Article Surfing Archive

Around 1100 A.D there lived a wise monk. No one remembers his name, but they do remember his words. His words still echo in the halls of wisdom to this day and are sure to echo there in another 1000 years from now.

"When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world.

I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation.

When I found I couldn't change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn't change the town and as an older man, I tried to change my family.

Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town. Their impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world."

This wise old monk realised one of the key secrets of life - change yourself and the world changes around you. Or better still; change your focus about life and life changes.

This wisdom is the wisdom Gandhi applied to transform India into an independent nation. He focused on himself. He never tried to change others; he simply focused on allowing himself to be who he naturally was. In the end he transformed the Indian nation.

Wisdom is the art of seeing a bigger picture. Wisdom also knows that two people will often see the same thing differently, and that this is perfect. Wisdom also knows that perception is reality.

What if we chose to turn our whole personal world upside down and inside out and then look at things from a different perspective? Would your world change if you did this do you think? Would it become a more exciting world or maybe become simple?

As humans we so often see life as a linear process. We start, we do something and we finish. However, what if the universe did not actually work like this? What if the universe worked in parallel instead of in series? What if for example everything happened at the same time - starting, doing and finishing? What if everything that ever has happened and will ever happen is happening now - right now - all at the same time? Wow, what if!

Asking these types of questions allows us to see life from different perspectives. In fact to me, the sign of genius is being able to see anything from a different perspective. One day, Einstein was walking down the corridor and he bumped into one of his assistants. His assistant asked him where he was going. Einstein said he was off to his laboratory. His assistant was puzzled because he was heading in the wrong direction. He expressed his puzzlement to Einstein who quickly responded, "Not that laboratory, this laboratory," as he tapped at the side of his head.

It has been said that Einstein came up with the theory of relativity after 'flying on a light beam'. The story goes that he went into his mental laboratory and in his mind experienced what it would be like to fly on a beam of light. This is genius. It is also like the mind of a child - simple and creative. It is also something you can do.

So many 'self development' books talk about changing this in our lives, developing that and transforming ourselves into the 'perfect us'. They talk about a process of evolution where we start out today and 'we work on ourselves' to become perfect. What if we did not actually need to do anything to be 'perfect'? What if we were perfect today and that we have always been perfect and always will be perfect no matter what we do or who we are. How would that feel? What if there was nothing to do at all except let go? What if life was a process of subtraction instead of addition? By that I mean, so many people say we need to improve this and that in our lives, and add this quality and add that skill. What if all we needed to do was just let go? Let go of thoughts that do not serve us. Let go of jobs and relationships that do not serve us. Let go of habits that do not serve us.

What if all we needed to do was subtract things and thoughts from our lives - in other words - stop doing them. And instead, return to a focus of a perfectly whole spiritual state of perfection. And what if this process was really easy to do? What if it was so easy we could do it in a heart beat? WOW! How would that feel - to become enlightened in 0.65 seconds? To do that we would obviously need to be enlightened already - i.e. filled up with light! What if we were?

Just like changing our focus while out walking from a tree to a passing dog, or changing our focus from seeing litter on the streets to seeing the flowers in people's gardens. We can change our focus about our lives and ourselves in an instant by simply choosing to focus on another part of the picture, a part that makes us feel good. All we need to do is first consider that there could be more to the picture of life than what we are seeing right now.

Another way to change your perspective about life allowing you to see more is by asking better questions. Questions are the gateway to a new universe of thinking and experience. The power of a question lies in its depth and creativity. In fact, the question is the most important part of the equation. The answer is just the icing on the cake. The question is the cake!

Questions help us to see life from different perspectives. Maybe we should start asking more questions about life and see where that takes us. Maybe we will then discover the simplicity of life and the joy of simply being. Maybe we will then discover the magic of the moment and the futility of the past. Maybe this will lead us to discovering for ourselves that life is in fact a dream or a big game that we can play with to create whatever we want as long as we are having fun! How would life feel then? Maybe that could be a new chapter to discover. Maybe then we may realise we are perfect now and that there is nothing to change and only something that does not serve us to let go of. And maybe then we can return our focus to the state of joy and experience happiness in every moment.

Today is the start of your new tomorrow. You can decide what you want, ask better questions, keep looking at life from different perspectives and simply decide today that you will live life to the full and enjoy the process of life and creation. Enjoy!