Relax, Reframe, Reclaim

Your sacred work in this lifetime is to develop the awareness to recognize the interconnectedness and oneness of all things. This is called One Life Awareness, which can be understood as a transcendence of dualistic thinking, or a shift from the relative notion of All That Is to an absolute knowing of All That Is.  You develop this awareness when you realize that your everyday perspective is the product of dualistic thinking, separating yourself from your external world. This separation is used as a strategy to protect the ego, and to promote the belief that changing “inside” thinking causes change in the “outside” experience and therefore you are completely in charge of your outside experiences.
Perception does shape your experience, and even while knowing that there truly is no fundamental separation between your self and your world, your perception of your self and your world has impact on your experience of both self and world. Meditation and contemplative practices can alter your perception of your “outside” world as well as your perception of your “inside” self, but this does not arise out of a strategic or deliberate effort. That is, you cannot try to change yourself or change the world in order to achieve some state or result. Changes must unfold naturally if they are to ultimately support you in transcending dualistic thinking. Changes to the inside or the outside are not linear or causal, there is only a simple unfolding of awareness and realization.
You have probably discovered at some point in your life, that having a so-called positive attitude can make the world seem a bit brighter. You have probably also tried to change your world by overlaying this positive attitude upon it. All of this seems appropriate, and we would say is appropriate. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t work. We suggest that it works best when you are relaxed and unattached. You need to be able to hold the notion that your perception can alter the experience while also recognizing your experience simultaneously can alter your perception of the experience. And most importantly it is all a matter of the interdependency of All That Is—One Life--and that which naturally arises.
So your sacred work in this lifetime is to develop One Life Awareness, and there is no recipe to accomplish One Life Awareness because is not a goal that can be achieved. It arises naturally, and what you choose to do in the belief that you can promote One Life Awareness must be free of all conceptualization and strategy.
RELAX
The first step is to relax. Your sacred work does not utilize goals or deadlines or evaluations. Just pay attention to your thoughts and notice if they are negative or self-critical or self-defeating. Acknowledge your perspective. Without judgment, take a step back and ask if these thoughts are truths, are present right here and now, or kind. If they do not have truth, presence, or kindness, ask yourself to let them go. Do this with grace and ease. And Relax.
REFRAME
Reframing a perception of a situation involves changing the way you interpret a particular thought, event, or circumstance. You start with asking yourself if there are alternative ways of seeing what is before you. The more perspectives you consider, the better. You want to encourage a fluid sense of perspective, not a fixed one.
You can often identify whether there are any cognitive distortions that might be contributing to the current perception in a way that does not serve you. This might be all-or-nothing thinking, overgeneralization, jumping to conclusions, and catastrophizing. Learn to recognize these distortions in your thinking, and then let that recognition help you to reduce emotional reactivity.
With mindfulness and a heart full of gratitude, let the seemingly positive flow and the seemingly negative fade. Reframe anything that comes up for you and trust the arising perspective as one that is in service to your expanding awareness.
RECLAIM
Lastly, reclaim who you really are. That means remember you are one with All That Is. Everything is impermanent, nothing stays the same. All is truly well, you are loved. The self and the world are one without separation. Always return to this knowing whenever you get lost in your thoughts, “the inside,” or lost in the activities, “the outside.” One Life is all there is, so when you do your sacred work, relax, reframe and reclaim who you are.