Finding the Sacred In Everyday Life

By Nancy Ballinger

Life is a challenge: meet it.
Life is love; share it.
Life is a dream; realize it.
Life is a game; play it.
                                                                                                                                                                Satya Sai Baba

This month I want to share my reflections about challenges, dreams, love, and playing the game of life.

From growing up in Indiana and being a "Hoosier," there has been a love of basketball in my blood from infancy. That's probably why, when I experienced a MS relapse in early December, I wryly reflected to myself, "I've been benched! The game is going to change now for a while."

Since my mid-twenties I have experienced relapsing-remitting Multiple Sclerosis (MS). I am fortunate to have had a relatively benign experience. Many people have no idea that I have MS. They have only known the physically "healthy" me, who jumps out of airplanes, exercises regularly, and has lots of energy. But there is so much more to me and to all of us than what the eye can see.

We all get "benched" at times in our lives. We lose a loved one, a job, a dream. Our physical, mental, or spiritual health seems to fail us. But, whatever the challenge, it is always what we say to ourselves about it that determines how we meet it.

Family, society, and self-criticism can barrage us with negative messages about our situation. At a time when compassion, self-love, and a larger perspective are so important they are often hard to find. We get caught up in the mind and listen to the voices saying "something is wrong" and we have "fouled-out" of the game.

Most of us have a life plan created by our ego in which we are deeply invested. This plan is generally self-motivated and fear-based, with its limited premises rarely investigated.  We erroneously believe that our well-being is contingent on circumstances going the way we want. Sometimes this belief is mild, but at other times we may genuinely think we will die if we aren't in control of our destiny. We usually don't realize how attached we are to our life plan . . . until it changes.

This is where the game of living has the potential to get really exciting if we are willing to awaken to more options. At this crucial point we have the opportunity to: 1) Get lost in fear and feel victimized, or 2) Realize that our attachments to how things should or should not be are the cause of our pain, and equal obstacles in dealing with how things are. With the second choice, we begin to understand that it is in meeting life's challenges with courage, curiosity, and faith that we are able to clearly perceive life's higher purpose. With this we discover that it is possible to participate and learn from the innate wisdom in life rather than trying to control it.

"Do you have the patience to wait until your mud settles and the water is clear?
Can you remain unmoving until the right action arises by itself?
The master does not seek fulfillment.
Not seeking, not expecting,
she is present and can welcome all things."
                                                                                                                                                                ~Tao Te Ching, Ch.15

We still the mind in meditation by setting aside the barrage of judgments and ideas around how we think things should or should not be. As we do this we are able to hear our inner wisdom in the silence.Through this clear guidance we realize what is true, unchanging, and eternal. As vanity, ego, and judgment fade away, we find the quiet peace that always supports life and is the path to healing. When we live in harmony with inner wisdom and are willing to follow its guidance, we know peace no matter the circumstances. We become less in search of answers and more comfortable with the questions. "How is this challenge a gift in my life?" "How can I share it with others and cooperate with life for the highest good?"

Author and teacher Ellen Grace O'Brian suggests: "Instead of asking for things to be different when facing difficulty, pray to know what is true. Ask to see clearly the way things are. Then it becomes possible to choose to cooperate with the highest good."

I'm guessing some readers are thinking "I don't have inner wisdom or I wouldn't be in the situations or confusion I find myself in."  The teachers of all great spiritual traditions say we don't have to be smart to know truth. They speak to the simplicity that is called for in finding the inner wisdom present in all of life. (Yes, even within you!).  This inner intelligence can be seen all around us.  When we realize our place in nature, we can be assured that there is an order and intelligence to our life as well.

In addition to inheriting a love of basketball from my family, a propensity for worry was also passed along. For me, meditation is the one thing I have found that quiets my anxious, chatter-box-mind. Being still, quieting the mind, and resting in the willingness to ask and listen for the highest good in any situation allows me to have a "curiosity about" rather than "attachment to" outcome.

Practice This

Stop after reading this paragraph and close your eyes, focusing your attention on your breath. You can count "1" on the in-breath and "2" on the out-breath. If you don't want to try that, quiet your mind—just for an instant looking lovingly at a hummingbird outside the window. Each time a thought interrupts your peace return to the counting of breath 1-2-1-2 or the wings of the hummingbird. Feel the peace that is possible when the mind is still . . . and resting in the sacredness of each moment. Now go play!

Sunday Sacred Celebrations at Awakening

1st Sunday of each month 10:00 a.m. Live music, meditation, inspirational message

Jan. 2 "Step Consciously into the New Year" Feb. 6 "Real Love" Awakening Interfaith

If you are looking for a loving, safe place to find the sacred in everyday life, Reverend Nancy Ballinger offers spiritual guidance counseling. With over 20 years as a licensed marriage and family therapist and studies in Eastern and Western philosophies she brings a unique, open perspective to her counseling. Sliding scale fee.

Rufous Hummingbird image on banner by Mike Baird.