Simplicity.  A word we don’t hear much in this overly complicated, chaotic, non-stop world.

Wait.  Let’s go back to the beginning.

We are human beings.  We are alive.  We have five senses.  We can see beautiful things. We can feel happiness, sadness, joy, laughter, love, heartbreak, fear, confidence, etc.  We can smell flowers and fresh baked chocolate chip cookies.  We can listen to the beautiful music, and we can create beautiful music.  We can enjoy the taste of a perfectly ripe pear, or a warm brownie straight out of the oven, or an extremely greasy and fattening but incredibly delicious cheesesteak.  We have thoughts and feelings.  We have the capability to learn and grow and change.  We have the ability to make an impact on this ever-growing world, to change the world and the future of humanity.

Just stop and think about how amazing it is that all of this exists.  Think about how amazing it is that we are alive and the abilities that inherently exist in human beings.  Then think about the things that we have created and built with our power.

Maybe I’m just an optimist, but all of this is pretty freaking incredible in my mind, mind-blowing even.  I was always one of those kids wondering “Why is the sky there” and “Why are people people” and infinitely infinite questions.

Inevitably, all of these amazing things that are inherently built into human beings have two sides.  Human beings as a society have an enormous amount of power.  We are all uniquely built, full of unique thoughts, feelings, opinions, appearances, and ideas.  We can use our power for the better or for the worse.

So, there will always be negatives to go along with the positives.  Just as there are beautiful sights and smells and sounds, there are also terrible sights and smells and sounds.  Just as we can feel the incredible uplifting power of love, we can feel the stinging pain of a fresh heartbreak.  There would be no happiness without sadness, no fear without confidence, no weakness without strength.

We must embrace and accept life as it is.  Life is a beautiful thing.  It’s imperfect and changing.  There’s good and bad moments.  But it is what it is.  We just need to learn to accept every moment for what it is and learn to accept the flaws and imperfections because without those moments the beautiful moments could not exist.

I’ve come to learn that the simplest things are the best of things.  This is one of the reasons why I’ve fallen in love with meditation. It doesn’t matter where I am or how I am feeling, I am always able to come back to the breath and the stillness where I can find my calm. We are always going to have intense thoughts and emotions, both good and bad. There will inevitably be both good and bad experiences, good and bad days. The difference is the understanding and acceptance of this fact. These emotions and experiences are a part of being alive. Every moment is entirely different from the last, and uniquely beautiful. No matter how bad or good something may seem, it always comes back to the simplicity. The beauty, the happiness, the joy, life happens in this moment. When you stop and slow down for a moment, you remember how truly amazing and beautiful life is.

By overthinking and multitasking we destroy the purity of the moment, the purity of life. We endlessly watch moments and possibilities pass us by. Instead of solely focusing on one thing, we seem to feel a need to split our attention. We seem to find it necessary to live by clocks and timing, even in free time. We feel the need to be constantly busy and distracted. We get so stuck in routine, seeing things in the same way, doing things the same way, we don’t realize how much we’re missing.

So stop.

Slow down.

Breathe.

…

Stop looking for something better, stop waiting for or obsessing about a future event, a future moment, or experience. Stop reliving the past.

This is your life. It’s happening RIGHT NOW.

So I come back to the simplicity. I put my focus on one sense. This is where I find true peace, true happiness.

When I get that creative spark and start painting or drawing for hours without worrying about the time, just dedicating myself to my passion in that moment, I feel an inner sense of warmth and strength. Sitting with my headphones in listening to my favorite tunes, hearing the infinitely unique beautiful sounds created by other humans, I get that same sense. As I’m standing in the crowd at a concert of one of my favorite singers, watching everyone around me falling in love with the moment just as much as me, I realize I’ll never have this same moment again, and I realize THIS is happiness. I am present.

Soul Meets Body