As I drifted in and out of sleep, at one moment I had the thought: "I can lie here as long as I want. I don't have to plan anything, do anything, evaluate anything to provide a foundation for future action. I can just enjoy this restful moment. I'm not even required to think a thought."
Of course, those were thoughts, but between them were moments of simple, easy restfulness, of just being, easy in my skin and happy in my heart.
We all have goals. I think, though, that we are fortunate if our goals are how to enjoy our happiness or how to help others enjoy life more. We are fortunate if we are happy and are not desperately seeking happiness. I cherish those moments of unattributed happiness, one might say, moments I'm just happy without attribution to a particular person, object, or event. Just happy.
We might say this is the real basis of action--acting from fullness, from full potentiality.
I had to paint a wall of my house the other day, and painting that wall was a joy. Tape it off, cut in the borders, and roll the wall--simple, concrete, and with immediate satisfaction. And I wasn't spending the time worrying about tomorrow or something else. Just enjoying the moment.
The pure distillation of these moments of ease and happiness are those moments during Transcendental Meditation when the mind, like a wave in the ocean, settles down to silence.
Our lives are a string of moments linked with the infinite thread of silent being. Each bead, each pearl, is a thing of beauty, but it is the thread that makes the necklace.
Copyright 2011 by Thomas L. Kepler, all rights reserved
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