Changing Habits Starts With Hearing What You’re Hearing

No matter where you are in life, or even how old you are, I can’t imagine a reason you shouldn’t try to make tomorrow a better life than today.  I can’t imagine that you would be satisfied with where you are-with no need for improvement?

I want to explore and share how I am making a better life for myself with meditation. (not medication?)

Life is Better With Regular and Deep Meditation

I practice two types of meditation, and this particular practice I refer to as TM, or transcendental meditation.  TM is in itself an attempt to let go of all of the thoughts and anxiety that comes naturally with living life on the earth.

TM probably should be either the core, or very close to the core, of any of your efforts to make a better life for yourself.  I say that because, I don’t know of another method of actually finding the center of yourself.  

And observing it.

And listening for it.

The center is a place where all is quiet and there is no outside interference from the noisiness of the world.

It’s here, in this quiet place that I can let go of all of the ideas and conversations that make up “me”. It’s there that I practice the art of choosing what I will listen to.

Listening to nothing at all for an hour-or however long I can string the quiet out during the hour.

How To Change Life For The Better

I would never have had a clue how much noise I have collected during the day without the daily practice of turning it off with meditation.  With this quiet time each day, life slowly begins to take on a better tilt.

Life doesn’t get better in flashes.  

I slowly begin to change my view of the circumstances that surround me. My ideas about circumstances change. The way I deal with life changes.  

I learn to separate the circumstances from myself, as I learn to separate myself from the noisy conversations and ideas floating through my mind.

As the noise quietens I realize that I am now in a position to hear the voice of God; a position I never attained before my regular meditation.  

Without this quiet time, I would have never heard God trying to tell me to stop being against the world. This was and continues to be a life changing event.

Even though I treated this much like any thing that comes across my mind during my meditation ( allowing it pass without interfering with it, or becoming involved with it) this idea was profound and memorable.

I knew then, later, and now that this was given to me from God as a directive.  As something in my life whose time had come to let go of, to let this life long habit die.

The life of being against.  The attitude of against.

I can’t keep the same habits and make life better

Habits go deep into the subconscious mind and are difficult to the point of impossible to change. In fact, most habits must be replaced with other habits because they can’t be eradicated from the subconscious.

The habits I have to change aren’t physical. They’re habits of my mind. 

Most of my mental habits started forming many years ago as a way to make myself believe I was ok.  That I had a right to be here, on earth.

My habits make up who I am as a person. They make up my personality. These habits speak to me and tell me what I can expect, what to do about it, what you did and what I should do. 

My personal habits have been my God. I could talk about God with the best, because I have a knowledge of the Word of God. The written word. 

But these inner voices, habits, and choices have kept me from knowing God in person. Until some time ago?

How I change my internal habits

My habits are life long, and you can’t see them. I can hear them. 

They are too deep to change. I’ve tried for years. With every thing I could come up with. Always an internal battle to fight.

A victory followed by several defeats. Maybe holding my own? Most days-not so much?

I had no method to win-because I wanted to change who I was-to please God. I wanted Him to like me more, to accept my labor to be good. 

Then I just stopped. Maybe I gave up? Maybe I said “This is a losing battle, right here!”  Maybe I stopped reciting to God that I loved Him.

God started giving me new ways to change my habits that make up who I am! He started doing that when I started reminding myself, and God,  how much He loved me. 

When I started thinking that if He loves me like His Word says He does, He would provide the way! Not me.

Now I have nothing to change, because I gave myself away. God never seems to change me, though. 

He seems to always guide me to what I need.  When I’m searching. When I stop searching and seeking with all of my heart-I’m not sure I’m being guided anymore.

The moment I make a moment to listen for the voice, or to knock on His door, He’s always there with the next lesson. As if He was waiting right there at the door.

It’s much easier that way, and it really works. Especially when I stop fighting. 

It’s easy in the secret place

What actually works are the ways God moves me continuously from one piece of knowledge to the next. 

Each piece of knowledge reinforces the last, and adds little pieces to learn and implement into my life. Always away from who I was yesterday and towards a deeper trust and reliance on my deep and abiding friendship and relationship with Jesus Christ. 

Learning to be quiet teaches me to hear the voice of The Holy Spirit. Sometimes I hear a word from Him when I meditate. Sometimes something I’ve read a million times from the Word jumps out at me as if I’d never seen it?

And sometimes He makes it impossible for me to refuse picking up a book.

Sometimes I’ve passed it buy and had to return because He wouldn’t let me off the hook for it. 

The author never ever fails to press home for me something I’v been vaguely getting from the Bible. 

Without my meditation time I’m too noisy to hear God bringing me deeper and deeper into the Kingom at hand.

I sit and wonder just how much I’m missing. What is God holding out for me that I never even see or hear? 

I just keep listening because I understand how much sweeter my existence is when I am just a little child depending on my Father.

 

 

 

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