I am where I am

I want to stand up and say, "I am where I am and it is good." To me that feels like a statement with the least resistance and most surrender to this moment. If my present is a product of the past, and my future outcome determined by the present, I really cannot do anything but accept where I am. By accept, I dont mean being passive and silent suffering. Surrender is a state of making peace with the present moment while feeling free to desire and work towards whats wanted. Granted its hard to be that way all the time, but its very liberating and deeply fulfilling to acknowledge when that nugget of a moment presents itself and you are just content to breathe in and out and are organically self-sufficient.

The opposite of surrender, in my understanding, amounts to a feeling of stress, where you are in one place, but you want to be somewhere else and the discord of separation tears you apart. It could also amount to worry without an option of action. (we all know what feels like).

Anyways, my statement for the day is, "I am where I am and it is good."

The number 17

Its happened to me on two occasions. I'm sound asleep at night and I hear the number 17 in my head, and asking me to open my eyes. I dont want to wake up as I find it really hard to go back to sleep, but I did on these two occasions and on one occasion the time was 4:17 and on another it was 6:17 or 7:17. I dont know what this is about. Why 17 and why does this voice keep saying it and asking me to make note?

Properties of Matter

(One of my friends emailed me that "Nature is everyone's friend indeed because its the same for everyone", and that sparked off the thought process that entails this blog.)

I didnt mean for the title to sound like a high school physics lesson, but I've learned that those three words have plenty of wisdom packed in them. The property of fire is to burn, of water is to cool - stating the obvious? perhaps...bear with me, I will come to my point. We don't expect anything other than a substance's property and we merely maneuver our way around nature's properties...Why then, do we expect people to be different than they are? If a person's property is to sting with words, or another's property is forgetfulness, why do we take it personal and expect them to be more of our property?
I've realized that most often, people do a certain thing, not because they want to hurt you, but because they honestly dont think they have any other choice for their personal happiness or whatever comes close to it.

We humans are selfish beings and I dont mean it in a derogatory way. Being selfish is one of our properties. Even when we do good to someone else, its because we feel good doing so. Selflessness may be a virtuous trait, but I honestly believe its un-natural for humans to be so.

I believe most of the time we 'expect' something of someone (that they normally wouldnt do), we are really saying, "do something thats un-natural for you, something thats not your property, but something I want. " We probably think they are unkind, thoughtless, unloving for doing things that they do. Implicit in that thought, is the truth that we are unkind for expecting others' behavior to be consistent with our desires.
What do you think???

Superficious superstitious beliefs

When I hear of people (well-meaning) warning me of dire consequences if I dont follow the family protocols of several centuries, I wonder if their threats are too different from the viral chain emails that demand that you forward the email to 20 people, which if you do, you will win instant lottery and if you don't, the next car on the street will devour you. I don't think I know everything and granted that these seemingly superstitious beliefs had some base in reason centuries ago, but why are we following without questioning? My belief is that,inherent in my culture is a tendency to obey, to be submissive - qualities that have been exacerbated by centuries of colonial rule.

Chromosomally, we probably have the survival instinct warning us not to question the person in authority, whether at home or at work, so to not hamper the bread winning process.

I love for people to follow what they believe in, and by the same token, avoid influencing by coercion or cajoles, the free-will of another to decide for themselves....Unless their opinions are sought, of course.

But then it doesn't really matter what I want, does it? As long as I'm pushing against it, I know it will come to me. I've been loving Byron Katie's work, that I'd like to put it to test for a while. More about Byron Katie later. :-)

Jason Mraz

The genreless song, "I'm Yours", by Jason Mraz is apparently making history. I have to admit it is fresh, uplifting and makes your soul do a little dance, just listening to it. I was introduced to it on the radio and the song organically grew on me - I didn't know who the singer was, nobody told me it was good...it was one of those things that you cannot attribute it to a fad or a in-thing or an extraneous factor. The simplicity of the song, minimal instruments, original music are truly moving. Rhythm and melody intertwined perfectly..I'm no connoisseur of music, but in the recent years, few songs have evoked this reaction in me. I melt into "I'm Yours" and let this number work its magic on me.

A Seeming Coincidence!

I was experiencing Monday morning blues yesterday, feeling bored at the thought of start of another week or routine, work, running around and same old.
So.. I was driving in to work and for some reason the song, 'For a Moment Like This, Some People Wait a Lifetime', kept playing over and over in my head. I hadn't really listened to it in a while and it was boom out of nowhere. A couple minutes after dropping my son off, I remembered to turn on my radio and it was the very same song playing in the radio!!! What are the odds of that?? So its a fairly popular song, and I wanted to dismiss the radio playing the song as a mere coincidence, but what startled me was that it happened at the exact instant I turned on the radio. It was as if someone hit you on the back of your head and asked you to take notice.

Take notice? Of what? I don't know.

But the thought that came to me was that, life has got to be more than mere everyday living and what we can merely perceive with our five senses. This seeming coincidence seemed to tell me to be open to greater connections out there waiting to be explored, grander happenings than the mundane activities that entail making a living, eager anticipation of the next moment while savoring the present, and.... to be prepared to be smacked in the head if the feeling of boredom ever sets in!!! Now, that smack in head, I can handle and welcome!! :-)

Life Being a Series of Aha Moments

Sometimes I like to look at the nature around me, imagining myself to be from a different planet and looking at earth for the first time and I'm awe-struck at the colors, the landscape and the beauty of our planet - one we take for granted.

As huge as my planet is, astronomy tells me that its a mere speck in the explored universe...and I'm probably an amoebic creature (in the vastness of whats around me), leading my own little life, with unwarranted worrying about future, unneeded brooding of the past, while missing the beauty and love around me thats ready to encompass me in its grandeur, if only I'd let myself enjoy my present moment.

Most of us have forgotten the joys of (re-)discovering things. We forget to inquire, question, ponder, wonder...in the mundane tasks that entail making a living, we forget to lose ourselves in awe of something or someone. Oh, what joy when something you've been grappling with, suddenly gets clearer, when the fog lifts, when someone flicks the light switch on.

Oh, how I'd love for my life to be a series of aha moments!!!