Striving, striving, striving… But what are we striving for? What are we really looking for?
We work ourselves into the ground, we party hard, we study hard, we\’re always moving, yearning, striving, pushing, pulling, trying, seeking…. But most of us don\’t even know why.
And yet it’s really very simple.
We’re looking for a feeling. Not just ANY feeling though…. We’re looking for the original feeling. We want to come “home” inside ourselves to the place of peace and contentment. Home is that place where we feel complete, whole and simply happy (regardless of what is going on around us).
This feeling is not the ecstacy and euphoria of drugs, love-making, high-danger sports or all-night dance raves. It’s not the achievement of global fame, incredible goals or millions of dollars. It’s not MOST of the things we seek and esteem highly in this western culture.
We can “have” everything, but feel nothing.
As I discussed in my last post, many people have material success, but a poverty of genuine fulfillment… Sadly, most think they just need MORE of what they’ve been striving for. But there’s never enough “stuff” in this world to truly satisfy anyone.
The hard part is letting go… Eastern culture calls this “detachment”. Christian culture says to be “in the world, but not of it” — in other words, find your substance outside the world we live in. Ironically, the substance that’s not of this world is found within.
To get out, you must go in.
To get out of the striving, pushing and “needing” world we live in, we have to go inside ourselves. Underneath the many layers of culture and society and parental instruction and teacher’s “wisdom”, we have our original self. This is the part of us that is connected to the eternal… This is where we find the “feeling” we’re really looking for. Once you get a conscious glimpse of it, you’ll know what I’m talking about.
The reason I say “conscious” glimpse, is because some people find a little of it (e.g. in religion or other spiritual practices, or even on the golf course if they’re lucky) but don’t consciously realise that this is what they’re seeking in every area of life. They get a taste once a week, then go back to striving and stressing about the rest of their life.
I’m not saying that you should stop doing what you’re doing. I’m just saying that we all should stop seeing our jobs, lovers, drugs, money (etc) as the thing we’re searching for. The feeling we’re seeking is not found in any of those things — it’s found within.
We already have it.
We can uncover it by asking better questions (see my last post) such as “what does my original self FEEL like?”, “what does real fulfilment FEEL like?” and so on. Remember to ask with curiosity, like you’re asking your mother what ice-cream tastes like, knowing she can’t resist giving you some to see that incredible look of joy on your face as you experience it for the first time.
. . .
This week I’ve been watching “The Legend of The Seeker”. And it reminded me that we are ALL seekers of truth. We came into this world to experience the completeness and contrast of life, but ultimately to return to the truth within.
I truly hope you feel a glimpse of it today.