Finding Serenity in the Ever-Changing Sea
The joy that comes from surfing the ups and downs of life
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“A great myth about serenity is that it comes when we slow down. Another is that we best cultivate it during meditation, in candlelight, and at placid locales like ponds and meadows. The truth is, we become most serene by syncing up with the ever-changing flow of sensation within our own bodies. And it is a flow.” Raphael Cushnin, Surfing your inner sea
It’s amazing how quickly I can forget that we aren’t here to be stressed out, worried, and fearful all the time… even though I know better.
I remember back to when I had the miraculous healing in 2000 — that I wrote about in What If You Could Skip the Cancer?. The lump was jutting out the side of my breast, my whole body was in pain, and I was nearly at the end of myself in the dark nights of the soul… And then, while in the tub, the lump just opened up and flowed out of me for hours.
During that time, I was in a total state of nirvana. I stood there for 3 hours, although I didn’t experience the passing of time. All I felt was love, joy, and timelessness. I knew that there was nothing to worry about in life. I knew that we were here to experience joy and happiness. I didn’t have to plague my mind with thoughts that had nothing to do with my actual life. I was free to just live… and this joy was flowing through my bones.
This lasted for a while. It was easy to remember that life was really about joy and happiness — that my mind was the only thing that changed this reality. And then, slowly, worry, concern, and fears crept back in. They never had the stronghold that they had before that experience. But they began to seem important for a while.
I love the above quote about finding serenity because it gives me a solid vision as to how to get back to that place of happiness when I have become focused on the fears and concerns of the outside world.
Of course, first, I have to remember that serenity and happiness are my goals. I have to look within and ask if these are truly what I am aiming for. This is important because there are definitely times if you were looking inside my brain, you would be sure that my goals were cleverness, anger, and righteousness……
