First Class Free

OCTOBER 6, 2009:  Gosh you guys it takes time to build a life! Good thing there are a million ways to practice being human.  And part of our humanness is our perfect imperfection.  There is immense courage in accepting that life is messy that no matter how much we try to control the outcome of a situation, we just don’t know what comes next.  Life is funny that way, it is full of trail and error, falling and picking ourselves up again.  The important part is not to get paralyzed in the fear of not trying stuff because we’re afraid of the imperfection. 

Instead DO one thing everyday that scares you:  Favorite line from this utube clip http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTJ7AzBIJoI

There is neither a reason to try to change the past or over rehearse the future because it only makes the present miserable. That’s a shame because we only have this one chance to live today.  There are no do overs so we might as well spill coffee, try to balance on one leg, wear a red dress, go to a midnight movie, travel across the country to make a new friend or whatever else seems a bit of a stretch.

Life is messy already so we might as well live with what life is offering us. Today we talked about the Vata derangement and full moon and mercury retrograde influences going on. Well that’s what we have to work with so we can elevate our attitudes and act our way into feeling better about our lives.  Lama Yeshe said, "A human has a positive and a negative side. We have an ignorant side, but we also have a beautiful potential."  Let’s allow for that beauty to shine out in all its messy, often inconvenient glory!  Love and courage to really live in love, do what you love, and be with whomever you love!  Silvia

LEVEL 2 CLASS PLAYLIST:

JUNE 19, 2009: 

Are you Looking for the meaning of life or a Meaningful life?

As I looked out at the Tuscan countryside with but an occasional car driving past, not even a street sign or visible way to distinguish the drive to our farmhouse I was surrounded by waves of grass blowing in the wind.  It was here I contemplated what am I doing with my life?  Am I looking for the meaning of life or a MEANINGFUL LIFE?  As a spiritual seeker I learned long ago that seeking is different than finding answers, it is the freedom to ask more meaningful questions.  Quite frankly just asking the questions can be more than enough. 

Victor Frankl who wrote of his time in a concentration camp says, “Freedom is not something which can be given to you by someone else.  It is something that you have inside of you, a way you choose to be.”  So we can all choose a MEANINGFUL life where we declutter and determine our spiritual well-being.  This requires us to be bold and courageous.

Why?  Because meaningful lives are messy.  Getting all the answers is a way to live life propholactically where we are hyper careful not to make any mistakes, erroneously thinking that if we only “get things right” “live our lives right” that it will all be ok.  But who wants an ok life?  A meaningful life is MORE!  It is a philosophy of living life BIG AND BRIGHT without limitations. Now of course we can't control everything that happens around us or the choices that others make but this need not limit us. You have in a sense a "magic wand' that can transmute even the greatest challenge into an opportunity for greatness.

In Italy it was all the unknown – I knew no one on my trip or the area we were visiting, however as we were all strangers we were free to be open, no facades, no pretending.  And as a result the experience allowed for abundant meaningful exchanges.  I’m tired of pretending.  I am tired of letting courage collapse by being too careful too analytical, aren’t you?  It’s time we stop looking for all the answers or pretend we have all the answers and instead just start living more.

In the book Geography of Bliss Eric Weiner writes, “Most of the time I keep my imagination on a leash.” Are you the same way?  Do you keep yourself so tightly wound up and leashed in that you’re literally drying out from the inside out.  Wouldn’t your life be more meaningful if you let out your imagination again? 

So join me in aspiring to choose a more meaningful life rich with adventurous questions!  Don’t just stand at the shoreline of life looking out but afraid to get messy, just dive in and get involved with making a meaningful life.  Big love to each of you! Silvia