SGM April 2017 Weekly Message Two: “How To Know What You Are Here To Do Now”
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Welcome to this week’s edition of Spiritual Growth Monthly. I’m Kevin Schoeninger. It’s great to have you with us here at SGM.
As a member of SGM, you have a certain degree of interest in personal and spiritual growth. There is “something more” that you are looking for and you are willing to at least investigate what lies beyond your normal, everyday habits and routines. You are willing to peek outside your comfort zone and explore what else might be possible for your own life and for life here on Earth.
Not only is this community for those seeking personal and spiritual growth, but it is specifically for those who are ready to do something about it. It’s one thing to enjoy reading about self-improvement or how your life could be better. It is another thing to be willing to do something about it. SGM is for those who want practical tools that make a significant impact on the quality of our lives.
The foundational tool for anything you want to grow in your life is Daily Practice. When you define a Daily Practice, you commit to taking some action every day, no matter how small, to engage in and grow the experiences your soul desires.
Without having a Daily Practice, it’s inevitable that the other demands of your day will fill your day—and you will get to the end of your day without having put time and energy into that “something more” that you want to explore. That’s just the nature of life, especially in these hyper-active times in which most of us are so busy. If you want to grow that experience of “something more,” it’s essential that you make it a part of your day, even for a few minutes.
Now, if you’re going to commit to that type of consistent action, you’ve got to have some passion behind it. You have to have a strong Core Desire that inspires you.
That might seem very simple and obvious, but I find it is actually a stumbling block for many people. Do you know on a deep level what you really want? Do you know what your Soul is here to do now?
Or are you just trying to get through life as best as you can, checking off all your To-Dos, and taking care of all those things you “have to” or “should” do? Are you constantly seeking activity and entertainment that distracts you from what you are feeling deep down inside?
The life you are meant to live is “something more” than just getting things done. It’s more than being entertained. It has deeper passion and purpose. It is about growing “something that you believe in” and sharing it with others, so we all benefit.
What is that for you? It’s not something you can just know in your head. It’s something that you must feel in your body, heart, and soul.
If you had no feelings of suffering, then you would have no motivation to make any changes in your life. You would be content. If you are reading this, you at least have a desire to know something more, to connect with something greater, and presumably you feel that you could experience more peace, love, joy, and purpose in your life. Otherwise, why make the effort?
So, feelings are your starting points. You’ve got to dig down into your “present felt experience.”
Now, if you are used to charging through life and getting stuff done, you may be in the habit of setting aside how you really feel, so you can accomplish what you need to do. That’s fine for getting things done, but it can lead to being disconnected from what really matters.
When you get to the end of your life, you aren’t going to remember all the millions of things you got done. You’re going to remember the moments that were truly significant and deeply meaningful. You’re going to remember the moments and relationships that filled you with passion, purpose, wonder, and love.
You are going to remember the moments in which you felt something deeply.
To have more of those moments, you’ve got to make it a practice to connect with that deep level of feeling—at least for some time every day. You’ve got to make it a habit to check in with how you are feeling—and not disregard even the most subtle sensation.
If you will, take a moment now to check in with your breathing—and just notice the felt experience. . .
Notice how you are drawing in your breath. Is it rapid and shallow? Is it slow and deep? How are you exhaling? Is it longer or shorter than your in-breath?
Do you tend to hold your breath? Do you sigh when you exhale, as if it is all too much effort?
What does your breathing tell you about how you are feeling? See if it’s possible to simply notice your breathing as it is, without trying to change it in any way.
As you get tuned into your breathing, it connects you with your inner felt experience. You can then learn to monitor all of your inner experiences in the same way as your breath. See if you can just notice what is there, without judging it as good or bad, and without trying to change it.
This type of “mindful noticing” is a skill that you can grow as you practice paying attention to what is going on inside. It’s a skill that enables you to observe your inner experience without being scared by it or overwhelmed. What if you allowed anything that is going on inside to be O.K.? What if it’s just normal to think, feel, and sense a whole bunch of different things?
Notice what images you are attracted to and what catches your eye. Are you pre-occupied with dramatic news events? Are you overly fascinated with disasters, traumas, and crimes? Are you always looking for a thrill? Do you just want a break or some down time? Do you feel tension you didn’t know you had? Do you feel fatigue you’ve been masking with caffeine?
How do you feel when you watch TV? Do you watch TV to let go of your day or to add some excitement to it? Is it just a habit? Do you really enjoy it, or is it just easy? Do you feel more relaxed, awake, energized, or happier after watching TV? Or do you feel lethargic and drained? Is it always the same or is it different every time?
What do you read? Is it for education or for entertainment? How about the movies that you watch and the radio that you listen to? In the conversations that you have, are you talking to express yourself, to defend yourself, to build yourself up, to interact with others, or to listen supportively?
All these inputs make a difference. It’s not “just a movie,” a book, or a conversation; these are all bits of energetic information that you are absorbing. They are becoming a part of your life. This informational input becomes a part of how you experience the world. It becomes a part of how you see your possibilities and how you respond in return.
For example, if you watch the TV news regularly, how do you think that colors your world? Do you see life in terms of what disastrous drama might happen next? According to what’s newsworthy, life is a litany of war, rape, murder, crime, accidents, bad weather, and scams. The news makes you think that is what is going on here—and act accordingly. It nudges you to act from fear.
Remember how you were told to study right before bed, so that you retain the information better? Do you really want to retain the late news? Do you want those negative images working themselves out in your dreams?
This life here is fairly short. Is that how you want to live it? Is that the kind of energy that you want to grow in your life?
You know the old saying, “You are what you eat.” What you absorb through words, sounds, images, thoughts, and feelings is just like food for you, it feeds and builds your experience of life. What you focus your attention on is what you are eating.
Do you eat primarily for taste or for nourishment? Do you eat what is in front of you, what is convenient, or do you look for what is best for your health? Do you feel energized by what you just ate or lethargic? Did it satisfy you or make you want more?
In all these ways, you can begin to monitor what you take in and what you give out. You begin to monitor yourself as an energy system interacting within an energetic environment. Food, thoughts, feelings, and actions are energetic exchanges within The Field around you.
As you do this, you become aware of what feels right for you and what feels wrong. You take in The Field around you and see what actions are the best for all and what actions bring division, tension, and fear. This level of awareness, in which you are aware of your internal energy system and simultaneously of the Field around you, I call Core Energetic Awareness.
Here’s a great technique to fine tune your Core Energetic Awareness. It’s quick and simple—and it builds on the simple breathing awareness we just explored. If you will, go ahead and give this a try with me now.
B) Breathe into your body as a whole. Take a few long, slow, deep breaths. Imagine and feel as if your whole body fills up as you inhale and your whole body empties out as you exhale. You can sigh as you exhale to release any tension you are holding. . .
C) Smile into every cell of your body. Allow the feeling of smiling to bathe every cell in warm, positive energy. . . Enjoy the sensation of smiling. . .
Notice how you feel. . .
Practicing these three simple steps connects you with your inner sensing system, with that part of you that knows why you are here and what you are here to do. Your Core Energy feeds you feelings and sensations that guide you on your path. The Core Energy Technique grows your Core Energetic Awareness.
When you exercise Core Energetic Awareness, you become adept at sensing what is right for you, what is most important to you, and what you feel passionate about. Then, you can act to grow that through Daily Practice.
Life in the body responds to repetition. For instance, the body needs regular intervals of food, drink, activity, and rest. It operates on 24-hour cycles. Hence, the importance of daily practice.
The body tends toward habit in all areas. To establish a habit in the body requires the repetition of a new habit consistently over time. If you combine strong feeling with a repeated action, that habit grows quickly and lasts for a longer time.
In the brain, a repeated sequence of thought, feeling, and/or action maps a new pattern of neural connections. The more often a new pattern is repeated, the stronger the action potential associated with that pattern. If there is repeated good feeling associated with a neural pattern, it will become a preferred pathway. That’s how you grow what is important to you in your life—by giving it some focused, strongly felt attention every day.
When your practice arises from the Core of your being, when it is something you are passionate about, it will have energy to it. It will have direction. It will feel good.
When you consciously take up a Daily Practice and commit to it a little every day, inspiration and resources spontaneously come to you as a result of your consistently-applied intentional actions. The Field of Life responds to you because you are part of the Field. Your thoughts, feelings, and actions are vibrations in the Field which responds according to the quality of what you put out.
So, my suggestion for you this week is to commit to a daily practice of tuning into your inner feelings and sensations for at least a few minutes every day. You can use the Core Energy Technique described above, some other meditative technique you’ve learned, or any other means to connect with your present felt experience.
Then, use that connection to your inner felt experience to decide something you want to grow in your life. Is it a relationship? A cause? An art or skill? Being more effective at the service you offer in your business?
How could you make that into a Daily Practice? What could you do every day that would build that? Take one action today, and each day forward, and watch your life expand!
Soon, you’ll be engaged in positive, meaningful, purposeful action that fills your life with love, joy, and wonder! You’ll naturally share those feelings with others and our world will be a better place.
Enjoy your practice!
Kevin