Freedom in the Little Things

Have I always known?

Like many, I can have what many call an addictive personality. However, my control issues tend to override this. If I really enjoy something, I tend to become alerted to the potential power something could have over me.

It has been like this for as long as I can remember.

This morning as I was reading on detachment my awareness was drawn to the coffee beside me. Slowly the awareness unfolded. We think of attachment often as big things like addiction, but attachment is really about senses and how they create our expectations and compulsions. Drinking a cup of coffee that you enjoy is fine. Needing to drink it is not. Whether that need is because of the outcome of drinking caffeine or the habit that changes your mood if you can’t have it; you, the Self, is not in control, your senses are, and they are directing your mind and your body.

Life is meant to be experienced, all of it. It is not about be in a constant state of joy or euphoria, it is about experiencing life while maintaining calm. 

I used to drink pots of coffee. Then I drank Red bull, lots of it. My body started negatively reacting to it, so I cut back. However, I still needed my morning coffee, or it would have an affect on my day. 

Today I realized that at some point recently I stopped being attached to my coffee as well as the outcome of drinking it. How many other places in my life can I take this lesson and create a new reality? Where else to I get pulled into reacting rather than calmly responding? Not to worry, I am aware there is more work to be done.

What is one place in your life that you recognize is controlling you?

Often, meditation, which is really deep concentration, helps us become aware while helping us hold our seat and not react. It is training, training the Self to be aware of the senses, mind, and body without participating in their drama. This is the first step towards true freedom, a step towards truly living!

My greatest value is freedom. My greatest wish is freedom for all.

Dawn Elgin | Conscious Empowerment Coach & Thought Noticer & Experiencer