When I bring my attention fully into the present, into the now, then I can see that each and every moment contains a choice. The choice is always between love and something other than love. As I keep a commitment to being mindful it’s possible for me to choose love more often. As I am mindful of the choices I make, I am also mindful of their outcomes. Now that I am mindful, when I choose fear, anger or some other form of suffering I can see that it was my choice. Right there in that moment of knowing is another opportunity to choose love and forgive myself. I witness that love has an intelligence all of its own. This makes every moment of my life a work of art.
In their book EMBRACING THE BELOVED: Relationship as a Path of Awakening, Stephen & Ondrea Levine write, “Those who suppress the ego instead of just letting it recede into the heart make the same merciless error in judgment as those who, attempting to cure serious illness, believe they must ‘filter out all negative thoughts’ in order to be healed … They do not recognize that what leaves the ‘negative residue’ is not the thought, no matter how dark or fearful, but the negative reaction (holding), as opposed to the healing response (letting go), to that moment. That a ‘positive’ thought grasped is less healing than a ‘negative’ one met with mercy.”
Today I make a commitment to be mindful as part of my daily practice of nonviolence. I meet all of my dark and fearful thoughts with mercy. In this way my daily practice is healing and I share the benefit with all beings because I am one with them.
I’m offering a retreat in California February 27 to March 2nd Come join me and a wonderful group of folks from all over who are ready to ROCK 2014 and make it their best year ever! Click here to learn more about my retreat: https://jenniferhadley.com/mlc2014retreat/
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