How, how, how

Why we are here is not as important as how we are here.

~Hilarion 

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For many of us life sometimes doesn’t make sense. Situations can seem pointless or difficult. Our lives may feel like a series of random events—meaningless and challenging. We want to know the reason why our lives are the way that they are.

Religions and philosophies offer widely varying explanations: Life is random; life has a purpose. God exists and has a plan for us; God doesn’t exist. Karma dictates what we experience; we create our own reality. It can be hard to know what to believe.

Some of us find a belief system that works for us. It may help us find meaning in life and can offer comfort in challenging times. Yet all of us—if we are honest with ourselves—have doubts sometimes. There are days when the struggle through life seems futile.

Whether we have beliefs which explains why we exist (or not), we generally can accept that we do exist. Recognizing this, what else do we know about life?

On the most basic level, our perception of life can be reduced to a few tenets: We believe we exist as a living being. We interact with other beings and things in our physical environment. We experience physical sensations in these interactions as well as emotions. We have thoughts about our interactions, sensations, and emotions. Some interactions seem pleasurable to us; others do not.

Accepting these principles as true, we can build upon them to create happiness in our lives. If we interact with other beings and things, our existence is shared. Our actions, thoughts, and emotions have effects outside of ourselves. We do not exist in a vacuum.

If we have thoughts about our experiences, we can choose to reinforce certain thoughts and downplay others. We can govern what we think, which affects how we experience events. Our thoughts determine whether (or not) we find situations pleasurable. 

If our emotions and thoughts are linked, we can affect how we feel by choosing how we think. Our thoughts evaluating events as either pleasant or unpleasant are within our control, and by choosing our conscious focus we can elect which emotions we feel.

We can choose what we contribute to shared existence by experiencing life through a mindset that focuses on enjoying what is. When we are happy, our happiness affects others. When we are grateful, our gratitude emphasizes the richness in our experience. When we are non-judgmental, our neutrality makes it easier to find ways to take pleasure in life as it is.

In pursuing this way of experiencing life, we create our own reason for being. We are here to enjoy life and to share our happiness and appreciation with others. This is the real purpose for life—shared conscious existence, or the sharing.

Let’s take a few minutes to consciously commune with our internal connection to all of shared existence—our sharing within—to understand how we might enjoy and life more in the here and now. We will begin by establishing a rhythm of soft even breathing. We’ll let our daily cares and concerns fall away from us with each breath in and out. We also will picture our sharing within as a golden, warm light in the center of our chest.

Every inhalation makes the light stronger and brighter. Each exhalation distributes the light throughout us and our surroundings. We will continue until we feel peace, certainty, and calm fill us. This is the signal of conscious connection with our sharing within.

We will ask our sharing within to help us understand the thought pattern we have which most prevents us from enjoying life. We’ll listen carefully and trust that whatever answer we have is true and correct for us. Perhaps we tend to poison our enjoyment of good experiences by anticipating what might go wrong. Perhaps we worry about what others think about us. Perhaps we mentally criticize all our actions.

We’ll ask our sharing within to give us an affirmation or new thought to use, to replace the one which is killing our joy. Perhaps we are told to say, “I’m grateful for this experience and trust that more good things are coming my way.” Perhaps our new thought is, “I accept and love myself exactly as I am, and the rest of the world does too.” Perhaps our affirmation is, “There are no mistakes—only choices. In any moment, I’m always free to choose.”

Finally, we’ll thank our sharing within for the insight received. Our inner wisdom has shown us how we can be happier and make life more beautiful for others, too. What a wonderful gift!

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Divinely unique and beautiful reader, what do you believe about life? Please share…