The Synergy Game - A Journey From Death to Life
Chapter 14 - Beyond Belief: Finding Connection in the Universe and Ourselves
This is my book The Synergy Game.
I am serialising it here a chapter a week. Each chapter will be available for everyone to read because, after all, that’s why I’ve written it, to help others, to share what has helped me to rebuild my life.
Chapter 14 - Beyond Belief: Finding Connection in the Universe and Ourselves
"The universe is not outside of you. Look inside yourself; everything that you want, you already are."
Rumi
For most of my life I had believed in God. A judgmental almighty god in charge of everything.
I don't believe that anymore but I do believe in a higher power, a creator, a source. I have found that believing in something outside of myself has been a comfort and a strength. I have concluded that it doesn't matter what you believe in, everyone seems to have different ideas, and that's ok, we all have the right to our own beliefs.
It amazes me that now I am not entirely sure of what the higher power consists of, I feel closer and more connected to it than ever.
I feel it when I walk in the forest, when I touch my favourite tree and when I'm in my garden. I feel very connected when I sit in meditation and sometimes when I listen to a beautiful piece of music.
Since I stopped believing in what I'd been told to believe and decided for myself what I wanted to think, what felt right I've become more mindful, and I notice more, and I think that's what connects me.
My intuition has always been good, but it's like a muscle: the more you use it, the stronger it gets. So now I use it all the time. I live my life by it. I don't second guess myself much anymore; I go with my first thought, and that is my connection.
It's a connection to my higher self, to my subconscious. It's made me realise why I feel so good when I slow down and walk in the forest, when I take time to chat to the big fluffy black cat who comes to visit just when I need a bit of extra love, and why watching the birds on the feeder in my garden brings me this joy. It's because I am connecting with my truest self, the real me, the one I was too busy to know before.
I think that’s all connection is really; it's slowing down so we can notice things, notice what's going on around us, instead of living the same life every day mindlessly because that's what we have always done.
Once we slow down, everything changes. Gratitude becomes second nature because we notice more to be grateful for, and we see how amazing the small things are.
We realise how much time we have for what's important, and we start to be more discerning about how we use our time. We become choosier about who we spend time with, in real life and in our virtual lives too. We do this because we have time to see instead of the constant hamster wheel of life we've been unthinkingly on.
Once we see the truth that we are all connected, everything in nature is connected, we feel less alone. It becomes easy to find comfort in nature, in a forest, in the garden or with an animal. The first sense we often use when we meet someone or see something for the first time is our eyes, our seeing sense. An animal uses energy, they sense your energy first. When we learn this fabulous skill that animals have naturally, it opens up a whole new world and we see more clearly.
This was brought home several years ago in a dramatic way. I was in France but had been bitten by a street dog in Bangkok a few months earlier. I had gone from never being afraid of an animal to fearing dogs, even small, adorable, gentle ones. I would shake and feel sick, and it took a few years for me to get over this.
One day, I was out with my daughter and her friend. They both love animals, but my daughter’s friend, Rose, has a special connection with them. We went past a house, and a dog came up to us. It came up to me and started to growl, and the hairs on the back of its neck stood up.
I was terrified, and Rose saw this and called the dog over. It immediately went over to her, wagging its tail, and she petted it. Without me doing anything, the dog had sensed my fear and Rose's love.
Whether you believe in a god or gods, angels, spirit guides or anything else, the point is the connection. That knowing there is something deep within yourself that is part of everything else in the universe. I think that is a comfort on the dark days, to know you are not alone. That there is another part of you, a truer part, that always was and always will be.
Connection can be used as guidance, too, and a way to access our intuition. I sit in meditation every day, and because I am still and willing to listen and be guided, I am. I don't even know if it's a higher power, spirit guides, ancestors, angels, god or just another part of me, a higher version of me, but it doesn't matter. I'm comfortable not knowing and just having faith that there is something bigger than my physical human body guiding me if I choose to tap into it.
It's comforting to know we are not alone, and it explains a lot, especially when we take time to study nature. Even standing and watching a river is a connection to source. We can have connection in so many ways, but one of the easiest is when we are out in nature. Sometimes, I like to just stand still and listen and absorb.
Meditation is another way. It's all about stillness, being mindful and slowing down, and this requires definite thinking about and even planning because it's so easy to just keep rushing from one thing to the next. What I do is I have definite times. I meditate every day for twenty to thirty minutes. When I walk in the forest, I make myself slow down and look at things.
The other connection that's important is connection with others. I've always been quite a loner and although I've had good friends over the years, my experiences have made me solitary, and I often isolate myself, which is not always healthy.
There are times when it is important to be alone, and the ability to be happy on your own is a sign of strength, but it can turn into isolation if we are not careful. It can become a feeling of only wanting to rely on yourself and not trusting others. I learned important lessons around that which I talked about in the chapter on friends.
Connection with others enriches our lives not just in our personal life but in our work and business life too. We have not been designed to go it alone and to figure out everything on our own. We need other people. It took me many years to understand that.
It all makes sense, though, when we realise that we are all connected, us, animals, nature, the creative source, everything. The sooner we all realise the importance of this, the better everything will be, socially and environmentally.
Previous Chapter - Nature's Embrace: Healing and Transformation Through the Seasons of Life
Next Chapter - Words As Anchors: The Transformative Power of Quotes in Life's Storms
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