LIVING In The Moment

When we talk about the idea of “living in the moment,” so often the emphasis is on being in the moment. On being present in the now. How ’bout the other half of that statement? LIVING in the moment. Fully. PASSIONATELY!

I go out hiking 1-2 times a week minimum these days. Water hikes are my favorite. Where I went today, at the top of the waterfalls there was this rope swing. I’ve ALWAYS wanted to ride one of those! For this one you climb up a tree, swing from a branch, and get launched towards the water at least a good 15 feet up above the surface. Basically, AWESOME. Did I do it?

YOU BET I DID! Over and over and over again!

To be honest, I’m getting tired of trying to be spiritual all the time and living up to some ideal called loving, non-attached, peaceful, open to what is, or whatever the heck we’re “supposed” to be when we’ve gone beyond our ego. If whatever this is is our natural state, why the heck am I trying so hard to accomplish it!? Seriously!

The transition I’m making now is to really EXPERIENCE life. FEEL it. Let it MOVE me.

Emotions

If you’re happy, be ecstatic! Why the heck would you half-ass it? Really.. WHY?

If you’re upset, be angry! Let the anger show you what you’re not okay with, what really IS NOT YOU, what you tend to overlook when things feel honky dory. In the forums I was recently doing just that, and BOY was it helpful for me to get clear on where I’m out of integrity.

If you’re feeling emotional, cry! As a guy, it feels GOOD to cry! I tear up at movies now which I haven’t done for YEARS and it makes for such a RICHER experience of life. I’ve been missing this aspect of emotional expression for far too long…

If you want to judge, judge the heck out of people, Byron Katie style. If you KNOW that everything you’re judging about others is really something about YOU, the more you can judge others and then consciously look at how YOU are not at peace with those energies. Then everyone who pisses you off and gets under your skin suddenly becomes your greatest teachers! Thank God for idiots, assholes, and retards!

If you want to be peaceful, allow yourself to be peaceful. Nothing outside of you has to change. You can just be. at peace. Set everything down and meditate quietly or pick up whatever you want and bring peaceful energy into that. Whatever. Just be the presence of peace in whatever you do.

If you’re feeling insecure in public, allow yourself to be the most insecure person ever. Maybe it’s reverse psychology or something, but when you allow your ego to be itself without resisting it, somehow its crap just dissolves right then and there before your very eyes and you naturally wind up at rest again.

Holding Back, Letting Go

I could get into how society doesn’t expect us to embrace ourselves fully. “How are you? Fine.” or “Don’t cry! Suck it up and don’t do whine around me. Be a big boy or girl!” I could talk about the tendency to not be too happy in case it makes other people uncomfortable with their own crap. But it’s not about that. It’s about ME taking FULL responsibility for who I choose to be.

And on one level, this character is not really who I am in my very essence. “Ariel, you used the word me. But, but, there is no me there! AHHHH!” I know that. Blah blah blah. Don’t miss what’s being said because it conflicts with some spiritual idea. I’m talking about how deeply is life LIVING itself in this moment? How freely is your energy flowing without self-imposed limitations?

Is this the ideal way of living when we’re super enlightened and walking on water? I don’t really care. This is how this energy wants to experience itself now and by golly it feels great to let go of yet another layer of bullshit and limitation.

Am I the most passionate person on the planet now? I don’t care! Doesn’t matter one way or another. I’m just experiencing whatever life has to offer right here, right now.

Am I fully open? I’ve noticed more and more areas in life that I still have yet to open up to and embrace, definitely, but it’s not about the past. It’s about NOW. Is there openness to life IN THIS MOMENT?

Is the way I’m living right now what I’m recommending to you? Nope. You do what you want. It’s your life and you are wherever you are on your path. This is simply where I’m at now.

Could my perspective change in the next moment? Sure!

Could I discover one day in the future that we’re meant to be totally zombied out, experiencing no extremes in emotion whatsoever, positive or negative? Sure! I’m totally open to experiencing life in new ways, discarding my old truths, and discovering something deeper. There’s no attachment to what I’m experiencing now or how it’s being experienced. It’s simply another way.

I don’t care about what’s to come in the future. Right NOW it’s about NOW. Nothing to accomplish or realize. Nothing to become, including enlightened! Just experiencing life NOW. It’s THAT SIMPLE.

LIVING NOW.

Thank you and goodnight.