Desire and spiritual growth
To want more; to have more, do more, be more is about as human as it gets. Every great advancement we humans have made over the centuries has been because we wanted more. We reached beyond the status quo and, in many cases, did the extraordinary.
Yet, deep in our subconscious, in the realm of old cultural beliefs and religious traditions there is a different message,
"You should be satisfied with what you have"
"You're not grateful'
"Don't be greedy"
None of these are spoken in kind, tender tones but rather with critical and judgmental inflection.
After the tapping open house last Wednesday I got several comments about one phrase I uttered that took pretty much everyone by by surprise. I simply asked, "It is possible to be both grateful and happy with what you have, and want more, at the same time?"
For most, that thought had never occurred to them. It was always all or nothing. If you wanted more it automatically meant you were not grateful for what you had. That question, for most it seems, had never been asked.
The answer is, of course, yes it is and, in fact, it is the most natural state there is. We can be satisfied and very grateful for what we have, even as we reach beyond for more. These can co-exist like a happy couple on a perpetual honeymoon.
We humans, when allowed to grow, are visionaries. It is our purpose in the universe to reach and strive and push beyond current limitations. This is not out of greed but out of our own nature as perpetual creators. In a very real sense we are the universe creating itself and always stopping along the way to admire and enjoy the fruit of that creation.
Like the spring of rebirth, the summer of planting and nurturing, the fall of reaping the harvest and the winter of rest and appreciation, we have our own seasons of creative output. We labor over creation and then stand back and look at the work of our hands with another strange combination of feelings. We feel both pride and humility at the same time.
Humankind is a bubbling field of opposites, all co-existing in balance and flow. So yes you can be both grateful and wanting more at the same time. In fact, it is the most natural thing there is.
GP offers dozens of workshops, meditations and courses on his learning platform, The OM School