On Living the Dream

Tags

children, dreamers, dreams, living, living well

I rarely ever dream any more at night. Or at least, I can’t remember the last time that I dreamt while sleeping, let alone what I may have dreamt about. Some would wonder — how is that possible? Why did you stop dreaming? 

Let me answer that question by engaging in some wordplay. What is a DREAM? Or rather, what is the invitation of a D.R.E.A.M?

A Dream is one that which gives us a Desire, a Directive, a Determination to Delve Deep within ourselves and connect with the Divine. 

A dReam is one that reminds us to Reflect, Renew, Re-heart and Re-establish our Resolve to create a purpose which is much bigger than ourselves.

A drEam is one that Excites, Energizes, Enervates and Elevates us to heights that manifest the potential of the divinity within us.

A dreAm is one that Activates us to take Action for the betterment of All — and reminds us that All encompasses All things, regardless of their current state of Awareness.

A dreaM is one that is a fountain of inner Motivation and inspiration, an invitation to Magic and Mystery, a connection to our perpetual Motion Machine fueled by Meditation, and serves as the Mother of all dreams.

In retrospect, perhaps I don’t dream while I am sleeping any more, because I am immersed in living a new D.R.E.A.M while I am awake. My dreaming has expanded to ask questions of myself every single day. Am I connected to the Divine? What do I Remember? What is the best use of my Energy? Do I Act for the betterment of All, including myself? What is the Motion of my life and living?

My invitation to you is to stop talking about dreams and dreaming, and start living them new. If we are to truly live, let us engage a new dream that is so wide and deep and high, that we will need the help of our family and friends, our neighbors, our communities and the Divine Universe, to make our D.R.E.A.M be birthed from darkness into the reality of light. 

What may this new dream look like to you? Here is what it looks like to me. #IHaveADream that my daughter and all in her generation inherit a world that celebrates them for who they truly are, for their infinite divine potential to be loving, kind, compassionate and peaceful.

Will you help me live my dream and make it a reality? Will you perchance dream again, and choose to live It?

Kumud

P.S. On this day, as I begin another revolution around the Sun and I smell spring in the bouquet of flowers as I write, I invite you. Join me and share your dream as I host the #SpiritChat community on twitter for our weekly conversation, Sunday January 17 at 9am ET / 730pm India. Yes, there will be chai and treats, and who knows, maybe even some cake 😉 Namaste – @AjmaniK

 

I share with you, a bouquet of dreams – what’s your favorite?

Tradeoffs in Spiritual Practice

Tags

decisions, living well, practice, tradeoffs

Our daily lives are often filled with seemingly invisible “tradeoffs” or micro-decisions that we make. These decisions are partly affected by the mental and emotional state that we may be in, in the moment that we make the decision.

Do we hit the snooze button once or twice and sleep the extra few minutes, or do we decide to wake up and invest those few extra minutes ‘gained’ by setting the proper tone for our day ahead?

Do we choose to continue to add to our theretical database and knowledge of a particular field, or do we say that we now ‘know enough’ to focus more on actual practice and ‘work experience’?

Do we tend to focus more on the ‘short term’ affects of our daily decisions (do what makes us feel good NOW) or do we give more weight to the ‘long term’ impact of our choices?

Do we pay more attendtion to the means, the ways, our paths – or do we ignore the means because “the means justify the ends’, so any path is adequate?

The above are just some of the tradeoffs we often make. Depth versus breadth. Change versus tradition. Chance versus control. Community versus individual. Quality versus quantity. And there are many more that I am sure that you can think of.

It should come as no surprise that we tend to make a lot of these tradeoffs without even giving them much thought. Our habits, beliefs, values, finances and the amount of time and space available to us may determine the tradeoff. A tradeoff that we were willing ot make a decade, or even a year ago, may be unacceptable to us today.

Perhaps the same is true of our spiritual practice(s). As we (hopefully) grow through our chosen path (by paying attention to the means), our practice(s) evolve too. It isn’t that one way or means is ‘better’ than another. It is more that we may outgrow certain practices because we graduate to the next grade of practice. We may have loved kindergarten, and our teachers there, but we end up trading time and our comfort space in kindergarten for a higher grade – a bigger challenge, an oportunity to learn and practice more, to be challenged to climb to the next plateau.

Consider and evaluate. What tradeoffs have you made in your (spiritual) life over the past year that have made you, and those around you, ‘better’? Are there any tradeoffs that have had the opposite effect of ‘betterment’? What are a few habits and beliefs that you could change so that you would ascend to the next plateau? Or are you choosing the tradeoff of holding on to ‘tradition’ in favor of change?

As Swami Vivekananda once said – “We do not evolve from error to truth. We evolve from (lower) truth to (higher) truth”. The corollary is that no matter the tradeoff we choose, we are not in error. We are simply evolving from one truth to another.

And so what if one evolves more slowly than another? “The more we keep engagingwith the flowers of spiritual practice, the more fragrance shall remain in our hands…”

Namaste,

Kumud @AjmaniK

P.S. Join us Sunday, August 13th at 9amET / 1pm UTC for our weekly twitter chat in #SpiritChat – we will talk about the tradeoffs between cookies and fruit, tea and coffee, and more 🙂

On Living Well

Tags

living well, spiritchat, spirituality, wellness

I guess I would say to live well is your own ideal life situation… Which includes different aspects depending on who you are. It could be living well financially, morally, spiritually, or whatever it is that fulfills you. But what gets us there? If we believe we are living well now, how did we get here? How long ago did it happen? What made us realize the concept of living well has been achieved? If we don’t believe we are living well, what is missing? What will it take to get there? When will we actually feel fulfilled? 

Determining what drives us toward our goals, and how we set them, has a huge impact on who we become, and how we benefit each other. Living a “good life” is a concept often missed when we go about planning our futures. The important parts of life: True happiness, meaning, inspiration, and development of self become ignored while trying to become wealthy, following the norms of our particular community, or becoming influenced by others. 

I feel it is important to remember to ask ourselves- what is it that I really want? How do I picture my “good life”? Am I currently following a course that will get me there? 

So often people think it is selfish, acting only towards our own ideals. But it is what makes us become our best selves, the person whose unique traits shine and help us serve our appropriate purpose. Most importantly, it gives us pride, confidence and true delight every day. 

So its time to really explore what motivates us. Am I living well? Join us for #spiritchat Sunday June 8th at 9amET / 2pmUK / 6:30pm India for a “Living Well” conversation…

Meredith Bouvier

I’m a people person that loves to share stories and insights. A passionate dreamer with a drive to do great things in innovative ways. My greatest accomplishments in life so far have been learning to be a person I love, and finding a way to inspire others to reach their goals. I do this by reaching mine, setting more goals, & showing anyone who pays attention that there are no limits. – Meredith

I hope you find the time to join us and share as Meredith Bouvier (@merryb923) co-hosts our weekly conversation in #SpiritChat – she has been a long-time participant in the weekly chat, and shares wisdom beyond her years every week with us. Thank you, Meredith! – Kumud

Connect with Meredith on Twitter @merryb923 and Facebook