According to this week’s Making Every Moment Matter, Deepak Chopra shared that many studies have shown that the best way to lead a happy life, is to live happy days. And the best way to do that is to not put off anything that brings you happiness until it’s more convenient, but to do it when the the opportunity presents itself and be present in mind, body and soul, not just body. That is how to inhabit your moments.
What we focus on expands, and life responds by reflecting it back to us. So when we allow our ego, that inner voice in our head that tries to convince us that we live in a scarcity culture where there’s never enough money, love, time, etc. to go around, then that’s the world we see and experience around us. Lynne Twist says this view leads us to believe that this imbalance is just the way the world works and we should always be in search of more, because more is better and we cannot be content until we get it.
But when we begin to inhabit our moments and tune out the fear and worry our ego wants us to focus on 24/7, we begin to step out of those dark spaces and see new possibilities. Oprah says that when that ego mind starts talking, it’s time to pause, take a deep breath, and ask what this experience is here to teach us. Because that ego mind is created from past hurts that have created a patterned response to protect themselves. Those responses are what cause us to retaliate against others or ourselves as we turn to drugs, alcohol or food to soothe the past hurts. However, once we inhabit our moments and allow in awareness, we can begin to see our pattern of behavior and release it, loosening the power these old habits have on us, so that we can replace them with new ones. The more we do this, the more healing we bring to our life and open ourselves up to all the good things life has to offer.
This self care allows us to see life beyond any problem and opens us up to newer and richer experiences. This allows us to ask “what’s really important?” so that we can start prioritizing the items that have to be done and are worth our time. No longer do we allow our ego to keep us in a holding pattern, sucking time away from doing and being around those we love. When we let go of this resistance and add in time for renewal and awareness, life begins to flow seamlessly. To keep us on track and connected to the abundance around us, Deepak suggests we gift ourselves down time and play time everyday, with the people that are most important to us.
Yes, living in the moment not only helps you, but helps those you’re in relationship with. Deepak says that a sign of respect and love is to be present at every moment shared, not distracted on the phone, watching TV, or processing problems. Gifting our partners with that awareness and openness to see who they fully are, is what makes for lasting, loving relationships. That’s because we’re taking the time to learn what makes each other tick and taking time to see things from their perspective, acknowledging their self worth, vs allowing our ego to convince us that they have to be more like us.
Deepak says problems always arise when we make assumptions of others and expect them to adhere to the way we do things. That’s just the ego trying to convince us that everything we believe and do is more important than others. That’s when we begin to take things personally and get irritated or frustrated at having to accommodate others. The true reality is that relationships mean we have to find a way to mesh and create a space for our time together vs. seeing our time as “your time” and “my time.” When we give the other person space, we go beyond our ego limitations and shift from a me mentality to an us mentality.
When we let go of the fear of the unknown and trust what life has to offer, we stop feeling disappointment and begin to truly experience the flow of life, which is filled with experiences worth living.
To get caught up on this meditation experience, check out week’s 1 recap here, and come back next week for week 3’s recap here.
How will you be letting go to truly inhabit your moments?
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