Meditation (Jan 2012)

Meditation taken by Martina Steiger, ThD.  

I'm wondering if we are getting close to the point where each one of us is willing to accept the joy and responsibility to make a difference in our world.

What’s the ‘difference’ am I talking about? Forceful change, or top down change, rarely succeeds over time. Significant and lasting change, on the other hand, must begin within each one of us–right here, inside of you and me. Significant and lasting change can only happen on the inside and from the inside/insight-out. Then the change we wish to see out there will be reflected back to us. After all, Mahatma Ghandi’s famous words remind us that we must be the change we wish to see in the world.

What change are you ready, willing and able to make? How can you stop yourself from playing the game, from competing against yourself and others at whatever cost? What change do you wish to see that you can initiate inside of you?
✦    Maybe you begin by appreciating who you are–all those beautiful aspects of your being that you may have taken for granted or tend to dismiss.
✦    Maybe you free up time to celebrate yourself when you focus on what you enjoy and do well. Why not invite more of that into your life?
✦    Maybe you gain a glimpse into how closely connected you are to the world around you by really seeing your dog, cat, or the magnificent monarch butterfly you just spotted on the milkweed outside your window? Listen, what message might it have for you just now?
✦    Maybe you just take the time to breathe and enjoy the present moment. You become aware that the notion of the clock ticking away in the background is only a construct of our mind. Allow yourself the enormous joy and liberty to savour the timelessness of each moment that truly does exist.
What change, I wonder, do you wish to see reflected back to you? What intentions are you setting for yourself?

Meditation taken from Martina Steiger, ThD. The Extra in the Ordinary. Kitchener, ON: Creative Consciousness Transformation, Inc. 2011.   Available at www.martinasteiger.com

(See review of this book)