The Endless Search to Satisfy...

The above photo was found by searching for 'piles of stuff' on google. I seriously found 'piles' of them! Some were not nearly as pretty as the one I posted. Just take a minute and feel the energy of this place...

Feel lost? Overwhelmed? Well I do...as well as a couple other things. But it illustrates what I want to talk about. (See the bottom of the article if that photo left you feeling out of balance looking at all this...)

I found this article recently, about "To Have and to Have Not". It is about not seeing the value in what we really have (i.e. stuff) and our ability to feel happy and satisfied. That Americans really aren't happy when they possess more than most in the world. And those who possess less, are actually far happier than we are! Imagine that! Happier without stuff!

For me this hits home as it is what we live with every day here in America...the mindset that we have...how we feel about ourselves, our own value, what has become ingrained on us, on our children so much so that we have forgotten what true joy is, because we are always feeling "absent" of something...during my process of becoming more spiritually awake and aware, (still ongoing!) this was one of the points that I had to really come to terms with and to see...over and over... Why did I feel such an internal lack? Why was it that I was always personally looking for something outside of me to fill up this void that I was feeling within me all the time? Why did I have that void anyway?

Well, it is what we are told to believe...just turn on your tv...just look at all the stuff you don't have. Look at the commercials telling you to get this or that. Look at how happy everyone is with all of that stuff! Well, not really, they are actors, they are getting paid to look happy. But probably inside that same actor feels that same feeling we do when we look at that commercial--lack.

Look at the attitude of children these days! Mine have not been any exception. They have this endless hunger for things...never feeling truly satisfied with the multitude of their really cool toys that they own. By the way which is a lot! And WAAAAY more than I ever had! They are continually asking for more and more and more, while not even seeing the piles of what they already have filling up the floors...

They see what is on TV and what their friends all have. They see all of these things around them. It is this constant 'seeing' what is around them, what is outside of them, and having this constant focus on the external, forced upon them, that they have no idea, that we have no idea, that all we really want is what we already possess within ourselves. But, that isn't something you can bottle, package, and sell, now is it?

So we had the same problem at our house. Kids who saw everything and wanted it all! So much so that it was literally being tripped all over our house, it made us grumpy as the parents, having to ask to them to pick it up all the time. (i.e. nag) It made them grumpy, having to be asked to pick it up all the time. (i.e. getting nagged) So much so that it really was getting in our way of enjoying each others company. And all this stuff that was at one time so important to have, had really seemed to become meaningless drivel that was just getting in all of our way...So we (as parents) decided that if they really valued it they would take care of it, (i.e. put it away!) and made the decision that they didn't, (since we were all tripping on it!) So we gathered all the toys up in trash sacks and put them in the garage. (Yes, all of it!) This was to let them feel the absence of it, having a space of time to feel the difference of being without it. Without stuff to focus on outwardly, you have to focus on what is inward, this can be uncomfortable at first, but this is the beginning to finding true satisfaction and the connection with your own spirit.

So, we let the kids feel how it felt for a few days to not have this gargantuan mess surrounding them in their rooms, and through the house...you know what...they didn't miss the toys really...they played with simple stuff they found around the house, and in the yard, and each with (gasp) each other! They seemed more satisfied with less. In fact, we got told that they liked not having a messy room. After a few days there were requests for legos, so we brought back some, a small amount to keep it manageable. Oh, yeah, and we ditched the TV! Well not completely, just no more cable. DVD's and video games are still an option, but it is not as often and there isn't the commercial inundation. We figured that if we didn't get rid of the biggest offender of 'stuff' that taking away the other stuff really wouldn't make a difference...

It has now been months, and several toys have come back, (a small fraction, really) but most are still in the sacks to now be given away. We have noticed a difference, and because of this have decided that most of the toys are not going to come back...ever. Because we really don't need more stuff to feel happy, in fact it really is counterproductive to true joy, which comes from connecting with ones own spirit and living in the present, true to our own inner voice that we can hear only when we connect with our own essence.

The clearing of outward stuff is of course--outward. The true changes are inward, so that is really where the work is done. But the awakening process includes all aspects, and really what we have in our outward lives is a mirror of what we have within us. So if the outward is adjusted, it is because we have adjusted something within us, and the outward manifestation must match it, so it shifts, because it all begins with energy.

We are still working on this 'satisfaction' issue, but there has been a shift made, the requests are less, and the appreciation is more. In fact, during Christmas there were only a scant few presents under the tree, but they we chosen carefully, and I feel have overall been much more appreciated than ever in previous years.

The most important part I have found is teaching the children to value themselves, to connect with their own hearts to feel what they are really about, and what they are here to contribute. Once they really feel the connection with themselves they begin to realize, to see that stuff, is really just stuff.

How interesting that yesterday's post was about 'Stuff' as well, but when it is seen through eyes that are connected to a sense of inner connection, it is a completely different kind of stuff, now isn't it?

Here is a nice video of how one can do a simple exercise to turn negatives into positives by Ian of twinflames-twinsouls.net





Now just to balance things I had to put a photo of a neat, tidy office...how does that energy feel? Looks like I am manifesting a clean office here...This came from a Sunset Magazine redo. I actually would really like a desk like this!