We must ask ourselves why we do the things we do.
Do we run long distances and show up to the gym to lift weights so we will look good? Or get the runner’s high? And when we feel like we look good or are high, what do we think that will bring us?
For what purpose do we dedicate ourselves to our daily practice? We must ask ourselves why we wake up at the crack of dawn and show up to our yoga mats or meditation cushions?
Asking important questions
Why do we do this dance on our mats, these breathing exercises, this meditation, this practice of compassionate communication, these acts of service? Do we show up to yoga so we can perform the perfect handstand? Or practice being with ourselves without judgment? Do we practice yoga and meditation to know ourselves deeply?
And if our answer lies in the process of knowing our true nature and generating presence in life, why do we want to be present to life? How do we treat ourselves and other people when we are present? What benefit do we receive? What benefit does greater society receive?
What do we think we will achieve by reaching our own ideal body weight and having control over our appetites? What is driving us? What is the life we imagine we will be living when we have arrived?
Where would you be living? Who would you be surrounded by? What would you be doing? What would you think about yourself? How would you treat others?
Wherever you are, whatever you practice, live this life now.
Live AS IF you have already arrived, because all that you think you will achieve by changing yourself is available to you right now. The love, joy, and peace is already within you. What you are looking for has been there all along.
