Johanna’s Week 16


What we put out into the world

Life is like a boomerang. What we send out is what we get back. Who we choose to be, how we handle things, what decisions we make, and how we interact with others. Depending on how we handled things, it will either come back and bite us or it will come back to us as love.

It might sound a bit new agey, but actually isn’t it just common sense? Isn’t it in fact quite a logical sentiment? Cause and effect. So what is keeping us from going about our lives in a zenlike manner as the enlightened teachers like Gandhi and Mother Teresa did? Well, to somehow achieve a zen-centeredness and a peaceful way of living requires letting go of our egos.

The world we live in feed the ego. Everything including ”the good life” is buyable and it is easy to get lost in what is expected of us; you know, what we think is the right way compared to what we truly, deeply and most profoundly want in life. Since there’s always something more we can get, we are never fulfilled nor happy. The ego makes us trust our fears, and unconsciously if not constantly monitored they make us live ”a safe life”. But is that ”safe life” a life that actually matters?

For me life is about living in peace, being content no matter what’s going on, to be present in every moment, to love and to serve. Of course it isn’t a possibility to be, do and achieve all that every second of every day. I am far from being a saint, nor am I an enlightened master, but this is what I am striving for. It’s what makes me happy. It’s the simple things. It’s not what I can get, but what I can do. I believe in releasing the need, because if there is no need, there is no loss. It is the most natural thing in life, yet it is a constant battle. It is a daily choice of letting go of expectations, fears, and the ego’s need to achieve. Basically it is all that we grow up to believe and take on that we need to peel off. But for every step I take in that direction, I feel a shift towards a happier life.

Because,

How can we be loved if we don’t send out love first?

How can we find peace if we don’t start by being peace ourselves?

How can we expect generosity and abundance if we don’t give?

How can we expect kindness if we are not kind ourselves first?

How can we expect a good world, if we don’t start doing good ourselves?

In times like these when there is so much darkness and hate in the world I feel it is more important than ever to start with ourselves. We can’t ask of others what we don’t do or live up to ourselves. It is about stepping out of our own way and to choose a different path. It’s about relinquishing the ego. It’s about letting go of past conditioning and fears – and to take a daring first step. It doesn’t matter if it concerns our personal lives, our professional lives, the world of politics or diplomatic efforts for world peace. As Martin Luther King Jr said:

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

Love, Johanna.

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