Hello and welcome to five minutes in nature with me Liz Scott,
Sheltering beside a Dartmoor stone wall on a day that is very blustery,
Very cold and I'm waiting for some more very wintry showers,
Sort of like sleet like showers that have just passed through.
I'm actually in sunshine at the moment but it feels as though the sky might open at any time soon and actually it's really nice just pausing beside this wall which if you'd ask me what is this wall like as I'd walk past I would say oh it's just covered in green moss but as I get close to it I can see all these different types of moss ranging from dark green to mid green to a yellowy green.
There's a real mixture of things that are growing on this wall all of them green and it's beautiful just to get up close and to see the variety in front of my eyes.
And today's reflection is actually about looking within and asking the question about where peace of mind,
Contentment and happiness exists.
A lot of the time we're looking outside of ourselves to feel happy,
To feel peace of mind.
We're looking for something to happen,
For someone to change,
For circumstances to change,
For our thoughts or thinking to change before we can feel happy.
But today it's just a reminder that that's the nature of who we are.
Happiness,
Peace of mind,
Love,
Wisdom,
That is who we are.
And just to illustrate this my husband took out a neighbour who's in a wheelchair the other day and he took him out for a drive and a cup of coffee and then came back home after dropping him off and the wife of the man in the wheelchair,
Let's call her Sue.
Sue phoned up my husband and said I think you've picked up our key by mistake and we haven't got it.
And my husband was like oh right let me go and check my pockets and that's exactly what he did.
He went and checked his pockets of his trousers,
Of his coat.
Then we both went out and checked the car and the glove box and in the doors and then we came back in the house and we were looking on the ground seeing if maybe the key had fallen on the ground.
And then my husband suddenly remembered like he said oh I think Sue used that key whilst I was there.
Maybe I absent-mindedly gave it to her and she didn't remember that I'd done that.
So he phoned up Sue and said Sue just want to check this by you.
I'm going to carry on looking for this key but I have a vague recollection that you used that key just before I left.
And she was like oh of course yes you're absolutely right.
I did and I've hung it up exactly where it's meant to be and I wrongly assumed that you had the key.
And I love this story because for me and my husband we were looking for the key but we were never going to find that key.
Why?
Because the key wasn't where we were looking.
And for me that's very much what happens when it comes to exploring peace of mind,
Exploring who we truly are,
That loving presence that we are,
Is that we look for it in the wrong place.
And of course if you're looking in the wrong place you will never find it.
For me looking in the wrong place for peace of mind looks like trying to get people to behave in a certain way.
It looks like trying to get myself to be a better person or to set good goals or to earn a certain income or to have a business that is successful in a way that feels like it should be successful before I can find peace of mind.
And of course it doesn't work like that and I've known this for so many years now and I'm no longer looking outside like I used to for peace of mind but that used to be exactly where I looked.
You see now I know that a hundred percent of the time whenever I feel agitated,
Whenever I feel overwhelmed,
Upset,
Frustrated or anxious,
Whatever I'm feeling it's an indication that I'm looking for peace of mind in the wrong place.
A bit like me and my husband searching the car,
Looking under seats,
Scouring the car for a key that wasn't there.
You can look forever in the wrong place but you will never find it.
So the reminder today is look within.
Look within to that ever present sense of awareness,
That space,
That sense of clarity and love and peace.
It is what you are made of.
And when you look within,
Bring your awareness back within,
Then you will find the peace of mind that you were looking for.
Let me know your reflections on this and don't forget to join me again tomorrow for another five minutes in nature.
