The Way Out
We all have so many hopes and dreams but why is it that so many of them go unpursued? We have the entire world at our fingertips. We have all the time in the world yet not a moment to lose, dancing the thin line between freedom and urgency. We live in a time where creative expression and oddity is celebrated. Major Tom, your engines are on… Yet, why do we not take flight? We have this fire in our bellies and visions dancing in our head but for some reason we do not follow through and reach out for them. We make excuse after excuse why we are not living the life we want. Is it that we are used to always living with the notion that something is missing, that there should always be something to complain or suffer about? Are we that accustomed to our misery and something being amiss that we don’t want to let it go?
It is said that dreams are just dreams, it is only when we take a step towards them that they become goals, meaning that goals come true, or at least lead us some place different in our pursuit, while dreams stay just that, illusions and empty wishes. We say, “If only…” and rest on our laurels. We want a way out but if we were offered it, would we take it?
The Way Out is so simple that the human mind can’t understand it. The mind cannot grasp what it habitually, by nature, makes complex. There are many that say that to pursue our heart’s desire is the easiest thing we could ever do. Sure it may come with certain challenges, but overall, it bares a certain effortless flow, taking less energy than it does to maintain our resistance and self-sabotaging antics. So, again, what is the way out?
Buddhist and meditation practices teach us that the way out is through, the allowance and acceptance of everything. It is releasing all judgments and resting in the neutral space between thoughts, that space of nothingness that holds our everythingness. And yes, we can sit on a cushion in silence and abide in that space, yet there is still that fundamental ingredient that we must have and that is intention. The Way Out is just saying, “YES! I want out!” But you have to reach that point. You have to want it above all else. Saying YES must offer you something more compelling than just staring at the door. It is true that it is as simple as walking through a door, but you must first want to walk through in order to make it real. It means you say “No” to everything else…all distractions, all things opposite, and all things that don’t serve The Way Out. You must be willing to give up resistance, uncertainty, disbelief, and your keen ability to self-sabotage.
Recognizing why we don’t take The Way Out can provide a stark and sobering honesty that we have not been aware of before. Perhaps what we thought we wanted, we didn’t really want. We enjoyed the thought of it and saying it to others, but when it came to putting action behind it, we realized it wasn’t for us. Perhaps, we want to keep our dreams as dreams, as they give us something to think about and one less failure on our docket. Or perhaps, it just isn’t the right time. Whatever the reason, ask yourself this, do you not take The Way Out because you are fearful of what is on the other side or what will be asked of you when you get there? Marian Williamson once said,
“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us.”
Another confronting truth is that we might be more afraid of our own power and capabilities, choosing our smallness over all that we were created to be.
The Way Out is always here in front of us: The Way Out of addiction, bingeing, laziness, uncertainty, self-sabotaging, and all other unhealthy behaviors and choices. But sometimes it may take a little help and support, thus, I encourage you to ask for it. As you reflect on the door in front of you, asking you to enter, be vulnerable and honest about why you do not, and if it seems too daunting to do on your own, ask someone to walk through it with you. You are never alone.
As David Bowie suggests in his song Space Oddity, it is “time to leave the capsule if you dare.” It is time, we even have the tagline laced throughout our culture at the moment, “Time’s Up.” My desire for you, Major Tom, is to hear these words from you,
“This is Major Tom to Ground Control
I’m stepping through the door
And I’m floating in a most peculiar way
And the stars look very different today.”