“Until somebody told you you wouldn’t be happy unless you were loved, you were perfectly happy. You can become happy not being loved, not being desired by or attractive to someone. You become happy by contact with reality. That’s what brings happiness, a moment-by-moment contact with reality. That’s where you’ll find God; that’s where you’ll find happiness. But most people are not ready to hear that.” ~ Anthony de Mello
Oh what happy and reassuring words, and oh how I wish I had heard and heeded them in my twenties! Oh well, absolutely no regrets. We know better, we do better, we are better. All those years of thinking and wishing and assuming that someone else would complete or improve or even complement my existence – my, it almost feels like a waste.
Almost.
Because that was my life in its formative years, in those years when music meant the most, when fragrances were at their most potent, when the emotions felt more powerful and overwhelming than they would ever feel. I’m glad for that. Some of my friends claim to miss it, but I think what they really miss is the uncomplicated way we could live our lives at such a time. I think they miss their youth. That’s understandable. The great realization of coming to live in the moment is that the feeling of youth that I think some of them miss is entirely within grasp again.
Tripping over my words, I stumble on a past that is immobile and set in stone. Though it doesn’t change, no matter how much we want it to, our perception of it is malleable. That is the way we re-route the path from whence we came. That’s how we re-write our history. Most importantly, that’s how we forgive and heal.
There are many such nuggets of wisdom in Anthony DeMello’s book ‘Awareness’ – and I’m still grateful to my friend Mary who suggested I read it. Her words were the whisper of the universe that I needed to hear. Those messages come when we are ready to receive them, and it’s up to us to watch for and heed them. Now, perhaps more than ever, it is vital to be aware.
{See also Awakening to Awareness: Part One, Part Two and Part Three.} 
