The Incredible Sweetness of Life
January 13th, 2009 by Ernie
Holly & I just returned from 6 weeks in Mexico – warm beaches, the extraordinary colors of the sea, the love of my woman, new friends and old, playing at water sports and, not least, great eats! It was delightful. Yet more than any of this, there was that abiding peace.
“Ernie” had his ups and downs, physical and emotional challenges, the old self-pity and wanting things to be different. Yet through it all, there was incredible peace. What a gift. How fortunate to be alive to experience it all. It is the aliveness I treasure most, not only the experiences (not all of which were pleasant). But to be ALIVE to experience – that’s the joy, and the source of this sweet peace.
The entire vacation could be a model for a life lived outside of time. On the one hand, there were dashed expectations, unexpected challenges, long hours of free time and the counterpoint of sudden demands – all typical of any human life. But through it all, peace – peace in the understanding that time (and how things turn out) has little to offer someone fully alive and awake.
This is what I’m feeling this beautiful morning! (It’s in the sunny 60s here on the coast in mid -January!) I feel enormous gratitude for life with all its “warts”, and love for everything just because it exists as it is. This must sound pollyanna in words, but in my heart it is as real as sunshine.
Welcome back to your postings; glad to have you writing again!
The image I got reading and re-reading your latest sharing is that it’s like you can see through yourself – alive to what is.
My new year has started with a vision for self care, and being awake to what I do see and choose. I have few words to express this process inside right now.
As always, thanks for sharing!
Ernie,
Welcome back! I loved reading your post and thinking of you and Holly down in Mexico. Even there you are deeply connecting with what is so. Thank you for sharing!