“Who are you that is lost and trying to build a concept of yourself in order to be found? This question represents the essence of spirituality. You will never find yourself in what you have built to define yourself. You’re the one who’s doing the building.”
– Michael Singer
Over the past decade or so, I admit that I’ve frequently fallen into the FMT (“Finding Myself Trap”). This is the trap that contains the following statement:
If only I had a _____, I’d be happy.
Recently I’ve been filling the FMT statement with the words: better paying job. But do I truly believe that if I had a better paying job, all of my problems would go away? Would I be happy each and every day?
Of course not.
Where I am or what I do doesn’t determine my happiness. It is what I feel in my heart and what I know to be true.
What I’ve come to realize through the practice of yoga and mediation is that we do not ever find ourselves. Because the reality is: we are not lost. We are where we are meant to be and our perceptions of our situations, surroundings, and emotions are simply blocks that we have built ourselves. At times, these blocks we have built are skyscraper-tall. We can’t see the light and we feel lost in the darkness. Our own darkness.
Should you ever find yourself in the FMT, knock down just one block. How? Stop doing and just be. Take in your surroundings, observe nature, think of what makes you happy. Perhaps the facade that you have built will fall, perhaps it won’t. But soon enough, you will see that light is all around you.
(For more information on Michael (Mickey) Singer and to learn about his yoga and meditation center in Florida, click here.)
Meditate with Maeve 