6/13/2006

more katie

"Underlying belief: My life should have a purpose. Is it true? Yes. Can I absolutely know that it's true? No. How do I react when I think the thought? I feel fear, because I don't know what my purpose is, and I think I should know. I feel stress in my chest and head. I may snap at my husband and children, and this eventually takes me to the refrigerator and the television in my bedroom, often for hours or days, I feel as if I'm wasting my life. I think that what I actually do is unimportant and that I need to do something big. This is stressful and confusing. When I believe this thought, I feel great internal pressure to complete my purpose before I die. Since I can't know when that is, I think that I have to quickly accomplish this purpose (which I don't have a clue about). I feel a sense of stupidity and failure, and this leaves me depressed. Who would I be without the belief that my life should have a purpose? I have no way of knowing. I know I'm more peaceful without it, less crazed. I would settle for that! Without the fear and stress around this thought, maybe I'd be freed and energized enough to be happy just doing the thing in front of me. The turnaround: My life should not have a purpose. That would mean that what I've lived has always been enough, and I just haven't recognized it. Maybe my life shouldn't have a purpose other than what it is. That feels odd, but somehow it rings truer. Could it be that my life as it's already lived is the purpose? That seems a lot less stressful." from Loving What Is, Byron Katie. It's no secret that I am a big ole Katie fan. She appears here frequently. She's my ZenMasterGuruFlash. Because I can find myself caught up in a hairy tangle of complicated beliefs that unconsciously infiltrate my processes like a yeasty parasite, her work resonates with me. Part of my problem is hardwiring from the early years. Part is that I am sometimes lazy about looking at me and my stuff. When I feel the whacking ker-whacka of a life lesson, I'm oft taken aback at how I could have been living this way for so long without seeing the screeching monolith before me. Her method goes beyond seeking a truth. She's so simplistic in the way that she presents her argument: DON'T ARGUE WITH REALITY. Every time I bust myself doing it, I have to laugh. Katie is known as the Woman Who Made Friends With the Wind, as she lives in Barstow where the wind is merciless and shoots grains of sand through your eyeballs. She is quoted as saying "How do I know that the wind should blow? It's blowing!" She's a woman that deeply touches my little type-A heart.

9 Comments:

Blogger liz elayne lamoreux said...

hmmm...thank you for sharing this. i am going to have to look up this book, this woman. i spent the weekend at a retreat finishing up my two year yoga teacher training and so many thoughts have been running through my mind...
don't argue with reality. now i love this my dear.

6/13/2006 11:34:00 PM  
Blogger Goddess Leonie * GoddessGuidebook.com said...

hey, that's big stuff.

:)

6/13/2006 11:56:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Love the idea of Don't Argue With Reality. I need to take that to heart. Then, maybe, I'd stop letting the world should all over me.

6/14/2006 04:49:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I tell myself this all of the time. I come from a long line of people who can stare at the blue sky and argue with it because it's not cloudy! ;) Seriously...I have read her work (and saw her in person in Chicago...cool to see her to "the work" with audience members) and I find her very helpful as well.

Just taking the thoughts apart "is it true?" and "can I absolutely know if it's true?" is so liberating...because even if it's "true" it's possible to see instances where it might NOT be...and thus it's not universal.

Thanks for reminding me to see reality and stop arguing with the sky.

6/14/2006 08:11:00 AM  
Blogger Star said...

This is a new author to me; thank you for sharing her work here. Like 'ally bean' I suffer from the dreaded should virus on a regular basis. I need to do some exploring with Katie.

6/14/2006 08:28:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I've meant to pick up that book for some time now, and now may be the time. Thank you for sharing that passage~ it's helpful in the moment. :)

6/15/2006 01:36:00 PM  
Blogger Veronica TM said...

What a great post! A reminder to be with what is, so simple and yet, so hard to do.
I find that motherhood is confronting me with my wanting for planning, for things to be my way, for things to be different, all the time. And then I stop {sometime} and try to be, and it helps...

6/16/2006 10:03:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is so timely for me. I completely resonate with it, and love "don't argue with reality." I exhaled when I read that...

6/17/2006 05:09:00 PM  
Blogger a m y said...

this is great stuff, and just what i needed to read. i'll be looking for this book asap...thanks.

6/17/2006 08:43:00 PM  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home