I have been slowing down the pace of my life considerably in the last seven months and I would say I now live a “slow life”. For me that means I have time for rest and time for leisure in most days. I’m not moving fast through the long list of things I need to get done. I’m noticing my thoughts and feelings. I experience intervals of silence. I am consciously aware of my needs and I feel more alive. This tells me that I had lost touch with myself. My eyes were closed to what was real and most authentic for me. Looking back, I realize that I kept my life super full to achieve what I believed was valuable so I felt comfortably uncomfortable.
This is our modern life. It conditions us. Being aware of our inner and outer reality is gradually dulled and lulled to sleep. In time, our brain locks onto this pattern and runs the program on autopilot. We effectively allow our conscious awareness to fall “asleep at the wheel” for much of our life.
Something must interrupt this conditioned slumber in order to wake us up. Sadly, the unexpected loss in some area of life, a tragedy, illness, or a major change introduced into our life interrupts the cycle. There are times when the entire world consciousness is experiencing a break in the cycle at the same time. We all feel the jolt of some current event and the spontaneous awakening that rises up through the resulting chaos. The pain and sorrow burns away our conditioned responses. Our eyes are opened. Many times, when our hearts break, we open up even more. These challenging times are huge storms in our life but we have an opportunity to consciously wake up and to benefit from them over time. These breaks in our slumber happen only a few times in our life and we are forever changed.
Coming into the present moment is to wake up our conscious awareness from conditioned living and to be aware of everything occurring now – thoughts, feelings, inner and outer experiences.
Living mindfully, thoughtfully, consciously may be the most important practices of our modern time for they bring us over and over again to living in the present moment. These practices give us a new way to observe ourselves and these new insights are the fuel for shifting our awareness gently and gradually.
To live consciously awake introduces something new, something real, something relevant to now. The practices of mindfulness and thoughtfulness help us every day to wake up and to be consciously aware of where our life choices have our energy focused. We are able to notice when we are falling asleep. Living in this way is a great service to others as well as a blessing for ourselves.
If we feel we are here to create a better world, this is one Way. 💗
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