Finding the Joy in The Journey

“When you lose touch with your inner stillness, you lose touch with yourself. When you lose touch with yourself, you lose yourself in the world.” Eckhart Tolle, Stillness Speaks

Have you ever found yourself caught up in an ever diminishing cycle of anger, sadness or despair? The harder you look for a way out the deeper you sink into the feeling? The more frantically you work the more work there seems to be? Sometimes in life we get so caught up in doing the daily tasks in the home and at work we stop noticing the most important thing, our connection with our self.

When was the last time you felt at peace with yourself and the world, totally in the flow of life? Well, today’s the day to reconnect with that sense of peace and to knowing that, even if you feel disconnected from it, the flow of life is all around you. All you need to do is allow yourself to let go of the attachment to any specific outcome. But how do you do that when you are already so caught up in the chaos that is your current thinking? That’s a great question!

In everyday life it is so easy to get caught up in the ‘doing’ of things, the drive to the destination, the achievement of the goal or task. We are so busy doing tasks or thinking about the past or the future, we don’t enjoy the experience of now or the life we are spending getting to the outcome we have chosen.

Have you ever been so caught up in your thoughts that you miss the whole journey home from the office – you can’t remember driving through all the suburbs along the way, stopping at traffic lights or seeing people on the side of the road? In fact, you can’t remember anything at all! It’s a wonder we even get there safely and sometimes we don’t.

The reality is we spend a great deal of our time thinking about the past or the future – planning, worrying about foreseeable problems in our minds and rehashing past regrets that we waste the present moment, the conversation with someone we love, our children showing us their painting or talking about something that is important to them. We miss the sunsets, the smell of the rain, the sound of the birds in the trees outside, the feel of a gentle breeze on our skin. We miss the joy in the journey of life because we are so absorbed in everything but the present moment.

So how do we bring ourselves into the present moment, letting go of all outside ‘noise’ the worries we create in our daily lives, the experiences of the past and the anticipation of our future? The answer is simple; do not, however, mistake this for easy. Though once mastered the gift is immense and well worth cultivating.

The stillness within, allows us to be in the present moment and notice the things that truly matter. Here I will outline one way to find this inner peace using your breath. I am sure, however, there are as many ways as there are people on the planet and you will find the perfect path for you. Chances are that if you are reading this article you are ready to reconnect with your inner stillness and live in the present moment, and something here will lead you on the perfect path. Know that your inner stillness that allows you to live in the present moment always resides within; we have just forgotten temporarily how to find or connect with it.

One very simple way to reconnect is to take time to breath focusing on your breath as thoughts come up just letting them go and refocusing just on your breath. To begin with you may like to do this just for a few minutes at the beginning and end of your day, maybe just as you wake and as you drift off to sleep.

You will find that stillness and peace can be found in any moment and does not only exist when there is external quiet or calm. You need no props or special places to practice being present in the moment, connecting to your inner peace and stillness. All that is required is a desire to rediscover that place. Give yourself the gift of living in the moment and you will truly discover that the joy is in the journey not the destination.

Lenore Miller is the Creator and Founder of http://www.outrageouslyhealthy.com She brings together both tools of the conscious and unconscious mind to help you create the Outrageously Healthy Life you deserve. You can listen to Lenore’s expert interviews by becoming a FREE member of outrageouslyhealthy.com, where you will hear authorities speak on everything from fuelling your body and exercising efficiently, to motivation and having a wardrobe that has you feeling fabulous. She also offers you the opportunity to work at an unconscious level by participating in group and individual coaching calls.

Lenore is a Keynote Speaker, Result Coach and NLP Practitioner and she holds a Bachelor of Social Science and a Diploma in Relationship counselling.