release your past, return to the present
Our perceptions of who we are, creates limits on who we can become.
Realise that every person you've ever met has an entirely different impression of who 'you' are,
shaped by their own personal fears, desires and beliefs.
If you experience anxiety and don't want to anymore, allow this truth to sink in.
You could spend a life (and many people do), trying to control other's perceptions of you.
Or much more peacefully, you can accept that the way others perceive you is actually none of your
business, allowing you to refocus all of that potential energy towards living in your fullest expression.
In doing so, you will come realise that being your authentic self was never a matter of effort,
only a matter of allowance. It's in this space of true authentic expression,
where you attract the people and opportunities that will guide your path.
A way for you to do this, is using your journal, write down an honest self reflection of what it would
look like for you to be living in your fullest expression, in alignment with your highest self.
This will allow you to become aware of any misalignment,
in order to take the necessary steps to move closer towards this state of being.
Uluwatu - August 23
We seem to forget the natural flow of things.
It's in our nature to want to understand things intellectually, to analyse and define.
But this conflicts with the nature of our existence, being a constant state of change.
Our concept of time, is a perfect example of this. Even something so seemingly embedded in our existence,
is nothing more than a creation of mind. A tool created only thousands of years ago in ancient Babylonia.
In the perspective of the 13.7 billion year history of our cosmos, this is a fraction of a second.
Yet we still define ourselves by age, measure maturity in years and fear to dance in spaces meant for
'younger people'. Realise, that the only true reflection of who you are,
is found in the billions of years of evolution that came before you.
Even your physical body, made up of trillions of cells completely replaces itself every seven years.
Meaning, you are physically, not the same person you were seven years ago.
Understand it is by your very nature to change, beyond perception or expectation.
Release any fear of being 'inconsistent'. It's your life, you are free to wander wherever you feel called.
Because in fact, it's in this free-flowing state of non-attachment,
that you have the power to go after anything you want in life.
For me, this became clear the day I packed my entire life into a storage box,
before heading overseas to create a new one. The twist of an ordinary padlock,
brought with it an extraordinary lesson. With its final click my 'identity' was sealed,
and in its echo the wisdom that nothing truly worthwhile can be stored,
and that no part of who we truly are can be locked away.
With this knowledge I was free, to be whoever I wanted to be.
It took the novelty of putting everything that ‘defined’ me into a 2x3m box to realise,
I was always free. We all are.
Follow your heart, to the edge of the world.
flying over Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea - March 23
Your past no longer exists, only your attachment to what was.
In the words of Eckhart Tolle, nothing has ever happened in the past and nothing will ever happen
in the future. Your life is exists only in this moment, now.
The hard to swallow truth, is that life is nothing more than circumstance. Nature just is.
Suffering stems only, from our attachment to the circumstance.
This becomes a problem, when we begin view the present through the filter of our past experience.
Trauma can often be a topic, surrounded in shame or fear and as a result, can be rarely discussed.
But the truth is, its an inevitable part of our human experience.
A natural process that takes place for our own evolution.
Life is a place where we learn through experience. That's why we're here.
As we move through the world, our experiences and interactions shape who we are to become.
This process is made possible through our sensory perception.
In Buddhist philoshophy, humans have six primary senses, sight, hearing, smell, touch, taste and mind.
As spirit experiencing a human existence, our bodies exist to translate our physical experiences into
spiritual wisdom. The way this works is.. an event takes place, we experience it through our five senses,
which triggers an emotional response within our brain, each emotional response is felt within the body as
sensation and our sixth sense, mind, then creates a decision on how to navigate the situation.
It's in this exact moment, that the practice of mindfulness fulfils its purpose.
In developing self-awareness, we become able to recognise how each different emotion distinctly feels
within the body and in doing so, create space to observe in non-reactivity.
Offering us the opportunity, to move consciously in another direction. Regardless of your belief system,
spiritual or otherwise, ultimately what this teaches us, is that our emotions exist to help us.
They are your body telling you what it needs to survive.
By deepening your awareness of sensations in the body,
you not only develop a powerful inner compass that will help you to navigate your life,
you also gain the ability to empathise and connect with likeminded others.
‘Circle of Connection’ a recent workshop held by Javier Ramos and Alma Brock - Gold Coast, Australia
It's ironic, that as humans we often seek to be liberated from the discomfort we feel within,
then when nature sends us an opportunity to process and release the past,
we choose instead to identify as the victim, hiding in safety. In doing so, we may find temporary comfort,
but soon enough the universe will present us with the same lessons,
until we choose to become conscious. Nature doesn't rush and there is no shortcut to enlightenment.
It only through becoming conscious of the patterns within your life,
that you will be able to stop the cycle of suffering or Samsara (death and rebirth),
transcend the past and come back to presence.
“Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished.”
I was once a carpenter, just as my dad was before me.
We worked together for almost a decade. A time I look back on with gratitude.
There was a time, when I believed I was destined to follow in his footsteps.
With the path, already laid out in front of me, I could see years down the road
at the life I would create. A path paved in security and comfort.
But a path that deep down, I knew wasn't mine to journey.
In the pressure of expectation and warmth of financial security,
it can be extremely difficult to consider a new life when for so long, you've identified with another.
It’s easy to remain in what is familiar and extremely difficult to walk blindly into the unknown.
Especially in a world designed to keep you where you are. Trading your energy for money.
The good news is, you have the power to change your path in an instant.
But ultimately you have to decide, to embrace temporary discomfort over a life-time of compromise.
Know, that waiting for you on the other side, may not be the life you dreamed of,
but the life you could have never imagined.
Abundance lies on the other side of uncertainty.
Which path will you take?
