I want things. Is that okay? Is it okay to want inner peace and a really large house? Is it alright to want to reach the pinnacle of spiritual enlightenment, while driving a black Range Rover Sport with tan leather interior? I apologize to those of you who expected more from me. I am owning up. And the list doesn’t stop there. I want things. I want material things, and despite all my efforts to find zen, these desires continue to badger.
What can I say? I’m not the Dalai Lama. I can’t seem to let go of this steady stream of desire. I want shoes and handbags and brand new pots and pans. I want chiseled abs and nicer hair and someone to read this blog and offer me a book deal and maybe a stint on Oprah. I do. I want to be rich and accomplished and look beautiful while doing so. Uh huh. That’s right, I said it.
It is so easy to believe that there are conditions that are prerequisite to finding happiness. We are filled with “I can’t wait until”s and “as soon as we”s. We live in anticipation of days to come. We believe that we need certain things and perfect situations in order to be satisfied and content. But here’s the big joke. Here’s the cliché of clichés. Here is the nugget of truth that we can find on bumper stickers and in graduation speeches and hung up in frames on the walls of diners across America: “It is not about the destination. It’s about the journey.”
It is not about the destination. There is no destination. We will never reach the end. The Range Rover will rust and the abs will mush and at the end of it all we turn into dust. Nothing is permanent. Nothing will ever truly satiate us. The wanting is boundless. It’s an animal. It will always arise within us. We have to choose to find happiness and peace and deep satisfaction in the utterly unpredictable and impermanent journey that is unfolding right now. We have to choose to find contentment in the moments in between the wanting.
It is within the soft subtle breath between our desire that the marrow of life lies.
Tuesday, June 29
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6 comments:
Speaking as someone who had the (amazingly) large house (including the home theater, swimming pool, view of the world, and three car garage which housed the), Range Rover, (Louis Vuitton) hand bags, (Christian Louboutin) shoes, the BEST pots and pans (as well as EVERYTHING else that William Sonoma sells for the kitchen!) and jacuzzi tubs and diamond rings and...
well, let me tell you that ALL THAT is not what it is!
What YOU have, my dear Leah, with your beautiful, incredible man--who loves and adores you!!--is what the rest of us would trade ALL of those things for...in a heartbeat.
Me? I traded it all just in HOPES of that. And still think it's a really great deal.
Here's the cliche of all cliches Part II: You can't buy what really matters...love.
Damn it. That would make it so much easier. But not nearly as valuable.
Go kiss your sweet husband...
I'll bring you a purse.
nope not surprised at all. all of those things sound so great, and it seems that even if we get some piece of success/money/love/house/travel etc., there will always be more to want. the book deal will come, i just know it :)
You deserve all those things. Its could only be a true calamity of life, a mishap in the universe, that explains why you don't.
I think every thing you desire if perfectly fine and natural. We all want more and if we didn't dream then we wouldn't arrive at the place we are suppose to be and have the things we have. It's all a steady process and if we keep our focus on what is right, kind, and loving then a little dreaming may just direct us to the additional things we desire. If we don't ask the universe for what we want, then we very well may not get it. We deserve to have it all.
I'm using your blog again for my class theme this week...thanks for the inspiration! Using your quote "We have to choose to find contentment.." and the idea of finding the "marrow of our life" in the still spaces is profound and applicable to everyone.
It's all yoga- balance is about finding steadiness in the swaying back and forth. xoxoxox
Wow. You are sooo right. It "IS" an animal... always more to want... I am trying to catch my breath and how those 'real moments' feel and usually it isn't related to any "thing." But, yet, I am so guilty. Still yearning for my 1st Coach purse, just because... Great comments on this one. "CHEERS, DALAI LAMA"
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