What Do You Really Want?

"Happiness is your nature. It is not wrong to desire it. What is wrong is seeking it outside when it is inside."

Ramana Maharshi

As we enter the first week of the New Year, perhaps we have made some intentions or set some goals for 2024 that we feel will give us the feeling of harmony and satisfaction that we long for in our lives. A great question to ask ourselves

as we begin a new cycle of 365 days, and another trip around the sun, is 'What do I really want in my life, right Now'? Not next month, after you do this or attain that; not next year after you have worked hard enough; and not five years from now after you have reached all of your goals and consider yourself worthy of what you really want. I'm talking about RIGHT NOW. Because you might begin to notice that, RIGHT NOW is all you ever have. Why not take a few moments right Now, to close your eyes and bring this great question to yourself; 'What do I really want in my Life, here and now? Let yourself be Still for a few breaths and allow the answer to percolate up from your deepest heart - that part of you that already knows exactly what you need to be happy and at ease in your life.

As this knowing arises, bring it to just one word. For instance, if what you really long for is to be at peace in every moment of your life, bring your focus to the word 'peace', and begin to repeat it on your out-breath with great focus and a feeling of devotion. You might also lift your interior gaze up, so that it feels your looking out through your forehead. Do this for at least a minute (or longer if you're so inclined), and see what happens. What you might begin to notice is that the feeling of whatever your word is, begins to arise very powerfully within you as you repeat it. If your longing is for peace, and you repeat that word to yourself with gentle but sustained focus, the feeling of peace will make itself known to you very quickly. In this we see that what we truly long for is already a part of who we are, and we don't have to wait for it or try and find it in the outer world (usually by 'doing' something). The reason that this is so transforming, is because (as Quantum Physics has proven); whatever our predominate feeling is, that will attract more experiences and people into our lives that will amplify, and give us more of that feeling.

So for instance, right Now (and remember, there's only right Now), if your predominant feeling is joy, then that feeling will act like a magnet that will attract more to feel joyful about into your life. What this means is; we are always 100% responsible for what is going on in our lives, and this internal feeling is what is creating our outer reality. So, asking the great question, 'What Do I Really Want Right Now' is a powerful way to keep us focused on what we want, rather than thinking about what we don't want, or what we seem to lack or how dreadful our life is (which only makes it more dreadful). As soon as we let go of trying to get something 'out there' that is already inside us, the satisfaction and joy of our own Being reveals itself without any effort on our part, and the outer conditions begin to reflect that inner-feeling. All that we have to do is stay focused on what we really want, and align all of our actions, words and thoughts in the direction of that intention. In this way, w come home to what is already present within us, as us, in this present moment.