Life is a constant, joyful romp, with nature celebrating your every move.
That may not be the case for some people. But that’s only because there are beliefs in the way, making life feel anything but fun and joyful.
One such belief a lot of people share goes “There is a separate, objective reality. It is random and uncaring. Even hostile. I am vulnerable in it. So I must be on guard.”
Leaving that belief behind, for a little bit, opens phenomenal possibilities. And the more beliefs like this you leave behind, the happier your life gets.
Perry had an experience which illustrates this well.
He woke early and happy as he usually does. Over a couple decades, he has practiced holding only beliefs he wants to see acted out in his reality. As a result, Perry is nearly always happy.
This particular morning though, his happiness didn’t last. The shift didn’t immediately register. But when it did, he knew why.
The day before, Perry was overcome with “doing”. There were so many interesting and fun things he wanted to do in that day. But there wasn’t enough “day” to get all he wanted done, done.
So when he went to bed the night before, his dominant emotional state was “overwhelmed”. When he woke this morning, before he knew it, he picked up right where he was when he went to bed.
Feeling overwhelmed.
· · ·
When you’re happy more than not, happy is all you want to be. Anything other than happiness doesn’t feel good. And the happier you are, the more happiness you want.
If you’re really, really happy, long enough, any time you’re not happy after that feels awful.
So when Perry felt overwhelm compared to being happy, he knew what he preferred.
Feeling “overwhelmed” doesn’t result from having too much to do. There’s always more to do. That’s what makes life eternal. Any time a person feels overwhelmed, what they’re experiencing is the emotional response to a belief.
The belief is: “I don’t have enough time to do all I want to do.”
And of course, when you believe you don’t have enough time, your life experience reflects that.
You don’t have enough time. Or at least it feels that way.
Actually, you have plenty of time. You just don’t know it because, in that moment, you don’t believe it.
No belief is bad or wrong. But some beliefs create life experiences most people would rather not have.
Time shortage beliefs, for example, trigger many unwanted emotions. Including stress, doubt, worry or a general sense of lack of efficacy. At work, they may feel performance anxiety, fear, inadequate or agitated.
In the long run, time shortage beliefs can be dangerous. They can cause unnecessary errors and shoddy results. They can even create unsafe workplaces.
Besides, you’re not having fun when you are feeling overwhelmed, stressed, anxious or fearful.
Some would say “that’s life”.
But we say life doesn’t ever have to include such experiences. Such experiences are only part of life, until you realize they don’t have to be.
· · ·
As soon as Perry realized what was going on, he also realized what he wanted.
What he wanted was to know he has plenty of time. So he did something he knew would help: he took a walk.
At 5:30 a.m.
It was dark outside when he started. As twilight grew, his mood improved. Nature has a way of doing that.
Perry sometimes walks along a nature path teeming with wildlife. Most people miss all the animals living there. But Perry has a knack for seeing wildlife all the time.
This morning was no different: He came across six coyotes watching him from behind a stand of trees.
One of the intermediate signs of progress when practicing spiritual development is the natural environment behaves differently towards you. Rather than hiding it’s wonders, nature puts itself on vivid display.
Perry has had many such experiences. That’s why he carries his phone on such walks. He loves capturing these moments. Like this one of two river otters:
Feeling wonder from his coyote rendezvous, Perry returned home. He meditated to set his mood for the day, then started doing things he knew would be fun.
By 10:00 that morning, he had accomplished a lot. He learned a new piece of software, contemplated a video he’s wanting to produce, and wrote a new story to share on social media. This on top of a two-hour walk, a 30-minute meditation and studying Spanish via Duolingo.
But there was something Perry was avoiding: A lunch appointment later that day. He didn’t want to take time to go to lunch, but he felt obligated.
Here’s why.
Nearly every Thursday for the last 10 years, Perry has had lunch with the same person. This person has influenced big decisions in Perry’s life. Perry left his successful, but stressful tech career to become a solopreneur, for example, because of advice from this person.
He also got married.
An enduring friendship also came from these lunches. So did several failed startups. Startups in which Perry and this other person invested significant amounts of money.
A lot of trust and camaraderie has grown between Perry and this person too. Through all this, this person became a mentor of sorts. And for good reason: he has far more startup experience.
But Perry changed a lot over the last few years as he’s upped his spiritual game. Today, he heeds his Inner Being guidance almost exclusively. Not what people in his life, including his wife and close friends, think he should do.
To do lists, others’ expectations, a sense of responsibility or “duty” are mostly irrelevant now.
Spiritual development isn’t magic. The “becoming more” spiritual development promises comes with requirements. Letting go of old ways and turning towards new ones for example, is a prerequisite to becoming more.
The obligation Perry was feeling was exactly that. He faced a “becoming more” requirement: he had this lunch appointment. An appointment he resisted because he knows the lunch no longer serves him.
Giving the lunches up felt like disrespecting all that came from the them. Including disrespecting his long-time friend. But what Perry didn’t know, was a future delightful outcome was in motion.
One that would benefit everyone involved.
· · ·
Like all eternal beings, including you, dear reader, Perry has a unique connection to Infinite Intelligence. Infinite Intelligence by definition knows everything you’re wanting and how to lead you to those things.
In fact, it is always guiding you to what you are wanting.
But you have to learn how to hear its guidance. Following that guidance is rewarding, fulfilling and delightful. When you do follow it, you discover your own invincibility. In your invincibility, you discover happiness levels the vast majority of people miss.
You also get everything you’re wanting. Yes, that includes material things.
Perry has proven this to himself over and over, in matters large and small. Including financial matters. Over time, he’s become convinced of his inner guidance’s superiority.
Which brings us back to 10 a.m.
· · ·
Perry didn’t want to go to lunch.
He wanted to cancel.
But now it was 11:00. Too late. That’s when Perry’s lunch partner texted, asking if he was on his way.
“Yeah,” Perry texted back. “Getting ready now.”
While getting ready, Perry confided to his wife.
“This lunch doesn’t suit me anymore,” he said. “But I like [the guy] and am feeling resistance in telling him I don’t want to have lunch any more…It’s not that…I just want more of my time to pursue my passions.”
“Well maybe you can reschedule it in a way that gives you more of your time back,” Perry’s wife said.
He nodded in agreement as he put his bike helmet on, then rode off. Feeling conflicted, but certain the lunches were coming to their end-of-life, Perry set his mind to being present.
On his way downtown, he choose from his surroundings pleasing things on which to focus:
- The bike ride.
- The beautiful weather.
- The wonderful bike he owns and how fun it is to ride.
- The music playing in his Air Pods. The contribution of all the people that makes it possible to hear music from Air Pods.
- The fact that Portland has made it super easy for cyclists to get around.
By the time Perry arrived downtown, he felt much better. That meant he was in tune with his Inner Being.
And that’s when the Big Event happened.
Turns out Perry’s lunch partner was wanting to do the same thing Perry was: consolidate his time.
Normally, the two men record a podcast Wednesday. Doing that takes Perry five hours (including the commute). Wednesday’s show and Thursday’s lunch use as much as seven hours each week.
So Perry’s lunch partner asked if it would be ok to move the recording date to Thursday. That way, both activities could happen in a half-day, instead of spread across two.
That would save Perry almost three hours each week!
It was exactly what Perry was wanting. And he got the solution without doing something he didn’t want to do.
The two long time friends spent the rest of lunch talking about how their lives have changed. Those changes would likely bring their regular lunch dates to an end.
They also talked about sun-setting the podcast. In six months time, or sooner, Perry will likely be free of the podcast and the lunches.
A perfect outcome. For both parties.
And that’s another outcome of upping your spiritual game. When you’re connected with your Inner Being, you get what you want, with ease. And, getting what you want happens in a way that others get what they want too.
These kinds of perfect outcomes become common occurrences. In a short time of paying attention to how you feel and choosing to be happy over anything else, life becomes easy.
Like it’s supposed to be.
When life is easy, life is fun. The fun and ease come from discovering your reality comes at your say-so. When your life experience convinces you of that, you start feeling invulnerable.
Invulnerability is another way of expressing invincibility.
Everyone creates their own reality, whether they know they are or not.
But when a person learns to deliberately do it….life gets really, really interesting.
Life becomes a continuing flow of delightful experiences leading to greater and greater bliss, joy and happiness. Including new relationships with nature. Meanwhile, working hard to get what you want becomes a thing of the past.
You came here to have fun in every moment. Are you ready to experience your own joyful romp?
