In my last post, I explained Abraham Maslow’s concept of “Peak Experiences” and how they act as guideposts to help improve our lives. As a segue, I’d like to talk about what I call the “Upward Spiral”—as opposed to, of course, the downward spiral. The peak experience offers what may be the healthiest addiction a person may ever hope to acquire. If we are willing, it can be the fuel for moving us to a life of profundity and purpose, as we realize our potential.
Surfing the Waves of Self-Discovery
The strange thing about explaining the ups and downs of re-programming our minds is that everyone is already “surfing” the ups and downs of life’s cycles. The difference with someone who has worked to develop—or more accurately, “re-discover”— their intuitive nature through contemplative practices is that they have a vantage point to view their life from that wasn’t utilized before. This intuitive context enables us to comprehend situations more holisticly, instead of simply seeing them through our conditioned intellect.
It’s like when all of a sudden Luke Skywalker started getting better with the force. He was strong with the force his whole life, but he didn’t realize it until he heard about it from Obi-Wan Kenobi and began training himself to become more in tune with it. Or like when suddenly Neo, from the movie “The Matrix”, realized he could “feel” his surroundings. The effort these characters expended in practice, gave way to a deep sense of trust in their innate abilities. What was originally the most difficult thing they’d ever attempted… became effortless.
As Muhammad Ali so famously quipped “float like a butterfly, sting like a bee”… that’s the essence of flowing with life instead of against it. What I believe Muhammad Ali was getting at is the idea of energy conservation. Once we realize that the cycles of life can be—at least somewhat—anticipated, we can let go and go with the waves. We can approach the trough of the waves with less drag, which means less energy wasted. And, once we’re at a peak again, we can enjoy it with more presence.
The Power of Focused Energy
As we “let go” of negativity, and allow the waves to pass unchallenged, we build more and more energy until we are flowing naturally with the waves. There’s a natural alignment to our lives as we become so ridiculously positive that negative people don’t even want to be around us—and when they do come around, we know what’s up. This period is challenging, to say the least, as it requires a relentlessly honest look at your entire life—a complete re-examination of your perspective and all your belief systems.
As your contemplative practice becomes deeper, the awareness you bring into everything you do will become more acute. You will realize things about your behavior that you won’t like, but you’ll also be more equipped to change your behavior. As you progress, it’s important to develop an ideal personal vision for yourself and your life to guide your habits towards where you want to go. The clearer your vision is, the better it is, as you will waste less energy. So in a sense, through contemplative practices, we can start getting a handle on the “cat and mouse” game that we generally play with ourselves and become better “referees” for what we will allow in our behavior.
On my journey, I have struggled to replace habits that weren’t serving me anymore with new and more positive ones. These positive habits, no matter how small, have worked in a compounding way which has completely altered my ability to focus and be present with whatever I’m working on. Overall, I am much more calm and clear-headed. That is not to say I never get caught up in bad habits anymore, but when I do, I accept them more readily and I can consciously decide if I am ready to tackle the task of replacing them with a new habit.
Getting Started is the Hardest Part
The most difficult part of meditation is the beginning phase because we aren’t sure of what we’re doing and it may not seem like anything is happening. My advice is to keep it interesting and have fun with it, or you may not stick with it. Try different forms of meditation such as candle gazing, add in a bit of journaling, or meditate in different places. Get creative! And whatever you do, don’t dismiss it, as it has the potential to transform your life.
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