When I returned to my book, Tolle began a story about Stephen Hawking, one of the world's most famous theoretical physicists. Hawking has a motor neuron disease has left nearly his entire body is paralyzed. He can't speak except through a computer he works with his eyes. He can't eat, go to the bathroom, bathe or otherwise function unassisted. Commenting on his own life in an interview, Hawking was quoted as saying, "Who could have wished for more?"
I guess he chose to focus on the glittering sea.
Have you ever struggled with something for years and years, then one day you suddenly notice that the struggle is over? It doesn't end with an explosion, a huge "aha" moment, a revelation that changes everything. You just quietly notice that the very behavior or thought pattern or relationship dynamic that had always created such conflict and drama inside you… doesn't any more.
There you are, not struggling.
There you are, being grateful.
There you are, being present and aware.
There you are, not reacting.
So let me introduce into the lexicon a term to talk about these subtle noticings: "There you are" moments. I've been have a great many of these lately, mostly about issues that I had pretty much concluded were never going to change - at least not significantly or consistently. I was just too dense, the old patterns too entrenched. No matter how hard I tried, I always fell back into my "default" mode. Until I didn't any more. It is quite glorious. It gives me hope for persistence. It's totally worth the wait.
There you are.
Today I am launching a most wonderful initiative - to give away $10,000 in services.
I am quite serious about this. Not only is it part of my personal journey, but also an empathic response rooted in the many years I spent trying to get staff (and me!) to excellent trainings with a miniscule (and often shrinking) training budget.
You can learn about what I am doing here.
I hope you will receive this gift - then pass it on.
We can sail through this "economic downturn" with joy and abundance. I stand with you.
A friend recently emailed this link to a StoryCorps recording on NPR. I was simply blown away by the insight and courage of this young man, who engaged the mugger who stole his wallet at knifepoint, took him to dinner, and ended up with both his wallet back AND the man's knife. With utter simplicity and openness of spirit, he saw through the man's behavior to the hurting human being beneath.
He wasn't challenging. He wasn't hip. He used no strategies or programs or perfect words. And he demanded nothing from the mugger. He simply spoke directly to the man underneath the behavior, offering something different. The mugger could have simply walked away with the money and his knife - and a different mugger on another night might have done just that. But that night, the authenticity of the man's words and intention changed the mugger's life. Even if he mugs again, it will never be the same. He knows it can be different.
This is our opportunity every day, with every young person, every colleague, every clerk, every stranger. If just a fraction of the time we remembered to look beyond the "noise" to the person inside, then found the courage to make authentic contact , we would change the world.
Listen. It will change yours.
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