By Tara-jenelle Walsch
You know that feeling you get when you want something and then suddenly realize that you already have it? It’s like a cheap thrill when you remember, “Ohhh yea!” And for just a few seconds, you’re filled with unexpected delight. It could be something as small as remembering you have an ingredient for a recipe while shopping; “Wait a minute, I have blueberries in the freezer—great!”
Or something larger like remembering you have a resource available that will save you money; “Oh that’s right, Robert has a pick-up truck! He can help me.”
Or possibly something even bigger, like rediscovering an aspect of yourself that will enhance your life; “Oh will you look at that, I had inner harmony all along.”
When this kind of sudden occurrence leads you to rediscovering an aspect of yourself like in the last example, it can be especially rewarding as you realize that you don’t have to find, learn or create something that can enrich your life—because it’s already part of who you are!
It’s an essential part of our spiritual path to remember who we are and all that we encompass. We read books and attend workshops to help us identify and unite with those parts of ourselves again so that we can reactivate them.
One thing that we universally strive for is a sense of peace and inner harmony, regardless of whether we consider ourselves “happy.” The interesting thing is that we’re usually not even aware of the striving until we begin to feel troubled or unhappy, because those emotions act as a mirror showing us the exact opposite of what we desire At that point we may get anxious, sad or frustrated because we think that our current situation is pulling us further away from “everything coming together.” We may even start to resist the actual experience we’re in and scurry around making plans, goals, and lists to get out of the present moment and back to the path we think we should be on.
But what most of us don’t realize is that this is our path. Our path isn’t out there in front of us, waiting for us to hop on—we are already riding the wave. From this view point we can also see that we are already in harmony with life. Inner harmony is the energetic base camp of the soul. And we needn’t waste time seeking it by trying to find the “right” path, but rather we can adjust our focus towards returning to it, and the path will present itself more clearly.
This is the first step towards returning to our innate place of peace; realizing that it is already within us. The second step would be to recognize that any lack of harmony we are experiencing is not because of the situation we’re in, but rather, a result of our reaction to that situation.
Life can be filled with hardship, and some of us have a much larger share than others, but we all have the choice to guide the direction of our thoughts and feelings back to peace. A Buddhist will tell you that harmony is achieved from the inside, regardless of our external circumstances.
This isn’t always easy to do on a consistent basis, even for the most conscious. And it may be especially difficult to do when it feels like there’s a lot at stake. This leads us to the third step towards returning to our innate place of peace, which is to gently notice that more often than not, the things that we think are “at stake” or deem as consequential as a result of a particular situatio n, are illusions created by our mind (something not easily detectable when we’re in the midst of it all).
A great way to bring these illusions to your attention is to really feel your emotions and express them in some way, privately to yourself. Even if you think it’s ridiculous. The process itself will immediately allow you to feel seen and heard, by you. After you move through the intensity of your emotions like this, you’ll notice that you’ve also moved over to the other side of them. This realization creates a sense of accomplishment that pulls you far enough out of the emotion for you to gain new perspective of the situation. It’s then that the illusions are revealed and you take a sigh of relief.
But it takes courage for us to acknowledge ourselves like this, and it takes trust to know that we will return to harmony if we allow ourselves to continuously feel uncomfortable emotions. For most of us, it’s natural to be present and listen to others, but rarely do we offer ourselves the same grace. And just as ignoring or disagreeing with another while they are trying to share leaves them feeling unheard—so, too, does it leave us inside when we ignore our own feelings.
Personally, I’m no stranger to getting lost in illusions that have pulled me out of my inner harmony. But this process is my savior and always brings me home without shame or sorrow.
In one of my darker moments, a dear friend of mine once shared his route to inner harmony which I have now added to the end of my personal process. Every night before he falls asleep he “cherry picks” his thoughts by intentionally thinking of a few wonderful things and feeling gratitude for them. He says,
“Cherry pick your thoughts…and your feelings. Hold the good ones close.”
It doesn’t take Buddhism or having decades of accumulated wisdom behind you to trust that your process will lead you to inner harmony. The next time that you find yourself in a circumstance that you are resisting, give yourself the unexpected delight of remembering that you already have harmony, right now. You are harmony, on a soul level. Return to this and respond to life from it, then watch it light up your path.
Inner Harmony Roadmap
1. Remember that you already have inner harmony.
2. Lack of harmony is a result of your reaction to a situation.
3. Notice the illusions your mind creates to support disharmony.
4. Acknowledge yourself by feeling into the illusions anyway and expressing those feelings to yourself in some way.
5. Watch as this takes you to the other side of the emotion and the illusions are revealed.
6. Cherry pick some positive thoughts to feel into gratitude.
Are you in a soul quandary? Feel free to ask Tara-jenelle for courageous insight. Submit your question to www.theedenmagazine.com
Tara-jenelle Walsch is a monthly columnist for the Eden Magazine. She is the author of the book, Soul Courage, and the founder and spirit behind the Soulebrate greeting card company. You will also find her speaking publicly about emotional and energetic awareness, and a sacred formula which she believes has the ability to enrich the world at large. Tara-jenelle was raised in Annapolis, Maryland and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications from Towson University in Baltimore. She currently lives in the beautiful hills of Ashland, Oregon with her pug, Sascha.
www.soulcourage.com
