For Contentment Tap Into Mother Nature
Last month I talked about
The Rush to Nowhere. Many of you responded with your own experiences and frustration with a culture that is rushing toward unnamed goals while missing core values and inner peace. We have become a nation of seekers, knowing vaguely that something is missing. We read self-help books; we practice yoga; we seek the counsel of monks and holy men; we pop pills and we spend huge sums of money at spas and retreats. Most of these have some benefit. Yet what I believe we all seek, contentment, is available to all of us everyday, and it's free!
Contentment flows from wisdom and simplicity. We reach for contentment, but it proves illusive. Perhaps we look in the wrong place. We think with all our technology and know-how, we must have a cure for restlessness and angst. We make life way too hard, and way too complicated, so complicated that we forget to take advantage of the wisdom and simplicity that surrounds us in nature. The lessons are there. The trick is to strip away the layers of our complex world in order to think simply. Are you willing to give it a try?
Applying Nature's Lessons
Thinking in simple terms is easier said than done. If you don't believe me, ask yourself or someone else what he or she REALLY wants. Most of us have only a vague answer. We are overwhelmed by options, or by what we think we should want, or what someone close to us may want. Contentment lies in being able strip away our outdated beliefs and patterns, and in having the wisdom to find our core selves in all our unique simplicity.
Here's a chance to try out one of Mother Nature's lessons: Take a stroll outside, or slip into a hammock. Look at the buds of spring. Notice that there are many petals tightly wrapped around the stamen. The bud is ready to burst with possibility. As summer progresses the bud unfolds and gradually its outer petals fall away. In autumn only the stamen, the bud's inner core, remains. That stamen is the essence of the plant.
What lesson can we learn from this natural phenomenon? One nice thing about the Mother Nature's lessons is that we all get to create our own interpretations. To me those petals are what we experience, the ups and downs of life, our ambitions, our beliefs, our trial and error. Gradually we shed our outdated protective layers, until we are able to arrive at our essence, our true values, that which gives us meaning and purpose. We need to be thinking often about our core values, because by honoring them we lead authentic and happy lives.
What Lessons Have You Observed?
Have you ever watched a seagull flapping its wings into a strong headwind while standing still? What happens? Invariably the gull realizes the futility of its effort, tilts sideways and soars off on an updraft in a slightly different direction. Have you ever thought about the lesson in adaptability the gull has to teach? Have you ever wasted months or years attempting something you couldn't accomplish, yet by letting go or changing your perspective gained an even better result? That's my interpretation; what's yours?
What about the ebb and flow of the tide? Do you consider and find comfort from knowing that our own ups and downs, our relationships, indeed our economic cycles mimic that eternal pendulum? To quote Anne Morrow Lindbergh, "…each cycle of the tide is valid; each cycle of the wave is valid; each cycle of a relationship is valid…the sea recedes and returns eternally.
Now it's your turn. We are so intertwined with our natural world that these lessons are available every time we look out the window. What is required is the habit of looking, really looking, and thinking about what we see. Here are a few ideas to get you going: What can you learn from clouds, from birds, from the wind, from the seasons, from the weeds in your garden? Try this with your children or grandchildren too. You'll be amazed by their simple wisdom.
What I want for each of you this summer is contentment. The natural world is yours to explore. What you learn will comfort you every season of the year. Enjoy!
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