What if our lives our defined not by what we do but by the questions we ask ourselves? Today I am alone. I am alone. In a tiny hotel room with tartan curtains and a view of the fire escape. It is 5.30 in the morning. And yet the first question to enter my mind is still “what do I have to do today?” Usually, that question would bring a whole litany of answers and the tone for the day would be set. By 5.31am I would be aware that there was too much to do and too little time to do it and the day would become a list of “have to’s”. So what if I choose a different question? What if I choose “what would I like to do today? What would I like to do right now? Small pleasures begin to creep in… It’s 5.30, I have time. I can curl up in a bed with a cup of tea and a good book. I can have a bath before breakfast filled with the beautiful scent of my Weleda goodies. I don’t HAVE TO meditate if I don’t feel like it. Perhaps I can find God through pleasure, through delight, through gratitude for the warm bath and the sunlight streaming through the windows? Perhaps this is where (s)he would like to join me, rather than in a meditation born of “have to”.
What would my days at home look like if I were to ask different questions? If my question were “what would I like to do” would I look at my sleeping child with pleasure before gently waking her rather than seeing it as just another chore waiting to be done? Would I choose to get out of bed because I would like to take my time rather than feeling obligated because someone else has set a deadline for me? Life might feel more free, less weighed down by obligation and responsibility. “I choose” is powerful. “I must” is not. I want to hang large pictures of question marks all over my house to remind me to ask different questions. What gives me pleasure? What feels good in my body right now? What would I like? What nurtures me, uplifts me, inspires me? Who am I when I feel those qualities in my life?
What about you? What answers arise within your body, your mind, your heart as you ask yourselves those questions? Do you feel free to choose? Or do you have a list of musts and should? Challenge your thoughts, challenge your patterns and see what emerges. It might be fun. It might be pleasure.
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