Confirmation - Living a New Awareness

(Photographs of the deer and Feathered Pipe Ranch by Anne Jablonski.)

Today I move with a new confidence; I let myself exist as a living confirmation of truth.

Someone very dear to me became distressed when he saw two people - a woman and a man - shifting through the trash for food. He had stopped at a gas station after deer hunting in an area that gets cold and snowy, so his vision of two other human beings in a state of wanting distressed him even more. His upset was compounded by the fact that despite a long day of effort, neither he nor his hunting companion had seen any deer. He was hungry, tired and cold himself.

The desperate couple before him, reduced to digging in a trash bin for scraps rattled him. Were they not direct evidence that there is an inherent lack of resources, that all of us should struggle and push or we might literally starve to death?

I became intrigued myself by the situation and sought to make the necessary mental shift to view the situation of hunger and lack - sometimes as it affects us, sometimes as we see it affecting others - differently. Around the same time, I read a post by Erich Schiffmann from his website addressing the same question. Erich wrote:

"Here we are in the middle of this predicament… and now what? And in the midst of figuring this out simultaneously having to feed, clothe and shelter ourselves—or suffer the consequences. And most of the time, it seems, we get so caught up in the survival side of things that we largely forget or ignore the initial question. But my feeling is the clearer we get on the “What’s going on?” question, the easier it will be to attend to the other needs." (http://movingintostillness.yuku.com/topic/7636)

It occurs to me that the struggle for survival plays out our worst fears about what will happen if we allow ourselves to make the mental shift; we are terrified that if we turn to the truth, to what is happening, it will be ugly. Surely we will starve, because from a "survival of the fittest" stand point we are orphaned, on our own out there.

It is time to stop letting those in a state of struggle around us reinforce our worst fears, and instead allow them to point out for all of us the strength of our own compassion. The compassion is the evidence that we are never alone, that there is never a time when we are abandoned. There are plenty of resources to attend to all our needs here, an evident abundance even on the days when the deer are scarce. As we turn to a new compassion for others, the couple digging in the trash, ourselves, everyone, we will find the confidence in the abundance that is always there.

When we are confident that there is enough, we will be more willing to share with others. Giving to others will never decrease the amount we have for ourselves. The irony is the more we contract, and grab what we perceive as scarce for us and ours, the more bleak matters will appear. Hording creates the perception of scarcity without fail.

Yes, digging through the trash is what fear looks like - it is an act of desperation. As much as possible the thing to do is to soothe the world and those around us when they become desperate, to let go of the resources we ourselves enjoy and distribute those resources to the best of our ability to those in need.

Then we will escape the more common psychological trash bin where we often find ourselves trapped. When we think there is not enough we feel deprived and we grab, desperate for what we are really worried about not getting - enough love. In that state of perceiving ourselves as orphaned - afraid and alone - we are forced to rely on a false independence. It's helpful to make the shift, to realize everyone is not out to get me, hurt me, take away love. When we shift we feel the supreme waves of an ocean of love through and around us; it's as if we're taking a bath in a love that is plentiful and never ending.

Abundance is real. The trick is to remain confident in that truth. When we slip we feel a tightening, pain and despair - a feeling tone that is clearly incorrect. Confidence is our knowing beyond belief, that the love and compassion are there within us, that ultimately they will melt our skepticism and denial.

Today is a day of confirmation.