How I Became Aware

One of my first really big insights came when I read Fritz Perls’ little gem of a book, Gestalt Therapy Verbatim. He wrote that simple awareness can often be curative. What a brilliant perspective on life: if only I could become more aware, I might be able to solve a whole lot of my “problems.”

Shortly thereafter, I heard Eric Hoffer say, “You can never get enough of what you don’t really need to make you happy.” That one got me thinking about all the “things” I had been focused on and how little they actually mattered once I had created them. Awareness indeed began to unfold and it became increasingly clear that what really mattered was the quality of my life experience much more than the quantity of worldly possessions.

The third leg of the stool showed up one day on the strike lines at UC Berkeley when I picked up a tear gas canister to throw it back and heard myself screaming “why don’t you a******* love us?” Boom! Instant awareness! My purpose was peace, love and caring and my strategy was to yell, scream and throw things!

Since those days in the early 1970’s, my life experience has been informed by the choices I make that come from loving and caring, as well as from the choices that I also make that move me away from that same loving and caring.

As I have discovered, the loving, the peace and caring is always present with me and within me. The challenge is that I am not always present with the peace, the loving and the caring.

I challenge myself each and every day to choose the loving, to choose the peace, and to choose gratitude, even when the circumstances don’t seem to line up with peace, loving or gratitude.

Not too surprisingly, what often seems like a roadblock, an obstruction or a bit of bad fortune actually turns out to be a gift in disguise. Spirit sometimes has to wrestle your limitations away from you so the greater gifts can appear.

So, my guidance for you is to remember the following, which I try every day to remember myself:

• God loves all of Its creation, including me
• Remember we are each divine – seek the divinity in others
• There is balance and perfection in all things
• Every day is another opportunity to become more of who I already am
• Peace is present

Blessings to you!