For the worried, the stressed, the overwhelmed, the lonely, the displaced, the desperate, the sick, the heartbroken, the confused, the paralyzed, the angry, the lost, the human, I created and offer this meditation. My hope is that reading it, re-reading it when necessary, and passing it on to others will be a powerful and very positive intense experience for you.
I accept responsibility for my human being, because only I am responsible, but I take comfort in and rejoice that I am so much more.
As such:
I am not the circumstances around me.
Where I believe I can make a positive impact on the circumstances, I will try. Where I cannot change circumstances, I will accept that they are so, and how they impact my own circumstances is so. But I will not let them bring me down. Instead I will rise above them, as they are not me.
I am not my money.
And the gain and loss of my money is not me. I respect the good that money can help do, but I also recognize its limitations and how easily it can cause harm to others and to me. I will control my money to the best of my ability, but whether I gain or lose it, I will never let it take control of me.
I am not my possessions.
The material goods in my life include tools that can help me do and achieve things, and ornaments that can make me feel a certain way. But while I may choose to assign symbolic value to some of these things, I realize they are all still mere things, mere dust, but I am so much more.
I am not my job.
I may love the work I do, or my job may only be a stepping-stone, but either way it is still just something I do. It may nourish me, it may help others, but I am now and always will be far greater than the work that I do.
I am not my relationships.
Though they may be the nearest and dearest part of my human life, and though I seek to guide and learn from and share with and stand by them, in our humanness the people I love are not me. I am not the thoughts, hopes, desires, intentions, perceptions nor the actions of my spouse, children, parents, siblings, or friends. I cannot control their thoughts and choices, nor can they control mine. The only control I have is over me.
I am not my emotions.
I may feel joy, excitement, and other positive emotions, and I am grateful when I do. I may feel fear, anger and other challenging emotions, and I accept when I do. But because I am not my emotions, I know that only I have the power to let these emotions linger and influence my thoughts and actions, or to let go of the emotions so they do not.
I am not my actions.
But I am responsible for my actions. Where I have a choice of actions, I can only try my best to make the right choices. And where I make mistakes in my choices, I will acknowledge them, try to learn from them and forgive myself. And I will seek to atone for the impact of my mistakes on others, and seek their forgiveness.
I am not the actions of others that impact me.
I can hope their actions are done with the best of intentions, but I am not responsible if their actions are instead done out of envy, greed, anger, fear or other negative emotions. I am responsible for accepting if they are so, for trying my best to guide, and for forgiving and letting go if they are so. But I am not responsible that they are so.
I am not my body.
I am not my skin, blood and bones. I am not my fat, my baldness, my scars, or my illness. I am not my body’s desires. I am not my appearance. But I accept responsibility for controlling my body’s desires, and I accept responsibility for doing my best to respect my body, as it and it alone is what houses me in this human state.
I am not my genetics.
If a part of my human being is fixed and preordained, I accept both the gifts and challenges I have been given therein. But part of my human being is most certainly driven by choices, and so I will try my best using my wisdom and courage to make the best choices where I am able.
I am not my thoughts.
I recognize that my thoughts have the power to open doors or create barriers for me in this human form, and so I will do my best to manage the direction of my thoughts. But though their range and influence may seem immense, still they are only human thoughts, with human limits, whereas I am unlimited.
I am not my past.
Anything I have done or that has been done is done. I can choose to learn from it, I can choose to atone for it and seek forgiveness for it, and I can choose to cherish it. But I cannot change it, so I will not let it hold me. I will not let time hold me at all, as I am beyond that mere invention. The only moment to do and be is now, so now is where I am.
I am that which existed before, during and after this body, these events, these relations, and this place. That which exists beyond time and space.
In my flesh, my thoughts, my choices, my relations, my humanness, I am anything but perfect. But at my core, in my spirit, I am perfect. As we all are.
And though I cherish this human life, and this temporary body and family I am in, and I am committed to trying my best for all others and myself out of that love, I know I have nothing to lose.
Because I have been given the gift of this eternal spirit. Because I am my spirit.
I am pure, I am whole, I am God’s, I am the universe, I am grateful.
I am love.
And I have nothing to fear.
Everything is ultimately good.
And so it will be.
Brian Vaszily is the creator and voice of The 9 Intense Experiences, and the founder and editor of IntenseExperiences.com (get your free 126-page eBook by Brian Vaszily, The 23 Secrets to Achieve Deep Happiness, now. )
wonderful piece of thought.
Brian:
Thank you for this beautiful meditation, it is one I will cherish for a long time. Love, Greg
Thank you so much for this writing! I read it at just the right time in my life. You have inspired me deeply.
superb piece of writing, and thinking.
Hi Brian,
I enjoyed this article and read it through the eyes of someone who is often, 'too busy' with 'important stuff'… I thought you might like this story which was recently sent to me by a friend:
"A Violinist in the Metro – Something to Think About
A man sat at a metro station in Washington DC and started to play the violin it was a cold January morning. He played six Bach pieces for about 45 minutes. During that time, since it was rush hour, it was calculated that thousands of people went through the station, most of them on their way to work.
Three minutes went by and a middle aged man noticed there was musician playing. He slowed his pace and stopped for a few seconds and then hurried up to meet his schedule. A minute later, the violinist received his first dollar tip: a woman threw the money in the till and without stopping continued to walk.
A few minutes later, someone leaned against the wall to listen to him, but the man looked at his watch and started to walk again. Clearly he was late for work. The one who paid the most attention was a 3 year old boy. His mother tagged him along, hurried but the kid stopped to look at the violinist. Finally the mother pushed hard and the child continued to walk turning his head all the time. This action was repeated by several other children. All the parents, without exception, forced them to move on.
In the 45 minutes the musician played, only 6 people stopped and stayed for a while. About 20 gave him money but continued to walk their normal pace. He collected $32. When he finished playing and silence took over, no one noticed it. No one applauded, nor was there any recognition.
No one knew this but the violinist was Joshua Bell, one of the best musicians in the world. He played one of the most intricate pieces ever written with a violin worth 3.5 million dollars.
Two days before his playing in the subway, Joshua Bell sold out at a theater in Boston and the seats averaged $100.
This is a true story. Joshua Bell playing incognito in the metro station was organized by the Washington Post as part of an social experiment about perception, taste and priorities of people. The outlines were: in a commonplace environment at an inappropriate hour: Do we perceive beauty? Do we stop to appreciate it? Do we recognize the talent in an unexpected context?
One of the possible conclusions from this experience could be: If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world playing the best music ever written, how many other things are we missing?"
best wishes,
Richard
http://www.lifechoicemeditation.com
Brian,
Thank you for sharing your wisdom that is seeking to reflect the higher self – the nobility in each sentence expressed, truly the speech of the Soul
I shall repeat the following response that I had written earlier relating to another posts since this is sharing the similar ideology
You are seeking to show the pathway that is illuminated and within each and every one of us; encouraging us to be aware; recognize the pathways for what they mean and their purposefulness instead of simply going about aimlessly or even with a aim that is partially aware and feels that the knowledge obtained is adequate to traverse through this lifetime
You are truly expressing the voice of the Soul; the voice of Wisdom; the voice of meaningful intentionality
There is immense power in this expression since it is noble and does not need anything; it has everything
The voice seeks to empower others with the gift of awareness, for each one of us to recognize the immense power that resides within each one of us and utilize it meaningfully
Where it relates to the Soul and Nature, they are continually communicating; some of us pause for a moment to reflect upon this dialogue and then seek to express what we learn as you have nobly done on this instance
Some others are seeking verifications – proof – evidence from the dialogue – Nature or the Soul do not have to provide any evidence, they are subject to their own laws and functionalisms
So until we do not reciprocate the method in which we need to humbly acknowledge and deliver the goodness across, whether in thought or deed, then we are aimlessly drifting although from a worldly point of view, we are appearing to be thriving; prospering
Thriving, Accumulating and Prospering? Acclaiming and Achieving what? This is the essence of life to recognize our higher purpose in life and trust its meaningfulness
It is appreciated that you took the initiative to put this article forth and I am confident that it will reach across to millions of people and benefit them tremendously, please keep up the good work, it is of great value
I would also wish to express the following that
The voice of the Soul is speaking gracefully with Nature; it knows what is best for us
The Soul knows what are our "needs" and what are our wants
The needs are given privilege and predominant precedence – priority always
It is a matter of perspective, the more we resist, the more any aspect of life persists
Whereas when we hand over the reigns – the control, we know that the trust we are having in Nature and its dialogue with the Soul has its own agenda of unfolding; at its own pace and time
Nothing can be simply rushed – accelerated simply to suit one's preference, it is a matter of Hope, Faith, Trust and Wisdom
Further, the following excerpt from your post is indeed very true:-
_________________________
Quote from your post:-
"Because I have been given the gift of this eternal spirit. Because I am my spirit.
I am pure, I am whole, I am God
This is exactly the process of eliminating what you are not until you come to a point when you meet with your real self. This is called Neti Neti in Jyana yoga, which means I am not this, not this. Very nice article. Thanks a lot for posting it.