There is a place I have found inside myself where there is absolute peace.

I know where that place is and always have access (V.I.P. access) too. I know how to get there, and getting there is always a blessing.

But I can never seem to stay there. I haven’t mastered that.

I can usually get there at least once during my morning meditation. I say usually.

Some mornings I just can’t get to that inner well, as if it’s too far away or something. Maybe I’ve already got too many distractions to be able to focus on being nothing very well.

But even when I can get to the well and dwell for a while, rejuvenating my soul, I can’t stay there.

That’s because a big part of being a human being is fixing problems. That’s what humans do best.

Some would argue that some people are better at creating problems, but think about that for a moment. Whatever they’ve done to “cause a problem” was, from their perspective, probably the best solution they had to resolve a problem in their world.

So even the “problem creators” are solving problems, just not in a way we’d prefer.

That’s what problems are sometimes: solutions to the problem before them.

Weird.

The end of one problem is the parent of the next.

Problems are the spice of life and part of what motivates us. That, and our desires.

Everyone out there is solving their problems and chasing their desires.

And it is a busy world out there in the land of sharp edges and twisted knots!

So once I finish my morning meditation and prayers, I step out there into the world of sharp edges and start untying twisted knots and doing some “problem solving” as I chase my desires.

And things out there often do not go my way.

If I’m chasing my desires, and the waters start getting turbulent, it’s because life is not going the way I want it to go.

I’m going against the current of life in pursuit of my desires.

That is the turbulence I am experiencing.

They say desire is the root of all suffering.

Desire itself is not evil or anything. Desire is what propels us through life and propels us towards our goals.

I want this.
I want that.
I want this to be like that.

I have a desire for things to be different for some reason, and that’s what motivates me to act.

It’s the pursuit of desire that can lead to ruin, and clinging to desire always brings suffering.

So they say.

So when I’m out there, navigating myself through a world of “problems” that lie between me and my desires, out away from the well, I keep an eye on my own suffering levels.

It’s a rough world out there, as we all know. Some of those problems bring pain with them.

The key, something I always have to remind myself, is this:

Pain in life is inevitable.

Suffering is optional.

Easy to say. More difficult to practice sometimes.

But I believe it is true.

What I’ve noticed is that my suffering usually stems from clinging to my desires and not accepting reality.

For whatever reason, my desires are not being met, yet I’m clinging to them, creating the internal negative energy and suffering I am experiencing.

I am generating the suffering internally.

I once heard:

“He who blames his problems on others extends his own suffering.”

To me, that means my problems are my suffering, they are my knots to untie.

If I blame my problems on you, then I’m making the knot-untying responsibility of my life someone else’s by blaming them.

And if all I do is blame others for my problems while not taking responsibility for them myself, no one ever unties the knots and the suffering remains.

The suffering in my life steadily increases as I continue to blame others.

So when I notice that I have negative energy, I do whatever I can to get back to the well of peace.

Peace is more valuable than anything else in the world.

So I accept and let go.

I accept how life is going and try to let go of my desires, or at least my insistence that those desires have to be fulfilled, so I can get out of the suffering waters.

It usually involves surrendering myself to my Higher Power in some way.

Accepting life as it is.

Letting go of that desire.

Returning to the well.

I mean, usually.

That’s the goal, at least.

Or, at the very least, it should be the goal.

Some of those desires are sticky.

Anyway, thanks for reading!