By Paul Lenda
Guest Writer for Wake Up World
Many of us tend to put the things we truly adore and are passionate about on hold, with the intent to fulfill our wishes later on in life. The problem with this is that more often than not, later never comes, and our flame of life becomes extinguished. Alot of people feel that they will get to do all the things they dreamed of doing their entire lives once they retire. Once they reach retirement age (if they actually do retire) they find themselves either physically or financially unable to do those very things that they wished their entire lives they dreamed of doing. They fall into a deep depressive state in which they feel as if they had wasted all the wonderful opportunities they had early on in life when they were full of vitality, passion, and excitement. They now find themselves burnt out thanks to unhealthy the socio-economic system that they had agreed to conform to their entire lives.
There is no need to wait until old age to align what you do with your personality and passions. Don’t let society put you in shackles of mental slavery. Live the life you always wanted. This is your life, not your parents’, not your government’s, not your guru’s…not anyone’s but your own. Take control of your life’s destiny and fly high on the wings of ecstasy towards the mountain summit of your actualized wishes.
By living in the present we are able to have no expectations or post-pone happiness for some later date. As around-the-world travelers will tell you, the excitement when traveling to faraway lands comes with the excitement of not knowing what to expect. When someone is staying in Australia for a month compared with staying in India for the same amount of time, that person will let you know that unlike Australia, for the most part, the unexpected aspects of life in India such as seeing elephants walk down main streets, being forced to play the game “scam or no scam” when trying to get a train ticket to another city, and others are what keep life exciting in its unpredictability and major lack of expectations.
This is not to say that we should not have any goals or plans. The focus here is on the present-based state of mind. Plans and goals, be they short-term or long-term, are fine as long as we practice non-attachment. If the things we planned do not manifest as we had the expectation of them doing, they by being non-attached, we will not fall prey to severe depression that can occur with failed expectations. Our ability to be aware of our perpetual existence within the present moment requires an shift in attitude concerning acceptance. If we accept that the only experience we can ever be sure of is the one that is occurring now then can will not suffer as a result of seeing a plan or goal that does not manifest as we expected it to.
Reality is as we find it in the here and now. The present moment contains all possibilities. In order to cultivate the present moment we have to exhibit genuine acceptance…free from memory, desire or understanding. Given how Reality seems like a big cosmic joke sometimes this sense of continuous in-the-moment presence is an ideal, not an actuality and as an ideal. Presence paradoxically becomes a goal. This can be difficult to accept without taking into consideration the interpenetration of doubt and wonder. It becomes a “goal-less goal” in this way, meaning that we should not think about it or try to cultivate it, just simply maintain a mindfulness of our sense of presence and of any resistance to it, as psychoanalyst Paul Cooper suggests.
The trouble with goals is that we become obsessed with the goal. When you say you are seeking it means there is something to find…but the real freedom is the realization that there are no goals, there is only the Now. What happened is gone; what will happen is unknown, so we must live in the space we are aware of at this very moment. Goals are functions of desire that’s state of consciousness that is a possible motivator for creating a life of achievement. However, the failure of achieving the goals we create under the influence of the energy of desire gives back more harm than it is worth, as experiential evidence can show us all in our own lives.
We should not wait for the tomorrow that never comes. If we have expectations and desires to fulfill goals we set past the horizon of the immediate moment we will suffer when these goals fail to come to bear fruit. We can have plans for the future but we should not become attached to them or else we will allow the possibility for sadness and depression when they do not become actualized.
Practicing mindfulness can help us attain the goal-less goal of a present-based life. It is easier said than done for most, but if you have a commitment to break the cycle of disappointment, suffering, and sadness when something doesn’t happen as you planned it to, then your level of happiness will skyrocket to heights you have perhaps never reached previously. It is an extremely liberating feeling to become mindful, both consciously and unconsciously, or the presence of the present in its perpetual elegance.
Free your mind from self-imposed attachments to thoughts…experience the ecstasy of present be-ing.
Previous articles by Paul Lenda:
- A New Worldview is Consciously Evolving Humanity
- Conscious Evolution for the Sake of Our Future
- Where Do We Go From Here?
- 9 Ways to Spot a Fake Guru or Spiritual Teacher
- 9 Healing Benefits of Music
- The Ancient Esoteric Wisdom of the Hawaiian Huna Philosophy
- 8 Ways to Spot Emotional Manipulation.. and Free Ourselves From It
- Accelerating Our Collective Emergence Into a New Paradigm
- 10 Ways to Shift Your Consciousness
- Astral Projection – Going Beyond the Astral Plane of Reality
About the author:
Paul Lenda is a conscious evolution guide, author of “The Creation of a Consciousness Shift“ and co-founder of SHIFT>, a social community of intentional evolutionaries focused on anchoring in the new paradigm and assisting the positive transformation of humanity. With the drive to be aware of and experience the wider horizon of Reality, Paul has developed an extensive background in the spiritual and transformative elements of life; one that is both knowledge and experienced-based.
Paul has spoken at various shows, events and locations including the United Nations and My Spirit Radio, and has had his articles published in magazines and journals around the world.
Connect with Paul at Shift> :
- Online: Shift.is
- Facebook: Facebook.com/TheShiftIsNow
- Twitter: Twitter.com@PaulLenda
The Creation of a Consciousness Shift
From the editor…
Through the power of consciousness we are choosing our own reality, and with that, we have the opportunity to affect a global and transpersonal shift in consciousness that will elevate the human collective to a much higher level of being.
Through The Creation of a Consciousness Shift, author Paul Lenda shows that such a massive shift is possible.
Paul’s words will stir up a spirit of action and change, make you question the way you think, and challenge your perception of reality. In “The Creation…” Paul offers scientific evidence in support of his message transcendental self-growth, as well as several tools and methods you can use to help facilitate the biggest, most positive change humanity has ever seen – a global shift in consciousness.
“The Creation of a Consciousness Shift” is available on Amazon and Shift.is
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