Mary O’Malley – I live in a magical garden which includes a 158-year-old maple tree, multiple bonsai, numerous birds, a rainbow of flowers and a lovely koi pond. The pond has a magical waterfall, bog gardens, which contain a variety of delightful water plants and a school of goldfish, which are continuing to thrive over the years. They are so happy in this pond that every year they have a baby or two, which speaks to the deep peace of this place.

Most every evening I go out to the pond to sit quietly and drink in its presence. If my mind is busy from the day, I oftentimes close my eyes and focus my attention on listening to the constant and ever-changing communications of nature – the music of the waterfall, the chatter of the birds, the buzz of a dragonfly, the sound of the wind in the trees.

As I place all my focus on listening, my mind quiets down and past and future fade away along with any stories about life. With no filters between myself and the moment, what reveals itself is a brand new moment of life.

As I write these words, my whole being is expanding into the joy that comes when we are simply here for life. And yet, most of the time, we aren’t. We think about life rather than experiencing it. Our minds are wonderful and necessary tools for maneuvering through reality, but our thoughts are not reality. Instead, they are filled with ideas about reality and they put a veil between ourselves and life.

You can learn how to use your mind rather than being lost in its constant commentary. I invite you to explore a very simple way to unhook from the world of thought so you can be fully here for life. In a few moments, the invitation will be to close your eyes and just listen.

You may not be in nature like I am at the pond but still, every sound you will hear is the music of your life – the furnace going on, a car door slamming, a human voice in another room, a gurgle in your stomach, an airplane overhead. Because our attention is captured by our thoughts most all the time, tumbling from one to another all day long, it can be helpful to count how many different sounds you hear. So now pause, close your eyes and for a minute or so, put all your attention on listening so you can hear life rather than think about it.

Now, one of four things happened. You didn’t do this and that is okay. Oftentimes our minds are so addicted to being busy that they resist slowing down enough to make contact with life. You also may have tried really hard to do this right and found yourself judging yourself for not doing it right enough. Or you may have noticed some sounds then your attention got caught in the world of thought again and then you came back to the sounds. And finally, you may have become one with the music of your life for the whole time. Please know that very few people have the capacity to unhook fully from thinking, so their attention can be here for life.

Whatever happened, it was exactly what needed to be. In that non-judgment, you will be able to take away from this little exercise the truth – there are your stories about life and then there is life. If it calls to you to open more to life, give yourself the gift of at least a few minutes every day where you put your attention on listening and even if your attention wanders back into your thoughts over and over again, simply bring your attention back to the music of life. And if you only hear the sounds a few times, no need to be frustrated or even judge yourself. You’ve been captured by thought most of your life.

Also, every time you notice you are again paying attention to your thoughts and you bring your attention back to the sounds, you are strengthening your muscle of focused attention and as that muscle gets stronger, it becomes easier to use thought when you need it but then to let it go and be here for life.

Are you willing to give yourself the gift of listening to life? This willingness to pay attention to life through listening to the music it provides can transform your life.

SF Source Mary O’Malley Aug 2019