Hi,
It's Giles.
This is a short piece for you to take time out with and reflect on.
A light-hearted story that points to something that's true for all of us.
As such,
There's no effort required while you're listening,
Only something to realise.
Something that can lead to profound,
Permanent change.
So get comfortable,
Relax,
And listen quietly for insight.
When was the last time you felt glad to be alive,
For no good reason?
These moments come to us from time to time,
Don't they?
Maybe it was when you immersed yourself in nature and slowed down to the speed of real life all around you.
Perhaps it was after a near-miss of some sort,
When an accident was avoided and valuable perspective regained.
Or maybe this feeling is always there,
And you just don't notice because something's concealing it.
I can remember the last time I felt awash with serenity of this magnitude,
And it's not even vaguely glamorous.
I was sat on the sofa,
Having just finished my tea.
All of a sudden,
A huge grin appeared on my face.
I turned to my wife and said,
This is going to sound cheesy,
But I'm just so happy to be alive.
The strength of feeling was quite overwhelming,
And its roots lay in the atrocious mood I'd been in,
Not one hour before.
Such was the depth of misery I had thought myself into,
That to this day I'm amazed I didn't injure myself chopping veg.
Furious I was.
I can't remember why or what was bugging me,
But I can remember what I did.
Nothing.
That's right,
I brought to bear a lifetime's learning,
Reached deep into my toolbox of tips and techniques,
And did precisely naught.
Now,
Doing nothing isn't as easy as it sounds,
Because the temptation to fix these things is deeply conditioned.
So I had to idly chop carrots while not taking my low mood seriously.
I had to manage a timer,
All the while not jumping aboard my pitiful train of thought.
I had to see that my internal snow globe was all shook up,
And stop shaking it.
I remembered that we scare ourselves with our own thinking.
I let go,
And sometime later I was basking in the contrast,
Marvelling at the simplicity of being human.
This is the gift of moods.
The gift of life itself,
For what is life but one felt experience after another?
Real-time,
Moment-to-moment feedback on the creative power of thought that's bringing our reality to bear.
As we think it,
We feel it.
The good news,
That deep sense of health and happiness,
Of feeling glad to be alive,
Is baked in,
And there's no escaping it.
It is only ever concealed by the search outside for an answer that lies within.
With love,
Giles And as with all my talks,
A deeper appreciation for what I'm pointing to can be had with repeated listens.
You'll hear something different next time.
