Are you awake?

On my morning run today I starting pondering about what it means to be fully awake in our life. (I realize that sounds a bit nutty, but after years of running I find it to be my best "reflection time" and the random thoughts just seem to come.) I then thought of the various spiritual teachers that point us to becoming more conscious.

“Awake, Awake” The Old Testament
“Can you coax your mind from its wandering?" The Tao Te Ching
“Well awake they arise, at all times…Constantly there is mindfulness…” The Dhammapada

My first husband and I are what you might call “opposites;” I learned a lot. He likes taking things slow, enjoying the small things in life and desires more than anything, peace and enjoyment in his life. I could have chided him with this line from Mary Oliver,

"Do you think that this world is only an entertainment for you?
No wonder we hear, in your mournful voice, the complaint
That something is missing from your life."

I have always been a “seeker.” Seeking a new quest, acquiring more knowledge, growing, and learning. I have been guided in my life by a need for meaningful work, passion and "what can or might be." In a younger time, I may have told you that my first husband was much better at being “present,” the word used to describe “in the moment” and rather smugly, I might have said that I was more about growth and achievement. This morning the more I thought about “awake” and it’s significance to being present, the more I thought about wholeness; wholeness is completeness.

I love the line from Mary Oliver,“What will you do with this one wild and precious life?" I love it because it calls us to be clear about our choices and to do that we need to awaken and be conscious!

Awakening from our all too often zombie like auto-mode, requires a deep comment to wholeness which includes a willingness and a desire for personal deep development and possibility and perspective & appreciation for “what is.” It is in the AND here that I draw a critical distinction: Amicably listening to an employee, for instance, without being willing to put an issue on the table that needs to be discussed is not being “present,” rather it is avoiding being present. Likewise, striving and striving for more or better without noting how far you have come or without noticing the present state of your health or the cost to your family is not development or growth, it’s just more driving and ego. True development requires becoming more capable of being mindful and fully present and being present requires committing to a rigorous path of development and action; they go hand in hand where one without the other can never be wholeness.

There are a few disciplines I follow pretty diligently that enable me to access “wholeness” in any given week: (I hit and miss, but when I do these things, it makes a big difference in my experience of life and the outcomes I create)

1. A practice of meditation and prayer


2. Physical exercise that acts as a clearing and cleansing


3. Consciously deciding to see people as real people versus things or objects; in the way, slowing me down, means to an end, to be managed, here for me and my needs, etc. (You'd be surprised by how often we can slip into seeing people as objects when it comes to projects and tasks!)


4. Regularly engaging in development and feedback that emerges the un-awakened me, allowing me to see my “blind spots” and staying open to it without justification


5. Slowing down and working hard to keep my plate not quite full (or not too full) so that I can pay attention and be present in the unexpected things that always come.
   
6. Reminding myself that things generally work out for the best; no need to control or wring my hands, I just need to stay awake, stay with it, not become attached to the outcome and see it through.
   

I look forward to learning from you about the yin-yang of wholeness. Keep the dialogue going and be awake!