Dear Diary,<\/p>\n
In this, The Mindfulness Monologues, \u00a0I have found joy to be passive.\u00a0 Joy is not something to be pursued but experienced by being present in the moment.\u00a0 The Joy of Being is available to everyone willing to stop looking too far down the road and instead enjoy what is around them here and now.\u00a0 I’ve been writing about several interconnected experiences:\u00a0 forgiveness, identity, guilt, shame, and anger, but where does all that lead?\u00a0 My recent writings revolve around actions.\u00a0 I’ve written about the pressure to do something or dealing with the consequences of actions already done.\u00a0 Actions, if done correctly, lead to non-action.\u00a0 We put in the work to be able to enjoy the fruits of our labor.<\/p>\n
What is non-action?\u00a0 In short, non-action revolves around allowing the various movements of the world to happen without our (attempt at) influence.\u00a0 For example,\u00a0 I put seeds out for the birds as an action and then sit peacefully while the birds come and go as they will.\u00a0 I sit present with them, not judging them, and let the passive emotion of joy emerge organically.\u00a0 It is safe to say most of us desire to be joyful, but we are the net that holds us back.\u00a0 Joy, being a passive experience, comes when nothing else impedes its rise from the essence of our being.\u00a0 When we aren’t present in the moment,\u00a0 we block the emergence of joy by getting lost in our minds and experiencing other emotions due to our judgments.<\/p>\n
How do we take the actions needed to cease acting?\u00a0 We live with intention.\u00a0 We strip away the walls we’ve built over time and open a pathway to our inner core through mindfulness and meditation.\u00a0\u00a0 We learn to listen to the ever-present inner voice and act according to our true nature.\u00a0\u00a0 We can move in those directions by obtaining a greater understanding of who we are and yearn to be. \u00a0We develop a sense of our needs and can begin to be compassionate towards ourselves.\u00a0 We need not dwell on ourselves to understand if we’re where we want to be; we already know that through all our decisions.<\/p>\n
How do we know our intentions are good ones to achieve or maintain?\u00a0 We know because joy will arise as a result of our decisions.\u00a0 Perhaps we intend to sit with a cup of tea and enjoy the breeze.\u00a0 Are we content at that moment just to be?\u00a0 If our inner voice draws our attention away, is it a call to practice meditation and return our attention to the present, or are we learning that what we thought our intentions were is not the answer?\u00a0 After some physical exercise,\u00a0 are we grateful towards ourselves for putting in the work, or are we miserable?\u00a0 Do the same goals consistently enter our minds, or was it a passing whim?\u00a0 We know the answers if we are willing to listen.\u00a0 Do we have the courage to change when we remain dissatisfied?\u00a0 Dissatisfaction will lead to grades of anger and sadness,\u00a0 thus blocking joy from swelling up.<\/p>\n
Intention does not require action.\u00a0 If we’ve accomplished what needs to be done,\u00a0 it is ok to let things be and enjoy it.\u00a0 For example,\u00a0 I intend to enjoy my music to its fullest.\u00a0 I need to push play and let the songs play; the rest takes care of itself; I need not act.\u00a0 I intend to live more and worry less.\u00a0 I will, inevitably, need to tell myself or someone else ‘no’ when prompted to engage in something that I know will be off-putting.\u00a0 By allowing myself to engage in non-action, I remain aligned with my intentions and not get pulled off course.<\/p>\n
Change is all I’ve ever known, truly.\u00a0 As a child, my environment changed regularly through moving from place to place.\u00a0 I carried the nomadic lifestyle until my late 20s where I settled down where I remain today.\u00a0 Coming to terms with PTSD and Bi-Polar disorder meant I was in a consistent state of change.\u00a0 Unfortunately,\u00a0 I spent most of my 30s denying I had limitations to observe and respect.\u00a0 As an aware and compassionate being,\u00a0 I wanted to combat injustice on all scales;\u00a0 I wanted to manifest change from others.\u00a0 After years of failing, my intentions began to shift after being broken and desperate.\u00a0 All I ever wanted was to atone for my actions.\u00a0 I wanted forgiveness from those I’d never again meet but was unwilling to forgive myself.\u00a0 Atonement, however, isn’t possible.\u00a0\u00a0 We can’t change the past, only make different decisions as we advance down the path.\u00a0 We can be forgiven.<\/p>\n
Forgiveness relieves the burden of change.\u00a0 If we no longer feel obligated to change,\u00a0 we can focus on living with intention.\u00a0 Our intentions guide our decisions in regards to when and how to act.\u00a0 When we have worked sufficiently,\u00a0 being present in the moment will answer whether we are on the right path.\u00a0 Joy will arise from our inner cores as we have the time and space to feel it.\u00a0 Joy is not something requiring us to sit cross-legged with our eyes closed; Joy can be experienced through any activity matching our intentions when we are present in it.\u00a0 The smiles we see from people engaging with what they love are genuine, and we can also attain that positive energy.\u00a0 Be honest with your obstacles to joy, and live with intention to remove them;\u00a0 you are worth it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Dear Diary, In this, The Mindfulness Monologues, \u00a0I have found joy to be passive.\u00a0 Joy is not something to be pursued but experienced by being present in the moment.\u00a0 The Joy of Being is available to everyone willing to stop looking too far down the road and instead enjoy what is around them here and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[304,337],"tags":[312,316,319],"class_list":["post-28140","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dear-diary","category-the-mindfulness-journey","tag-312","tag-forgiveness","tag-joy"],"yoast_head":"\n