Who’s in Charge Of Your Experience?
Who is it?
Is it you? Consciously? Purposefully? Intentfully?
Do you always feel the way you want to feel?
Or are you always present consciously with the feeling that’s there?
Or is it something else in charge?
Is anger in charge? Fear? Shame? Anxiety?
Who’s in charge?
Take a moment here.
Take a moment to really look, to really ponder.
There is no one simple answer, it probably depends on where you are , when, and what’s happening.
Have a look and see what you find.
I’m giving you that space.
If we want to have free choice, we first need to truthfully acknowledge where we don’t have it, because we are often stuck in our patterns. It’s also good to celebrate where we do have it, because why not?
Free choice, what is it anyway?
It’s about having a range of responses, thoughts, points of view and emotions to choose from, and choosing whichever one you want in that moment.
Free choice is about range.
If we don’t perceive range, we don’t have free choice.
Our free choice is as free as the range of responses we have.
It’s not about having the “right” responses, it’s about having a range of responses to each situation and experimenting with them to get the results we want or just for the heck of seeing how it feels.
Being trapped in conditioned patterns, in conditioned mind, we don’t see range, we don’t see opportunities, we don’t see options.
Where in your life do you believe you don’t have range?
Or act as if you don’t?
That’s a good place to do some inquiry on.
Ask yourself: What new option, what new response can I add into this situation? Write the answer down.
The option doesn’t have to make sense. It can be putting a shoe on your head next time you feel angry. Doing something nonsensical can give you range. Now you have another option when you’re angry except for reacting to it, you can put a shoe on your head! Like a ZEN master(they used to do that).
Life isn’t about perfection. Spiritual practice isn’t about being a perfect person.
Perfect doesn’t exist, perfect is an illusion. Perfection is whatever is, it’s not an ideal to strive for, it’s simply what is.
Spiritual practice is about having range. Having options. Mastering your own dream, mastering your own creation, becoming the master of self, and the master of life.
So as the artist of your life, what do you want to create?
I hope it’s good.
P.S: If you want to strengthen the new option of a response you wrote down, I invite you to share it with me as a way of strengthening this new point of view and being a bit Edgy.
I’d love to read it 😉
May you enjoy the full range of life,
In LovingKindness, Daniel.