There is an old indian saying, “chew your food so that it becomes like water and drink your water so slowly that you chews like food”. Although most people would regard this little verse to be about food..it relates to how we live life.
“The true object of human life is play.” – G.K. Chesterton So often we live our lives working for what it is we wish to experience: vacations, rest and relaxation, time, joy, happiness, peace, and hobbies. Work becomes the thing we do…have to do…and many times push to escape from. It is known as “the grind”; which in itself has a connotation of beating down one’s spirit. We become weary in well-doing. When can life be experienced and lived from the perspective of play?
Chewing food until it becomes like water that it may be drank…and drinking water with such consciousness that it is savored and relished as if chewed like food… At the moment many of us gulp our food down, in chunks, quickly and sometimes voratiously. And water is taken in either as a required after thought, a “should” or in less of an amount than required.
In the end it is all nourishment, whether we rush through or stop to savor. However, if we take this proverb and apply it to our daily tasks I think we will find that we are focusing to much on the future or past outcome. Instead we should learn to relish the task at hand. Every act we participate in is an act of nourishment in some way shape or form. Sometimes the nourishment is for our highest good and supports the body. Other times the nourishment may not be of the best quality and causes us to feel less than healthy. Work and play are also nourishment. the perceptions of work versus play are as impacting as the performance.
If we are unable to relish what we are doing, as if it were play, then maybe we are not doing what we are supposed to. Maybe the soul is calling for a different experience. Perhaps the soul desires an experience that can equally be chewed and drank with such consciousness that it is fully enjoyed and realized. “The true object of human life is play.”
When you look at your life, ask yourself the questions…
“What is it that I want to do with my life if I could do anything?”
“If I could do anything that made my heart sing, even if I were not paid for it, what would that be?”
“What is the occupation, “the play”, that I wish in life that will allow the sensations I choose to experience?”
“Can I move beyond the practical, logical mind and surrender myself to the feeling and passionate heart?”
In everything you do, find the element of play. In waking up each morning, know that it is a new day specifically designed for you to expereince yourself as play. You do not have to work hard…you do not have to toil…you do not have to grow weary. You simply need to listen to the stirrings of your heart. When you do then the act of work will be enjoyable as play and the act of play will become your life’s work.
Anything is possible if you just…
BELIEVE…Beyond the illusion!!!
Warmest regards,
Simran Singh