Simplify your life

“Only in complete silence will you hear the desert.”

– Bedouin Proverb

Over the past few months I’ve been chasing my health.
And that is exactly it: I’ve been chasing it. The obvious did not occur to me: Simplicity.
I certainly have to keep a diet, but I was doing too much again. I tried healers, acupuncture, etc. The list is large. Nothing seemed to help. Even ayurveda and its ancient science did not aid. So I said to myself that I needed to stop and to take a look at what is going on inside of me.
And what I realized is that I’ve been DOING too much again. It stressed out the system. I should know better than that as I’ve been there before. I have been chasing phantoms that only exist in my own conscience.
It all boils down to bare essentials: Rest and good food.

I also realized about myself (and this has been an ongoing thing over the past few years) that too many possessions and responsibilities really stress me out. They always have. It is just my set-up in this lifetime. The more I have the worse it gets. Even though I give away things periodically, somehow stuff accumulates again. By now I do not buy any clothes anymore. I feel that I need to wear everything I got and when that is done then I can buy new clothes. We are such a consumer oriented society that it’s hard to not fall into the trap.

But what bugged me the most about this period, was that my worrying mind had come back. It started with little things like worrying about work, what am I going to do next? Then it went on to other things, etc. It was a downward spiral and before I knew it, I was spiraling into thinking too much. Even here I should know better. I have meditated so much over the last years and have been trying to be in the now, it should not even be a thing anymore, but apparently it is.
Meaning, it boils down to a lack of faith, which also I should have. I’ve seen so many miracles happen over the last six years especially that it should be an easy thing to have. Faith. No, the mind seems to have its own wayward ways and now I need to spend time again to just tune into that peace that is inherent in every human being.

And so the journey of simplifying life even more continues. You should try it. It will take a burden off of you.

I want to die like the beggar that Attar encountered who just said: “ALLAH” and then died. That’s it. He did not need to settle his inheritance or his belongings. He just died peacefully when he decided that it was his time.
For this, one needs complete peace without the disturbances of the mind.
And that can only be had when one is at peace with oneself in all of life’s circumstances.

Have you encountered peace yet?


Vanessa