist Abraham Maslow, calls peak experiences.

I will never forget a visit to The Shetland Islands many years ago. I was fortunate enough to witness what many of the locals described as the most spectacular display of the Northern Lights they had seen in years.

Just for a moment, as I gazed upon the spectacle, my mind was stunned into silence. A profound feeling of connection and well-being swept over me. In that perfect moment I felt utterly at peace - with no sense of anything missing.

A moment later, a thought appeared: "I must phone my partner and tell her. As I re-engaged with the mind, the experience was gone.

And that is how it works. In the absence of thinking, the bliss which is our true nature is experienced.

It is still there when we are lost in our monkey mind but we are simply too distracted to notice.

SO HOW TO TAME THE MONKEY MIND?

I'll answer with a story. There was a village in India which was infested with monkeys. They were a real problem. They were not afraid of the villagers and would go into the houses looking for for food and occasionally attack people.

All the villagers carried long sticks with them which they used to beat the monkeys and try to chase them away. This only annoyed the monkeys more. They tried everything.

They boarded up the doors and windows to keep the monkeys out. Sometimes they would catch one in a net and take it out of the village but they would always return looking for food. The villagers were at their wits end.

One day a holy man entered the village and observed what was going on. He laughed and said "I have another solution. Why don't you try planting a banana plantation on the outskirts of the village and see what happens."

The villagers followed his advice. And it worked. The monkeys were more interested in the delicious bananas and happily rested in the trees, leaving the villagers in peace.

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WHAT YOU RESIST PERSISTS

You may have heard the expression "What you resist persists." As long as we fight against the monkey mind, we give it more energy and make it stronger. As long as we try to beat our thoughts away with sticks we make them bigger.

In my work as a coach, I have met so many people who have tried one therapy after another to find a solution to their depression, anxiety or unhappiness. Five years can pass with little change. This is because focusing on the problem only makes it bigger. It is a paradox that by trying to find happiness we only push it further away.

I have also seen people cured of lifelong depression in a one-hour session ...simply through seeing that the mind is not the problem, rather our relationship to it.


Awareness is the key. Through understanding how the mind works, our relationship with monkey mind changes and we become free of the influence of thinking.

You are not broken... you are merely distracted. There is nothing to change and nothing to fix ...only something to SEE!


 An excerpt from the book:
Kick the Thinking Habit 
http://www.find-happiness.com/

B R E A T H E ...

26 July 2009 at 10:00

I feel it welling up, rising from the dark

The light of change within me, and starting with my heart

The metamorphosis unfolds

When did I grow so bold?

Becoming something less, but something so much more

Can't label my identity, no definition is right for me

My future & my past, they're both worth fighting for

A purpose for the melody, and a reason for the harmony

And when all life feels faded from me

I've just got to remember to breathe…

My heart now beating faster, my blood now running cold

Welcoming this feeling, the thrill of change untold

Letting in this binding zeal

This time of Ascension will make me real

As my soul starts catching fire

As I balance on this wire

And the light becomes so bright that I can't see

I feel myself start to fall

I hear my own voice call

Don’t give up, All you have to do Is...

 Breathe

 ©Angie Karan