While we may feel like we are the operators of our bodies, the truth is that we are temporary inhabitants. I am watching the Todd show, and you are watching the you show. If you think you’re in control, just try to stop thinking for 5 minutes. 

We do not control our heartbeat or digestion. We don’t have to do anything for our hair and nails to grow. Similarly, we are not in control of the thoughts that pop into our head, the memories we keep, nor the emotions we feel. When we understand this, we can stop trying to control our lives and we can start letting life happen for us.

The only thing we can do as the inhabitant/witness/watcher is to choose where we put our attention and focus. We can practice developing even deeper concentration so that our mind becomes still and peaceful. Meditation is a great way to do that, and the discipline we develop by establishing a consistent meditation practice will even lead to more self-discipline in every other aspect of our lives. The one thing that I suggest to everyone who is making meditation a part of their lives is to never skip it. Here’s why.

When we allow our mind to wander aimlessly, our lives can feel aimless. When our minds are chaotic, we feel chaotic. And when our minds get lost in past memories or some imagined future, we feel lost in the present moment. Whenever we feel like our life is chaotic, fighting that chaos will only create more inner conflict. Here’s how we can make peace with our chaos.

Life is challenging enough as it is without carrying the weight of the whole world’s past and future on our shoulders. When we just focus on this moment, when we tend to this moment with sacred care and reverence, and when we stay firmly rooted in the here and now, nothing can ever overwhelm us because we are only handling what we are able to handle in each moment.

We cannot be our past because the past does not exist. Thus we cannot be defined by our mistakes and failures, nor successes and achievements. Everything we are is right here and right now. Everything that ever was and ever will be exists right now, either as embers of the past or seeds for the future.

You are simply the miracle of life made manifest in this moment. You are part of the perfection in our perfect universe. When we identify as the doer/operator, we feel small, separate, fearful and stressed. We feel like the entire world is on our shoulders and the pressure can crush us. 

But when we watch our thoughts and emotions, we create a peaceful space within us. We gain a bigger perspective and we can simply appreciate the grand design of the cosmos, with all its complexities, with all its chaos, because we see how everything fits together in perfect balance and harmony.