The Strong Within Affirmation Podcast
Education:Self-Improvement
401 I Make Everyday Feel Like Payday | February 2018 Monday Week 2
Mindful Mondays-#401 February 5th The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast
I Make Everyday Feel Like Payday
“Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.” ~Mark Twain
A young man left the life he knew in order to study the ways of Zen. He decided that he needed a master to teach him the ways of mastery. He traveled many miles seeking for the answers. And upon his journey he came to wild river of great depth and width. One he was unsure of, in how to cross.
He was distraught after almost a year of non-stop travel and obstacles upon every turn of his journey; just when he thought he conquered one obstacle a bigger one appeared. The young man felt tired and weary knowing that there was no easy way to cross, and he’d probably have to go many more miles to find another way around this massive raging river. As he looked for a way to cross, he felt a heaviness inside him. And he asked himself if he had made any real progress, as he still hadn’t found a master to guide him.
Just as he was about to give up, and find another way down the river, he saw a Zen monk on the other side of the river. And so he yelled to the other side and said, “Oh venerable sage, can you tell me how to get to the other side?”
The Zen monk remained quiet, as he carefully looked up and down the river before finally yelling back, “My brother, you already are on the other side.”
We spend so much of our lives wishing to be on the other side of where we are, that we don’t realize we are already where we need to be. We spend so much time looking at what we don’t have that we miss what we do have. Which then keeps us blinded from seeing that what we wanted was already within our possession.
There’s this illusion that something better is on the other side. The grass is greener over the there, it’s 5 o’clock somewhere, or that peace and the answers are on the other side of our raging rivers. Yet, we search endlessly and waste our time and our lives chasing after something that we already have or could obtain easily.
I was listening to a very knowledgeable man on many religions, some time ago and he was talking about Zen, and that most think it takes years to master. He went on to say if you believe it takes many years of mastery then you make that your truth. But real Zen, is knowing that it can be mastered in a moment. That complete peace can be found right this instant if you stop looking for something else and know it’s already within.
We are like the young traveler trying to find our way to the other side because it holds the answers…or so we think. And maybe that’s where we get stuck within the illusion that what we seek…whether it be peace, wisdom, or happiness—that to have it—we must hold it within our grasp. And like a wisp of smoke, you try to hold onto something that evades your pursuit to capture it. Those great truths are not to be held so tightly we strangle them. We must open our hands and know that the thing we pursue is not something to horde and keep for ourselves, but to open our grasp and to let it be free—to share it with the world. Because what we try to keep only evades us, as you can’t force your hand closed on something you already have. You can’t grip tight enough to keep it in you…for all you will be doing is crushing your bones as you grip tighter. Think of it like a child, the harder you try to grip and hold on…then the more you push it away.
We spend our lives waiting for Friday. Every week we look forward to having that payday in our pockets so we can purchase the things we don’t have, so we can distract ourselves from the mishappenings that we’re annoyed and bothered by within our lives.
And I love a payday as much as anyone else. It feels great to know you’ve been rewarded for the work you’ve put into the world. But we keep thinking that a payday is only one day, and so we always come up short and feel an eternal sense of lack in our lives.
But what if you were to think on a more cosmic scale of the Universe's payday for you? What if you were to remember that another day of waking up is your lottery? What if you were to count every eye blink as another payout from the cash machine of life? What if you were to count the hugs and handshakes of those around you as the gold in your safety deposit box being opened up? And what if you were to think of kind words and compliments said to yourself, like butterflies landing on your arm—as you stop to marvel at how magnificent it feels, to be part of this miracle.
Like that young seeker in the story earlier, we spend years looking for something. We hope to find a master, a treasure chest, or the answers outside of ourselves. And I do believe we need to connect outside of ourselves for a richer life, but what if we stopped seeing the outside world as our treasure chest, and began seeing the riches already within us…how differently do you think you’d live your life?
Every day is a payday. But until you realize you are the one already holding the check, in every moment, you will continuously be pursuing things, trying to hold on for dear life, as you chase it away and even smother it from your life. So let’s count every blink as a payout, let’s count every moment as a gift of enormous measures, and let’s find the peace in each moment knowing it’s always been our choice to be a part of it…or to decide there was something lacking within it all. Because peace, love, happiness, and wealth are all of the same DNA. And they all, are within every moment, if we only step back and see that the Universe is giving us an enormous lottery of winnings in each moment we decide to be a part of.
Today’s Personal Commitment:
What is a situation in your life that you’ve been wanting to happen, but it either feels too far away or feels like it never will happen. Write down all the reasons your goal or goals haven’t happened.
Once you write down why it hasn’t happened or why it won’t happen, write down why you may already be on the correct side of the river with that goal. What if you looked at the goal differently, and you were already at the goal, how would that be possible?
Now that may sound confusing, but a lot of goal setting isn’t about the time in getting there…it’s about the person you decide to become before you reach the goal. It’s not this linear line of if I do this then I’ll get that and then if I do that I’ll then get this…it’s about becoming the person who would most embody the characteristics to make that goal more likely to happen for them.
So today, I want you to begin seeing your goals and yourself differently. Not as seeing the goals on the other side of the river, but both you and your goals on the same side. When we change how we see ourselves and who we have to become before the goal…things become very different…and goals become not only more manageable…but also more likely.
I Make Everyday Feel Like Payday
Thanks for listening. I'm sending great energy your way as we become Strong Within together, Personal Development Life Coach- Chris O'Hearn
Contact info- email: chris@strongwithin.com phone:865-219-3247
Music by: - Zest by basematic (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. - I Have Often Told You Stories (guitar instrumental) by Ivan Chew (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Location: Knoxville, Tennessee USA but available worldwide
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