What Matters Most

The past several days have been hot.... well, maybe not truly or incredibly hot, but certainly a rapid change from the cool Spring temperatures that had been hanging around for awhile. I am not overly fond of the heat and sometimes find myself either very quiet or somewhat inexplicably crabby. Finding this quote at this particular moment was providential.

Different traditions use different words, yet the sentiment is essentially the same. What matters most is not me or the heat or the acquisition of stuff or even my personal happiness. What matters is loving well. For me that means putting aside the pettiness that often creeps into my mind, words and heart. It means looking at the welfare of others first, but not out of a sense of obligation ~ instead out of a sense of love, honoring, devotion.

How fully I live matters. Not whether or not I'm happy or I have everything I could ever want [which never happens]. It's about awareness.... being in the moment, aware of the joy, sorrow, laughter that is life. I believe it also means being aware of the impact of humanity on Mother Earth and understanding that I am a part of that grand circle of all living things.

The last point ~ deeply letting go ~ is probably the most difficult. I like hanging on to the cuts and scrapes my ego has endured ~ and telling everyone how wonderful I am for having endured them. It keeps me hanging on to the negative aspects of people and situations far longer than I ever needed to. What I really need and want to do is experience, breathe in, the fullness of what is happening in the moment and let the rest fall away and into place on its own.

How do you decide if you love well? or live fully? or let go deeply? What do you do if the answer to any of those queries is "no"?