Romanticize the Life You Already Have

One of the goals of the inner journey is to come to a place where you want no more or less than you currently have. Coming to this place means you’ve fully stepped outside of ego’s desires, and, instead, are rooted in a place of complete surrender, trust and acceptance of what is, as well as what’s to come.

Can you pinpoint a time in your life when you neither wanted more than you had nor wanted to get rid of something that you had (i.e., stress, health issues, weight, debt, etc.)?

For me, the last time I sustained this sort or contentedness for an extended period of time (about a year) was five years ago…five years ago. And I can’t say that I was living in the highest state of trust and surrender, either. It just happened to be a period of time where I loved what I was doing without it having to be more or less than it was.

In the past few years, I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve been doing but it hasn’t been without it needing to lead to something more. And even when I came to a point of letting go of the things that I thought needed to lead to more, both my contentment and my ability to live in a state of complete trust, surrender and acceptance have been challenged.

I’d find myself lost in someone’s gallery on Instagram completely enamored with their life…

“What, he rode his bike from Oregon to Patagonia on a 17 month journey?!”

“Wow, she lived a quiet life in Costa Rica for three years before moving to Aruba and, ultimately, becoming an International Yoga instructor teaching 500-1000 students at one event! She’s such a light in this world!”

“That’s so cool that she’s using her celebrity platform to make a difference in the world…its crazy how she’s such good friends with the leaders of some of the fastest growing non-profits! I wonder how they all met?”

“Man, he’s such an inspiration on and off the dance floor…he’s always so positive and he’s a creative genius!”

I’d find myself enmeshed in the world they were living, thinking their lives sounded so exciting and meaningful and wish I was living at a bigger level…the exact opposite of what the deepest spiritual wisdom teaches us!

When we romanticize other people’s lives, we’re usually failing to see our own lives through a similar lens, which means we’re missing out on how great our life already is. It’s another lesson in training our minds to see (and be grateful for) all the amazing things that are already in our life.

When we make a habit of doing this, something transformative happens…we start to fall in love with the life we’re living. We talk about it with more excitement and contentment, which both attracts similar experiences and colors our perception of all of our experiences.

As the desire for more lessens, contentment deepens (though more could come, which is the huge paradox of being content without needing more).

The process of becoming content with “what is” is breaking ego’s constant search for fulfillment through some future activity or change in our experience. It’s breaking ego’s cycle of striving to “get” by showing us there is nothing we lack.

All of which is leading to state of psychological wholeness…one where all there is to do is give away what we have (love in whatever form it’s asked), knowing that what we have and what we give can never be depleted.

In a nutshell, gratitude leads to contentment, which leads to wholeness, which leads to living from the highest state of trust, surrender and acceptance of what is and what’s to come…it’s a state of absolute fearlessness where all that matters is the continuous receipt and extension of love.

Won’t you join me in romanticizing the life we’re already living so that we put away our desire to “get” in favor of giving away all that we have?

To knowing a love that can never be depleted,

Shanna