Do what you love

Imagine we could really influence the reality of our bodies, our lives, our planet and all we have to do is exactly what we all want to do, with all our being, all the time - love!

Everyday Buddhist practitioners cultivate compassion in meditation. They send love into the furthest reaches of the universe, starting with their own bodies. Recently, scientists are coming close to proving that this practice actually has an influence on physical reality.

Nowadays, the belief that we can have an effect on our bodies with positive thoughts is widely accepted as true. So, to take that belief to the next level wouldn’t be a big stretch.

My question is what are we waiting for to put it into practice?

And, what have we got to lose?

For sure, there are the survival duties to perform, or the responsibilities to our loved ones. But as Kahlil Gibran says, “If you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work.”

Often families are not what we expect and we are not carved out of a model of the perfection ourselves. So we may not live up to each other’s ideas and so we shouldn’t. Sometimes, help, hospitality and affection comes from friends or even strangers when we need it.

It would be better for me to leave the care of a relative to a neighbour, who would be delighted to be of service, rather than do it with a reluctant heart.

We need to exercise more caution with the words “should” and “have to”. When we use these words, often we are giving away our power.

Everything we do is a choice. There are some choices that have become so ingrained in us that we don’t see them as choices anymore. But they are, and the great thing about choices is that we can change them.

Sometimes these words are used as excuses that maintain us at an acceptable level of self pity. “I have to do this job even though I hate it, because I have to pay the bills.” How about choosing to do this job because I choose to pay my bills? Or, choosing to spend my lunch break looking for another job. Or, taking on a room mate so they can share the bills. Or, doing what I love whatever the cost?

“If we are not here to do, what you and I want to do, and go forever crazy with it, why the hell we are even here?” (Gogol Bordello)

So, what do you choose to do or not do?