There’s something you want, isn’t there? Something that you want so desperately that it is eating away at your insides; a longing that has been gnawing away great chunks of your heart while you weren’t looking and leaving you feeling as if you are some sort of metaphysical Swiss cheese; all full of inexplicable holes and gaps.
Yes, you know what I’m talking about.
Maybe you caught a glimpse of it once. Perhaps you met a person or read a book, heard a presentation, watched a movie; saw a sunset or listened to a piece of music that, for whatever reason captured this longing; clarified it; brought it into sharp focus; gave you a taste of what life could be like if you had this particular thing in your life.
And then it was gone.
The person walked out of your life; you turned the last page of the book; the lights came on after the movie, the sun went down or the music ended, and suddenly your life had an empty space in it; a space that you didn’t even know you had; a space that, for just a moment, was filled with something so beautiful and all-encompassing that only in its ceasing could you truly know how truly beautiful and perfect it was. Only after it was gone did you realize that with it had gone the person that you were truly meant to be.
Once this kind of moment has been experienced, there is no going back. Your life will never be the same for whether you realize it or not, you have been given a glimpse into your true nature and the nature of the universe. It is how you handle the aftermath that makes all the difference.
For some, having once experienced this, they then become so obsessed with once more finding this perfect moment; with recapturing it or recreating it, that they will spend the rest of their lives in pursuit of it and ruining any chance of happiness in the process. These people hop from relationship to relationship; from experience to experience; always looking to re-create that perfect moment of complete knowing; that moment of complete acceptance and belonging when everything fell into place and, for a moment, the world was perfect and time stood still.
Others become bitter. They’ve tasted of the fruit of the tree of knowledge and suddenly they know. They know that what they have experienced was the single most powerful moment of their lives to date. They too feel the perfection of that moment and what having that in their lives could have meant. But instead of pursuing it single-mindedly, they take into account their current circumstances; they weigh the responsibilities and obligations that they believe will keep them from obtaining it (for whatever reason) and resign themselves to never having that moment again.
These people look around themselves and while they can still see the beauty in their everyday lives, they know in their hearts that they will never see things in quite the same way again. They are forever comparing (even if subconsciously) what they have and where they are to what they had and who they were if only for that brief moment of time. And the knowledge of what could have been is like a slow torture for their soul; a torture that they accept as punishment for even considering wanting more than what they see as the hand fate has dealt them.
And then there is a third group. These people also experience the perfection of the moment. Like the others their heart is torn wide open when the experience is over and everyday reality reasserts its claim. Unlike the others, however, they recognize this moment for what it truly is; a glimpse of their true nature. They recognize it and realize almost at once that they don’t have to live without it ever again.
Somehow these people understand that no matter what the catalyst for that perfect moment was, that it was not dependent on a person or place; that they do not need specific circumstances to bring that feeling of unconditional love and belonging back into their life. Somehow they know that what they felt; what they experienced; was their authentic self; their true nature. That for just a moment, for whatever reason, their life was in complete and total alignment with their soul purpose and everything fell neatly into place.
They know that all you have to do is commit yourself to living authentically; one day at a time, one moment at a time; that you live in perfect openness and honesty with yourself and everyone around you; that you listen to and follow that voice within your heart; that still small voice of intuition that will guide you in the way that you should go.
These people know that you don’t have to live without it. You can have that perfect moment again, and it can last forever. For you are the perfect moment, as long as you are living every moment from your heart and soul.