Musings 
No Comments Living a Conscious Life
Following very thoughtful article was written by Don Johnson. Here is a link to his book, Living a Conscious Life.:
Living a Conscious Life: A Thinking Persons Guide to Peace, Wholeness, and Freedom
I was in Morocco driving my beat-up rental car to play golf, navigating around dozens of 50cc motorbikes, passing the occasional donkey carrying bags of mint. I hoped not to get stopped at the police checkpoints because my license was at home, but despite that I thoroughly enjoyed the ride through the sun-baked, rock-strewn desert southwest of Marrakech.
A thought came into my head — a fragmented piece of memory from the past packaged up as something to be afraid of. I felt anxiety in my body, a calling card of fear. At first, I was puzzled. Where did this come from? Why now?
Then, I remembered what I had learned from the past: Don’t engage with fear. Let it go. Walk away.
I took a few deep breaths and let the thought pass.
Happy days again. Peace in the valley. Let the bells of freedom ring.
Back to dodging potholes, cars on the wrong side of the road, and any errant sheep wandering from the herd.
If you’ve been around for a while, like me (seventy-three now), we’ve been through a lot, you and me — the daily grind of life — the ups and the downs. The wins and the losses. The smiles and the tears. The marriages and the divorces. The happiness and the heartbreak.
When we live with conscious intent, we learn.
Most wisdom results from our life experiences, where we get to know ourselves, our tendencies and triggers, what we’re good at doing, and what we don’t like. We learn to play nice in the sandbox and realize that everyone doesn’t see the world as we do.
As we age, our wisdom accumulates, layer upon layer. We get smarter but don’t flaunt it because we’re more self-contained. We no longer need to prove anything to anyone, so we keep many life lessons to ourselves. We might look frazzled, out of shape, or worn out, but looks are deceiving. It’s what’s inside that counts.
If you’ve been doing the inner work as you age and sorting out your sh*t, you start to mellow — what used to wind you up doesn’t have the same grab on you. You might be more interested in getting rid of stuff than buying more. Maybe you listen more than you talk because you’ve realized that you learn nothing new by speaking.
But along with aging comes new challenges, bringing us to this article’s main point.
What are the new challenges?
Living on a fixed income. Dealing with health issues. Feeling your body tighten up. Taking care of family members. Adjusting to living alone or living with others. Worrying about not having enough money or becoming a burden to your loved ones.
Given that I aim to live a peaceful life, serve others, do work that I enjoy, and maintain my health and inner well-being, there are two things I am committed to keeping out of my life.
The first is fear — fear of what might happen in the future.
A few years ago, I had an out-of-body experience doing Holotropic Breathwork. As I floated around in the cosmos, a spirit voice told me I was fully taken care of and had nothing to worry about—now or ever. Yeah, wow.
It was a powerful reminder of what intuitively I knew, yet it was particularly poignant.
It’s easy to forget that God, guides, spirits, angels or whatever you believe in are looking after us. Life chews on us. Someone we don’t like gets elected. We get a troubling medical report from our doctor. We lose a source of income.
Before you know it, fear is knocking on our door. It wants to get in. It wants to run the show. It looks for a weakness to exploit to establish a permanent residence in you.
Fear is a virus that separates us from ourselves, the present moment, peace and contentment. It makes us brittle and smaller, diminishes our capacity to think rationally, and can erode our health and well-being.
Love and fear can not occupy the same space.
Let go of fear, embrace Love.
That message from the Universe has stuck with me, and if I feel the slightest bit of fear, I remind myself that I have nothing to worry about. And, sometimes, for an extra boost of fun, I’ll invite Bob Marley to the party and sing along while he tells me not to worry about anything and that everything is going to be alright. Three Little Birds, what a fabulous song.
Singing, dancing, and drumming are ancient practices that connect us with our spirit, give us hope, and brighten our lives. I’ve read that when Indigenous people were ill, the first question the village shaman would ask was when they last danced, sang or drummed.
Tired of the talkative mind and dealing with all the chit-chat in your head? Try singing.
You can’t think when you sing. I’m not kidding. Singing puts you into the present like nothing else.
No fear there.
The second thing I don’t allow room for is self-doubt.
For me, self-doubt results from negative self-talk and unresolved or unconscious wounds in the psyche.
Self-doubt manifests in beliefs like:
- I’m not good enough.
- I’m a difficult person.
- My health is in decline.
- I have a crappy life.
- I should have never…
- If only…
Whatever we did in the past is over. There’s nothing we can do about it now. Regrets and wishes about the past are energy drains. What’s more useful is to focus on what you learned and how you grew due to your “mistakes.” (I believe it’s far more productive to think of life experiences as learning opportunities for the future, not mistakes).
Our subconscious has the power to make our beliefs real. If you think and complain that your health is declining, your subconscious hears that and does what it can to make it a reality.
One powerful tool to reframe negative self-talk and old wounds, as you probably know, is affirmations. Sure, they may seem superficial and ridiculous initially, but with practice and time, they will help rewire your neural pathways. I’ve used and continue to use them with remarkable success.
Here are a few:
- My body is a healing machine.
- I’m full of love, light and happiness.
- All of my needs are cared for.
- I’m committed to serving others and sharing my wisdom with the world.
A powerful way to discover what limiting beliefs or negative self-talk, if any, are running in the background of your psyche is to grab a pen and paper and write down what you are afraid of. Look the list over and ask yourself if they are true. Dig deep. If you have any, I bet they’re all future-focused and represent the worst imagined future. If you believe them and build your life around them, you can just as easily accept the opposite.
For example, let’s imagine one thing on your list is that you’re afraid you don’t have enough money. Reframe: I have plenty of money to care of my present and future needs. Try putting that on your cell phone home screen, on a Post-it note on the frig and recite out loud several times a day, every day for a few weeks. What’s the worst that could happen?
I used this example because I know a guy who makes hundreds of thousands of dollars annually. He thinks of his money as a massive pile of cash in his backyard, yet constantly worries that he doesn’t have enough money! Ridiculous!
So, in summary, how can you keep self-doubt and fear out of your life?
Here are four practices that can help.
- Do your best every day. Measure your success not by your achievements but by how you conduct yourself.
- Be present in whatever you’re doing. One thing at a time. No hurrying or multitasking. Keep it simple. Be the observer of your thoughts. Notice any ANTs (automatic negative thoughts), and don’t give them any energy or attention.
- Be grateful for what you have. Remind yourself how fortunate you are. When someone says you’re lucky, acknowledge it and say, “Yes, I’m fortunate and blessed.” We make our own luck.
- Focus on the routines that energize, give you vitality and bring you joy. Forget about what you can’t control.
Thank you so much for reading. Have a wonderful day/evening.
— Don
My new book, Living a Conscious Life: How to Find Peace, Wholeness, and Freedom in a Chaotic World, is now available on Amazon. You can also join my mailing list here and keep in touch.
