When Life Hands You a Gift - Moments that Change Everything
A Twist on “Home Is Where the Heart Is”
The more I practice my own brand of health and awareness, the more open it allows me to be to receive what I’ve come to know as the real gifts of life: moments of inspiration that shift my outlook and increase my appreciation of life. These flashes of inner enlightenment, like the one that started my health journey many years ago that I write about in my book, are what many spiritual practices are aimed at making us more receptive to. I have found that my later life is an abundant time of this kind of inspiration. A recent “flash” might be a bit difficult to wrap your head around, but it has made a huge difference in recentering myself whenever I feel a bit lost or not grounded.
A few weeks ago, when I stepped into my home in London after a long day of traveling from New York, I said to myself, “I’m home.” But I had a strange sensation when those words entered my mind. It was a visceral feeling inside me, centered around my solar plexus, that I am home no matter where I am, because my body is my true home. My body and mind are what give me the ability to live and to appreciate who I am wherever I am. They are the places where memory and sensation reside, not the physical walls of my house. I appreciate the security, surroundings, comfort, and beauty of my home and wherever I find myself, yet I realized that the feeling of “being home” is a two-way street that depends on what I bring to those places. The emotional experience of “being home” live as much inside of me as outside.
I can tap into this feeling of being at home in my body by stopping what I’m doing, taking a breath, and letting myself experience the simple yet awesome wonder of life, of being alive. It doesn’t depend on where I am. It redefines me as who I am—body, mind, and soul—in the present moment as well as in any place I find myself, such as a city park, coffee shop, or gym. I have now practiced this small act of tapping into my awareness in quite a few situations, and it seems to work whenever I do. This small practice brings freshness and clarity to whatever reality I find myself in.
And it has now repeated itself in my other “homes”, in New York City and on Long Island. They are all special places to me, but my body and senses are what make specialness happen.
A few weeks ago, I wrote about my Bucket List which expressed how I seek to redefine every day, and every moment, as if it were a new life, full of wonder, and how I try and appreciate the opportunity to experience life, health, and being alive for those 24 hours. This “being home” practice is similar, only in the many moments of that 24-hour day, I’m bringing my awareness back to the center of myself, the place where I live. For me it is a subtle shift that changes everything else. Listening to, and trusting, these messages that my body sends me has been my greatest teacher. Try this small, easy practice in awareness and see if it resonates with you.
