“Todo el mundo es un escenario y todos los hombres y mujeres meros actores; Tienen sus salidas y entradas y un hombre en su tiempo juega muchas partes, sus actos es siete edades.”~Shakespeare
“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players: they have their exits and their entrances; and one man in his time plays many parts, his acts being seven ages.”~Shakespeare
I have a day left to live.
No, this isn’t true. I mean, it could be true. One never knows when that day will come. Last Wednesday, I went to one of my friend Mike’s Ontology classes, and one thing he shared with us is that “Nothing will get you more present than the awareness of death.” As part of our homework, we are to contemplate what we would like to do in a week’s time, which means that tomorrow would be my last full day.
This became a life experiment for me.
While still in class, I began to contemplate the idea of not having much time to live. In a strange way, I got very excited about thinking of all the infinite possibilities that thinking this way could do for me. What ultimately resonated with me were the following points that Mike mentioned in class:
1. Become Present – Experimenting with life this way makes every moment become precious, which could be used to become fully present and awake in this moment.
2. Creates a Sense of Urgency – As Mike talked about our assignment, I immediately began to make mental lists of all the things I wanted to accomplish in this time. Time becomes an invaluable commodity.
3. Use it as a Healing Tool – You learn to accept life as it is rather as you would like to see it. Problems vanish as you give importance to specific events and people in your life.
Since last Wednesday, I am waking up and thanking the Universe for the gift of another day. After this, I ask myself, “If today was the last day in your life, what would you want to do?” My answer is simple: I want to help others as much as I can.
Have you lived your life as an experiment? Have you thought about living life this way?
Me queda sólo un día de vida.
No, no es cierto. Bueno, lo puede ser. Uno nunca sabe cuando será su último día. El miércoles pasado, fui a una de clases de ontología de mi amigo Mike. Algo que compartió con nosotros fue que “Nada te hará más atento al presente que la conciencia de la muerte.” Nuestra tarea es de contemplar lo que quisieramos hacer en esa semana. Mañana sería mi último día.
Esto se convertió en un experimento de vida para mí.
Mientras estaba en clase, empecé a contemplar la idea de tener poco tiempo para vivir. Por extraño que parezca, me emocioné al pensar que de las infinitas posibilidadesque podría hacer. Lo que finalmente resonó mas para mí fue lo que nos dijo Mike en la clase:
1. Estar Presente– Experimentando con la vida de esta manera hace que cada momento sea precioso, lo cual se podría usar para estar totalmente presente y despierto en este momento .
2. Crea una Sensensación de Urgencia – Cuando Mike hablaba de nuestra tarea, inmediatemente comencé a hacer una lista mental de todo lo que quería lograr en esta vida. El tiempo se convierte en un valor incalculable.
3. Úsalo Como Instrumento de Sanación – Puedes aceptar la vida tal y como es y no como te gustaría verla. Los problemas se desvanecen cuando le das importancia a los acontecimientos y a las personas en tu vida.
Desde el miércoles pasado, me estoy despertando y dándole las gracias al universo por el regalo de un nuevo día. Después de hacer esto me pregunto, “Si hoy fuera tu último día, ¿qué quisieras hacer?” Mi respuesta es simple: quiero ayudarles a otros lo más que pueda.
¿Has vivido tu vida como un experimento? ¿Has pensado vivir tu vida de esta manera?
The other day, I went to see another dear friend of mine, Mike. I met Mike back in 2010 as a mutual friend of ours invited me to go see this wonderful life coach talk about life. I winded up going and I met Mike who turned out to not only be an enterpreneur and a baseball coach, but amazing, humorous and a down-to-earth guy.
I surprised him and went to one of his ontology seminars a few days ago. I hadn’t seen him in about two years, and it was great to see him again, to have met his wife, and to have met and spent a great time with the others in attendance.
For those of you who may not know, ontology is the “philosophical study of the nature of being, becoming, and existing or reality, as well as the basic categories of being and their relations.” It’s a bit difficult to explain what it truly is, but what I do know is that it is something that resonated immediately within me, and it has helped me see things clearly and to put them in perspective.
The seminar was on” fixing things and people” and the focus was on relationships.
As the seminar began, Mike said, “In our culture, we are taught that if something is wrong and you don’t fix it, then it’s your fault. It’s a loss of power.” Let’s think about this for a minute. Let’s say, for example, we are in a relationship where we are truly unhappy. In fact, you are miserable. The guy or girl you’re with has become the complete opposite of the person you fell in love with. He or she is now egotistic, lazy, and a complete unfriendly person.
Perhaps our natural reaction would be to leave this zero and get with a hero, right? Wouldn’t this be how we would “fix” our situation? Or, perhaps some may choose the alternative and make the valiant effort of attempting to “fix” their significant other?
The truth is that there is nothing or no one to fix. We are perfect as we are.
You may be asking yourself but how can this be? We are constantly surrounded by people saying things like, “I’m not perfect” or my favorite one: “I’m so far from perfect.”
The simply truth is that we all are perfect. There is not a thing we ever need to change. Our perfection lies in the gift that our Creator has given us: the divine spark. So why this need to fix our situation or to fix others?
I’ve learned that this stems from the fact that we cannot accept our own perfection.
We become irritated at what others do or don’t do at the drop of a hat. And why is this? We naturally don’t like characteristics in others that we have ourselves and despise. For example, I don’t particularly like that a beautiful woman that I love with my life (a.k.a. my mom) is not very organized. Actually, it drives me crazy! The truth is that I need to work on organizing something in my life, and my mother is the epitome of perfection.
So what is the secret to stop “fixing” others and situations?
Stay in the present moment. Dwelling on your past will only bring unneccessary suffering and “predicting” your future will only bring worry and anxiety. Staying in the present has made me see and experience everyday miracles in my life.
Stay true to yourself. You’re perfect as you are and so is everyone around you. Everything is at is should be. Let it be.
What or whom have you tried “fixing” in your life? Have you accepted your perfection?
El otro día, fui a ver un amigo mío, Mike. Conocí a Mike en el 2010 cuando una amiga me invitó a ir a ver un life coach, o coach personal, maravilloso hablar acerca de la vida. Fui y lo conocí, que resultó no sólo ser un empresario, entrenador de béisbol y life coach, pero un ser humano increíble, gracioso y sencillo.
Lo sorprendí y fui a una de sus clases de ontología. No lo había visto en un par de años, y fue agradable volver a verlo, de haber conocido a su esposa y de conocer y pasar un buen rato con los demás asistentes.
Para aquellos de ustedes que no saben, la ontología es el “estudio filosófico de la naturaleza del ser, devenir, y lo que existe o la realidad, así como las categorías básicas del ser y sus relaciones.” Es un poco difícil de explicar lo que realmente es, pero lo que sí sé es que es algo que resonó de inmediato dentro de mí, y me ha ayudado a ver las cosas con claridad y ponerlas en perspectiva.
El discurso de ayer fue sobre “arreglar las cosas y las personas”, y el enfoque fue en las relaciones.
Al comenzar el discurso, Mike nos dijo: “En nuestra cultura, nos enseñan que es tu culpa si algo está mal y no lo arreglas. Es una pérdida de poder.” Pensemos en esto por un minuto. Digamos, por ejemplo, que estamos en una relación en la que somos verdaderamente infeliz. De hecho, eres miserable. La persona con la que estás se ha convertido en todo lo contrario de la persona de quién te enamoraste. Ahora es egoísta, perezoso y antipático.
Tal vez nuestra reacción natural sería de dejar a esta persona, ¿verdad? ¿No sería esto como podríamos “arreglar” nuestra situación? O, tal vez algunos pueden escojer la alternativa y hacer el esfuerzo valiente de tratar de “arreglar” a su pareja?
La verdad es que no hay nada ni nadie que arreglar. Somos perfectos así como somos.
* ¡Eres perfecto!
Es posible que te estés preguntando, pero, ¿cómo puede ser esto? Estamos constantemente rodeados de gente diciendo cosas como “No soy perfecto “o mi favorito:” “Estoy lejos de ser perfecto”.
La verdad es que todos somos perfectos. No hay una cosa que tenemos que cambiar. Nuestra perfección consiste en el regalo que nuestro Creador nos ha dado: la chispa divina. ¿Por qué esta necesidad de solucionar nuestra situación o de arreglar a otros?
He aprendido que esto se deriva del hecho de que no podemos aceptar nuestra propia perfección.
Nos irritamos de lo que otros hacen o no hacen. ¿Y por qué es esto? Es natural que no nos gusten las características de los demás que tenemos nosotros mismos y despreciamos. Por ejemplo, no me gusta que una bella mujer que amo con todo mi vida (mi mamá) sea desorganizada. ¡Esto me vuelve loca! La verdad es que tengo que organizar algo en mi vida y mi madre es el epítome de la perfección.
Entonces, ¿cuál es el secreto para evitar de “arreglar” a otros y las situaciones?
Vivan en el momento presente. Viviendo en el pasado soló les traerá la preocupación y ansiedad. Viviendo en el momento presente me ha hecho ver los milagros cotidianos en mi vida.
Mantente fiel a ti mismo. Tú y todos somos perfectos así como somos. Todo está como debería ser. Déjalo ser.
¿Qué o quién has intentado “arreglar” en tu vida? ¿Has aceptado tu perfección?
On my last trip to Northern California, I went to a local Starbucks in Chico to write a little and to beat the heat with a refreshing drink. As I walked to get a seat and table, I had a total stranger come up to me and tell me, “Ms., good things come to those who wait.” I didn’t know this man.
Was he an Earth angel?
Well, I wasn’t scared or anything like that. If anything, I was surprised. I thought who is this man and why would he tell me this? As I thought more about it I came up with my own conclusion. Perhaps he’s someone who picked up on my energy and sensed that I have been impatient with some things lately.
During my summer stay here in L.A., I have been fortunate to have spent quality time with my family and to have seen many friends.
We’ve done some serious catching up! As I talked to one of my friends, Carmen, I told her about this incident. She said, “I think he was an Earth angel.” The more I thought about it, the more I agreed with her. This man didn’t know who I was. I had never seen him in life, so I didn’t know who he was.
* Nothing arrives before or after, everything arrives when it is supposed to be here.
One thing for sure is that I have been a bit impatient lately with some events in my life.
As I talk to everyone here, many of them have been asking, of course, questions like, “So when is the wedding? What about family? Are you pregnant yet?” Tell me about your boyfriend. And it is understandable. They are interested and what to know what is going on with my life. After all, I haven’t seen some of my friends in a year! At 38 years old, I guess you can say that my biological clock is ticking. It’s true, right ladies? Yes, I’d love to be a mother. I’d love to remarry too. I’d love to finish my book and to get it published. Like you, I want to do and to have many things too.
But, I have also learned that life works on divine timing.
Interestingly enough, after this month I feel a greater patience with all this. I’m not sure what has been happening lately, but ever since the encounter, I feel a greater sense of peace and patience. That’s not to say I have not been patient or peaceful. I just need to be even more patient than I am now. My intentions are being heard by the Universe, and they will be manifested. It’s all coming to me. I can feel this. For me, everything in this life happens when it is suppose to happen. It’s only a matter of time. In the meantime, I will stay in the present moment and wait for these good things to come to me.
What good things are coming your way? Have you been patient?
En mi último viaje al norte de California, fui a un Starbucks en Chico para escribir un poco y combatir el calor con una bebida refrescante. Mientras conseguía una mesa y silla para sentarme, se me acercó un señor y me dijo, “Ms., good things come to those who wait.” En español sería, “Señorita, todo le llega al que sabe esperar.” Yo no conocía a este hombre.
¿Era un ángel en la tierra?
No me dio miedo. Pero si me sorprendió. Pensé ¿quíen es este hombre y por qué me dijo esto? Mientras más pensaba en ello llegué a mi propia conclusión. Quizás es alguien que sintió mi energia y así se dió cuenta de que he sido impaciente con algunas cosas últimamente.
Durante mi estancia de verano aquí en Los Ángeles, he tenido la suerte de pasar tiempo con mi familia y haber visto a muchos amigos.
¡Tuvimos la oportunidad de hablar de todo lo que nos había pasado desde la última vez que nos vimos! Mientras hablaba con una de mis amigas, Carmen, le dije de lo que me había pasado. Me dijo, “Creo que es un ángel de la tierra.” Mientras más pensaba en ello, más estaba de acuerdo con ella. Este hombre no me conocía. Nunca lo había visto en mi vida, así que no sabía quien era.
Una cosa de lo que estoy segura es que si he sido un poco impaciente con algunas cosas de mi vida.
A medida que hablo con todos aquí, me han estado preguntando ¿Cuándo te casas? ¿Y familia? ¿Estás embarazada? Dime, ¿cómo es tu novio? Y por supuesto, entiendo que están interesados de todo lo que me ha estado pasando en vida. ¡Después de todo, no los he visto en un año! A los 38 años de edad, supongo que puedo decir que mi reloj biológico no se detiene. ¿Verdad, chicas? ¡La verdad es que me encantaría ser madre! ¡Me encantaría casarme otra vez! ¡Me encantaría terminar my libro y publicarlo! Así como tú – deseo hacer y tener muchas cosas.
Pero, he aprendido que la vida fluye con el tiempo divino.
Lo interesante ha sido que después de este mes me he sentido con mucha más paciencia con todo esto. No sé lo que me ha estado pasando últimamente, pero después de mi encuentro con ese señor, me siento más tranquila y paciente. Ahora, necesito ser aún más paciente. Mis intenciones han sido recibidas por el Universo y serán manifestadas. Para mí, todo en la vida pasa a su debido tiempo. Es solo cuestión de tiempo. Mientras tanto, voy a vivir en el momento presente y esperar a que me lleguen mis cosas buenas.
¿Has sido paciente? ¿Qué son algunas cosas buenas que te han llegado?
I am towards the end of finishing up my book proposal and it has been quite the experience! Writing the overview has helped me focus more and get a better feel for what I am trying to convey here. Being that it is a memoir, an outline would not be necessary , but the overview (that I am about to share), I think, served the purpose of the outline and made my writing easier to work with.
Here is the overview of my memoir: Looking Within: A Memoir.
Overview
The manuscript will be divided into 4 parts.
1. Part I: The Meeting And Marriage. Many women are in enamored with the idea of getting married and living happily ever after. I was one of them. Shortly after meeting my ex-husband, we were married. While I was married, I was second in my life as he was the center of my universe. Needless to say, the honeymoon didn’t last as reality set in and love and nurturance became absent in our marriage. Problems ensued and a separation seemed imminent.
A chapter will be devoted to this first part.
2. Part II. Emotional Healing. Shortly after the problems began, I withdrew emotionally and sought individual counseling. Slowly, I began to heal emotionally and I eventually I separated from him. All alone, I began to nurture my spirit as best I could. Soul searching and a return to my passions of learning, traveling, running, and writing became part of my recovery. This emotional healing part encompasses four sections that include emotional detachment, the separation, self-nurturance, and more changes that were in store for me.
A chapter will be devoted to each of the sections in part two.
3. Part III. Spiritual Healing. Spiritual healing eventually replaced my emotional healing. Changes in my beliefs and a series of unexplained events began happening to me such as moments of peace and an increase in intuitive abilities. As I began to awaken spiritually, I began to understand that my problems were mere illusions. In time, I began to practice spiritual principles of compassion, kindness, patience, and gratitude, among others , and I simply became happier.
A chapter will be devoted to each of the sections listed in part three.
4. Part IV. My Purpose in Life. I started to live in the present moment and the consistent peace that I longed for, as well as happy life, awaited me. After endless questioning, I found both my inner and outer purpose. I began to co-create my life as I intended it to be and found joy and miracles in my everyday life.
A chapter will be devoted to this section in this part.
I’d love to hear what you think!
CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER SYNOPSIS
LOOKING WITHIN: A MEMOIR
One Woman’s Search for Her Truth and the Spiritual Awakening that Resulted
Elizabeth Cárdenas
Part One: The Meeting
Chapter 1: Love at First Sound
“A lady’s imagination is very rapid; it jumps from admiration to love, from love to matrimony in a moment.” ~Jane Austen
This first chapter explains how I met my ex-husband. He was a musician and I was mesmerized when I saw and heard him play for the first time. Having met him would not be a coincidence. I go throughout my “picture perfect” marriage to the problems that arose in the last couple of years. Throughout my marriage, I put him first, and I put myself second. Writing has been a passion of mine since I was a little girl, yet I didn’t do it during my marriage. In fact, no passions of mine would come to the surface when I was married. Growing up in a Mexican household, I saw my mother do everything for my father, and I would imitate this when I became a wife. A “good wife” was supposed to clean, cook, serve her husband, do the laundry and iron for him, etc. I did all that and much more. Needless to say, problems arose and I became resentful.
Part Two: Emotional Healing
Chapter 2: Detachment
“Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” ~Winston Churchill
This chapter discusses my emotional detachment from my ex-husband. Guilt, shame, and depression set in, but thankfully, I met one of my angels on Earth: my counselor Christina. I began counseling on my own. I discuss the stages of grief as my counselor had pointed this out to me: denial, resentment and anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance, and I apply them to my experience. Although my healing began as emotional healing, something very special was happening. Something unexplainable as I started dream and my dreams in many ways came true and made me even feel peace. Amidst all this pain, I was able to find hope. Nevertheless, the pain outweighed my peace at the time and the result was extreme disillusionment of my marriage. Divorce was inevitable and it was only a matter of time before I filed for it.
Chapter 3: Alone Again
“When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
This chapter begins with the divorce papers being served to my ex-husband and separated from him, I found myself alone again. All throughout this time, I questioned why this had happened and I questioned my existence. With a plethora of questions and no answers, I even questioned God. “Why would You do this to me?”, I’d ask Him. Briefly, I discuss my religion, Catholicism, and the role it played in my life during this time and I how I also questioned it. Although the pain continued, I had more for better days. Counseling and my divorce support group helped me tremendously, and for the first time, I learned about emotional healing in one of my counseling sessions. That day, I made the conscious decision to heal emotionally and I would keep my promise. The chapter ends with a return to love as I began to love myself again and slowly began to have glimpses of happy moments. I put my faith and trust in God with all this.
Chapter 4: A Well Deserved Break
“Fear doesn’t exist anywhere except in the mind.” ~Dale Carnegie
About 4 months after the separation, I came across Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. I read it and thought, “I could do something like that.” After working nine years as a first grade teacher, I deserved a break. Nurturance of my spirit was in order and it was during this time that I yearned to learn about music and to play piano. I took a Classical music class and a piano class at East Los Angeles College. Exhausted and burnt out were perfect words to describe this teacher during this time. Initially, fear held me from making my decision to sell my home and go abroad. Once I made my decision, it was a done deal. My ex-husband and I put the house for sale and I went in September 2007 to Granada, Spain for a semester. For the first time in years, I began to put myself first in my life.
Chapter 5: More Changes: Going Back to School
“We must be willing to let go of the life we have planned, so as to accept the life that is waiting for us.” ~ Joseph Campbell
My stay abroad would only last four months, but it was enough for me. I missed my family dearly and I wanted to see them. Although I was ecstatic about the changes in my life and my new experiences, I began to feel lost. I was living with my parents again and in many ways I felt like a little girl. My counselor said that moving in with my parents would be a great thing because I would get nurturance from them – something I needed at the time. Confused, I contemplated what I wanted for myself. The answer was to go back to school and to get another master’s degree in linguistics. By no means was it a walk a park in the park, but learning is one of my passions and this return to school was what I needed. My faith and my spirituality were growing. My life and my divorce was making more sense to me and I kept my faith and trust in God.
Part Three: Spiritual Healing
Chapter 6: Bumps in the Road
“My imperfections and failures are as much a blessing from God as my successes and my talents, and I lay them both at His feet.” ~ Gandhi
There were some “problems” that I encountered as I began to awaken spiritually. I began to see the world in a completely different way and many incidents were happening that I could not explain. For example, I would be overcome with feelings of joy and peace: bliss, if you will. Peace took more presence in my life, but it wasn’t consistent. Change was now something that I welcomed more easily and speaking my truth was something I was learning to do. Finally, I was finding my own voice and I simply let it be. However, during this time, I also allowed myself to become stressed with school and, once again, I had to deal with not only depression, but a relapse of my mental illnesses: manic depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Aside from counseling, I began to see a psychiatrist and Seroquel, Lithium, and Zoloft entered my life and put me in numbed state as I began taking these drugs. Questioning Western medicine lead to believe that I could slowly rid myself on this dependence of drugs. Nathaniel Hawthorne once wrote, “A bodily disease which we look upon as whole and entire within itself, may, after all, be but a symptom of some ailment in the spiritual part.” With all this medication, peace took a back seat in my life and I greatly missed it. Although I had no idea of what it was to heal spiritually, I made the conscious choice to heal spiritually anyways. At the end of this chapter, I discuss what I saw as problems as illusions and how they were merely spiritual lessons to be learnt on this path.
Chapter 7: Kindness and Compassion – A Semester with Adults
“Our main goal is to help others. If you cannot help them, then at least resist from hurting them.” ~Dalai Lama
After leaving the world of primary education, I taught adults for 7 months. Armed with courage and with some fear, I began teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) classes to adults at a non-profit organization in Northern California. This entire experience was very humbling for me as I learnt so much from them. Being the first time I taught adults and ESl, my students held my hand and little by little I learned how to teach them and to teach ESL. Words cannot express the gratitude that they had for receiving the English lessons and for their teacher. During this time, I began to be even kinder and to develop compassion for not only my students, but for myself, as well. This chapter ends with learning the true meaning of being one.
Chapter 8: Gratitude and Patience – The High School Year
“Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset.” ~ St. Francis
Following the semester with adults, and armed with courage, I signed up to teach high school. In this chapter, I talk about the gratitude I now have for everything in my life as well as the patience. Also, I discuss the law of attraction and I apply to manifest both my job and my wonderful, new relationship. Throughout this school year, I had numerous questions such as why am I teaching high school? Then, it dawned on me one day. Physically and emotionally, it took a lot out of me. I was worrying yet again. It wasn’t until I learnt to let things go and let things be that I started to be myself again. I surrendered. More changes came as a result including a defining moment: my own epiphany. Around this time I read Many Lives, Many Masters by Brian L. Weiss. In it, he discusses, how we return in physical form to learn a spiritual lesson. In my humble opinion, I believe that in this lifetime I am meant to learn patience. My life events have yielded so many opportunities where I have had to be patient not only with others, but with myself, as well. This patience that I am learning has resulted in more peace for me, and those close to me. Patience also taught me to surrender and to simplify my life. I allowed what the Universe was blessing me with and I let my life events transpire. I let things be. Realizing this brought me great joy and happiness.
Chapter 9: A Happy Heart of My Own
“Happiness resides not in possessions, and not in gold, happiness dwells in the soul.” ~ Democritus
This chapter begins with being grateful for learning to be happy regardless of what was happening in my life. Staying in the present moment has brought me peace, and that peace in turn has brought me happiness. Learning to let go of material possessions (as this isn’t true happiness), as well as letting go of fears to follow my heart has also contributed to my happiness. Suppressing my ego was key to go in the direction of true happiness for myself. In his book, The Power of Intention, Dr. Dyer lists the 7 Steps for Overcoming Ego’s Hold of You and they are the following: 1. Stop being offended, 2. Let go of the need to win, 3. Let go of the need to be right, 4. Let go of the need to be superior, 5. Let go of the need to have more, 6. Let go of identifying on the basis of your achievements, and 7. Let go of your reputation. In this chapter, I list each one and I give specific examples as to how this manifested in my own life. Finally, I discuss the dependence society has on antidepressants to achieve a state of happiness. The end of this chapter concludes with a quote from Ernst Shurtleff Holmes’ book Creative Mind:
As it’s given me to perceive,
I most certainly believe
When a man’s glad plumb through,
God’s pleased with him same’s you.
Part Four: My Purpose in Life
Chapter 10: Coming Into My Own
“Our Creator would never have made such lovely days, and have given us the deep hearts to enjoy them, above and beyond all thought, unless we were meant to be immortal.” ~Nathaniel Hawthorne
This chapter begins with answering my question on the meaning of my life. Why am I here? My answer lied in looking within myself. Because each of us has the divine spark, we are spiritual beings in physical bodies. We are, therefore, immortal and perfect as we are. My soul searching resulted in my finding both my inner and outer purposes. Seeking my truth and my never ending questioning brought me great peace as I made that fateful reconnection with God. Also, I discuss the love I have for others and myself as the greatest gift that I have given to myself and to them. Finding my balance in my life through meditation, nurturance of my spirit, and living in the present moment contributed to my spiritual awakening, as well. The divorce made it all possible and, in retrospect, it really is the best thing that has ever happened to me. The culmination of this spiritual journey resulted in the everyday miracles and a love for life. This chapter ends with my favorite poem: The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
I am finishing up the chapter summaries for the book proposal. Here is the chapter summary of the chapter that I will be submitting. This chapter in question has to do with that ever fateful question of what is happiness. For some time, I pondered and pondered about what happiness meant to me and I came up with a very simple answer. For me, happiness is your zest for life and I believe that it is attainable by staying in the present moment. Being present has brought me peace, and this peace has in turn given me harmony, and, of course, happiness. In order to be present, I had to do one thing and that was to suppress my ego. In the summary below, I talk a little more about this chapter and what I needed to “let go” in order to be happy.
Chapter 9: A Happy Heart of My Own “Happiness resides not in possessions, and not in gold, happiness dwells in the soul.” ~ Democritus
Being happy most of the time would have been something that I wouldn’t have admitted to in the past. Thankfully for me, I learned to be happy regardless of what was happening in my life. In this chapter, I give my take on happiness, and for the most part, staying in the present moment has brought me peace, and that peace in turn has brought me happiness. Learning to let go of material possessions (as this isn’t true happiness), as well as letting go of fears to follow my heart has also contributed to my happiness. Suppressing my ego was key to go in the direction of true happiness for myself. In his book, The Power of Intention, Dr. Dyer lists the 7 Steps for Overcoming Ego’s Hold of You and they are the following: 1. Stop being offended, 2. Let go of the need to win, 3. Let go of the need to be right, 4. Let go of the need to be superior, 5. Let go of the need to have more, 6. Let go of identifying on the basis of your achievements, and 7. Let go of your reputation. In this chapter, I list each one and I give specific examples as to how this manifested in my own life. Finally, I discuss the dependence society has on antidepressants, including myself, to achieve a state of happiness. The end of this chapter concludes with a quote from Ernst Shurtleff Holmes’ book Creative Mind:
As it’s given me to perceive,
I most certainly believe
When a man’s glad plumb through,
God’s pleased with him same’s you.
What makes you happy?
Elizabeth Cardenas. Writer 