The DAILY SPARK Blog

SUFFERING Vs. FREEDOM

Fear TIMES resistance equals suffering.

Fear TIMES presence equals freedom.

 

Tara Brach

REFLECTION:

  • When you name a fear, it doesn’t have as much control. 
  • When we resist… refuse to accept what is, we suffer.
  • When we become present … accept – “it is what it is” there is a path to freedom.
  • What are you resisting?  
  • How can you presence this situation and open the door to a new freedom.

THE THINKING MIND

The worst things in my life never happened.

Cave and rafting adventure in Paparoa National Park on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island

Quote by Mark Twain

REFLECTION:

  • Fear is an intelligent emotion that has a very important role in our survival.  It is when it takes over that we can’t fully live… we can’t express… we can’t create. Like Mark Twain says, the worst things never happened yet we spend time and energy wasted on scenarios that never happen. 
  • What are you believing when you are in fear?
  • Is there something that is stealing your ‘now?’
  • Stop… breathe and release the tension of what may never be around the corner.

ENTER THE STREAM

It seems we always have a choice:  to remain a builder of fences or to enter the stream and ignore all fences.

FROM: Book of Awakening by Mark Nepo

REFLECTION:

  • Do you build fences to protect yourself?
  • How often do you enter the stream and ignore the fences?
  • What choice are you making today? Are you building a fence or entering the stream?