The Portal To Peace And Happiness

We closed on our house today.  While I’m excited about what is in store as we make our way to Costa Rica, I’ve definitely had my fair share of HOLY SHIT moments where my own monkey mind and ego creeps in. Like HOLY SHIT, you quit your steady paying job with full health benefits, a 401k plan and free lunch every day because you have it in your heart to be a healer?! Or, HOLY SHIT, you’re selling and donating all this beautiful furniture, your cars AND your motorcycle?! And, HOLY SHIT, how are you going to get your cats through airport security (carrying them through the standing X-ray machine with you and manage to get them back into their cat carriers) without them being completely traumatized and scratching the hell out of you in the meantime?!

Then there are the moments of attachment; attachment to people, places and things as we transition from life here in the states to life abroad. Saying goodbye to our favorite eating spots, the friendships we have built here and our families is no easy task. On the other hand, we are not saying goodbye to them at all, but opening up the doorway for them to look a different way, and in turn we are also opening the doorway for our friends and family to look at life differently.

From one perspective letting go of attachments is our life’s work. It’s a practice, and so we do not need to be hard on, disgusted with or ridicule ourselves when we haven’t quite gotten it right yet. Because that is all part of the journey of life and as they say, life is a journey and not a destination. It’s our job to enjoy the journey step by step, moment by moment. It’s our job to enjoy the journey. It’s our job to enjoy the journey. It’s our job to enjoy the journey. (My Spiritual Guide will often include three repetitions of the same line of a prayer so that we have the opportunity to really be present with it and not just sing along to the nice melody while our mind is somewhere else, whether it be a moment in the past or a hopeful moment in the future.) I want you to really take these words in. Imagine as though they have been energetically encoded just for you to unlock the doorway into the place in your heart that allows yourself to enjoy. Enjoy every moment on this journey.

Well, that is easy to say isn’t it? But what about when life is throwing curve balls at you time after time and one actually hits you right in the face and breaks your nose? I mean are we supposed to enjoy that?! There are numerous other things that we would consider much worse than this, but you get it right? Perhaps it doesn’t seem possible to enjoy the fact that pain is filling your face and blood may be dripping from your nose, but I can assure you, it will be more painful if you attach yourself to the fact that it “should feel painful” and you ” should have full license to get upset” or cry about the circumstances and scream at the person who threw the curve ball right at your head that broke your nose. In latching on to what things “should or shouldn’t be” we attach ourselves to pain. We attach ourselves to a way of experiencing something that is actually all illusory. In other words, we made it up and it’s a false understanding of reality. But what would happen if we let go of the “should”, and how we’ve inevitably been programmed to think about a particular situation and just fully accept what is happening in the moment?  In acceptance there is a sweet surrender. Life becomes more spacious and expansive here. It is as though acceptance provides us a portal into the peace that is always residing at our hearts, but we have been too drugged up on painkillers (i.e. mind numbing distractions and decades of programming) to notice.  This portal of acceptance takes us straight into our heart where ultimate peace and happiness lives. We are free to ENJOY once we step into the portal of acceptance.

I’ve had more opportunities in the past few weeks to practice surrendering than I would have imagined. I will admit that I could still use more practice. I said goodbye to my corporate job in the space of knowing that I came to this life to be in service as a healer and help others birth their purpose into this world.  My job, although it had massive material perks was holding me back from fulfilling and living my Sacred Mission which is different than our purpose. These two things often get confused.

I believe that our purpose is not just one thing, but the way that we ultimately live our life, including what kind of person we are to ourselves and others.  Many people think their purpose is their career and what makes them money. But our purpose is the way in which we live and ENJOY our life. And yes, we each also have a Sacred Mission to fulfill and part to play.  Knowing that I came here to serve in a healing capacity on a much larger scale, I came to realize that I was hiding behind the role I played in my job and the steady income it provided as a way of justifying not fully stepping into my healing role and my Sacred Work. And here is where the “matrix” or “virtual reality” (as another one of my teachers refers to it) comes in. We have been brainwashed. For centuries upon centuries and generation after generation we have been programmed to believe what is and is not acceptable in our society, programmed with the idea of good and bad, satisfactory and unsatisfactory, objectionable and unobjectionable. I believe when we are able to unplug from this matrix of programmed lies we’ve been brainwashed with, then we will see reality clearly without delusion, and from this state can reach enlightenment in these human meat suits (which are decaying rapidly) that are serving as the vehicle. All the more reason to ENJOY each moment now no matter what is happening in your life.

Unplugging from the matrix can feel uncomfortable because of the perpetual patterns and paths we are so accustomed to traveling down. It can feel wobbly and bring up our fears and be way easier to do the things we have normally done. BUT, if you are able to break the patterns, you start to deconstruct the matrix and the truth is revealed. This truth is freedom. This truth is happiness. This truth is peace. This truth is love.

After spending three weeks in the jungle with our Colombian Shaman and guide and then coming back into the “real world” I could see and feel the stress of everyone around me so much more distinctly. Two of my favorite co-workers were both under the daily grind of expectations and the stress was exuding from their very beings. One of them got physically ill and had to call out sick one day because of it. He admitted it was stress that knocked him down. In our society, the programming says it is acceptable to take a break when you are sick, but when you are perfectly well, it’s better to grind out as much as you can. This is not living, in my humble opinion.

We have released over a literal ton closer to two of “stuff”! Talk about taking a load off! And yet, when my husband tried to carry my packed suitcases down the stairs, I was bracing myself for the wrath that would follow, hoping it wasn’t that bad. #EpicFail

I’m still practicing letting go to some of my stuff and accepting the fact that it is going to be difficult if not impossible to get my favorite green powders, supplements and skin care items shipped to Costa Rica. I am still practicing the art of acceptance and surrendering to what is.  But, when we tell people what we are doing, we can see the looks of awe on most people’s faces. We can tell that some people are getting a glimpse that it is possible to be released from the matrix; that it is possible to do what brings them joy in this life. If we can do this, anyone can. The only limitations we have are the ones we put on ourselves. Accepting what comes along the way of this journey called life will lead you into your expansion and show you the way to ultimate peace and happiness.