Hallo there!
Hope you are well? Long email this one, but I got excited. Grab yourself a cuppa, I think it’s a goodie!
Recently the topic of commitment came up, and how anything less than being 100% committed just doesn’t work. But often we settle for less, don’t we?
98% committed to something seems pretty good. Right? Mostly committed is better than not, we think.
However, as my Ishayas’ Ascension meditation teacher was saying, imagine your partner walks in the room and says to you:
“Sweetie, I want you to know that I am 98% committed to you.”
How would that make you feel? And … what does that even mean … ? It means nothing, does it?
The fact is, you can’t be 98% committed.
You can’t even be 99.999% committed. It’s like saying you’re 99.999% married, or 99.999% pregnant. You either are, or you aren’t.
Commitment works at 100%. Then everything is simple. It’s either a yes/no decision based on that.
The decision has been made. “I'm not eating sugar, therefore those donuts are not even an option.” “I'm married to Jim, therefore I'm off the market.”
Right? Easy. Simple.
It's easy because it just becomes what you do, there are no other options. You don’t even see the donuts, you don’t even see those handsome gentlemen. Then everything can happen around that commitment. And things happen quick.
Being 100% committed doesn't mean you won't forget, it doesn't mean you won't have thoughts to the contrary. It just means, a) the chances of actually going astray become incredibly less, and b) you'll jump right back on the horse without missing a beat.
People talk about change taking years, but really the time was preparingto be committed. As soon as the decision is made, as soon as you got sick of whatever was going on and decided to do something different, as soon as you jump in and get committed, then change can rush in.
Now - commitment is different from being motivated. Motivated comes and goes. Motivated is about emotion, which comes and goes. Commitment is a decision that you make to do something no matter how you feel.
Alright?
So the next question I want to put to you is:
“What do you want in life? What's truly important to you? What do you want to be committed to?"
In terms of peace and joy and love, perhaps I can be a little provocative …
If I asked you, “Do you want permanent peace and joy and love?”, you’d say “Sure!”
You say it’s very important to you … and yet most probably you’re not committed to it. You might be 98% committed, it might be something you’d like, but really, actually you’re not truly committed to it.
If you were truly committed to it, you would already be well on the road to having it. (And if you are along on that road, then big props to you because being calm and happy makes all of life so much easier)
However, if you don’t have peace and joy and love, then the great news is this:
As soon as you decide that you’ve had enough of stress and fighting and being swung this way and that by the events of life and by your mind, as soon as you jump in and commit to peace and joy and love, then it can come flooding towards you, and quickly.
How do you commit to peace and joy and love?
Prioritise it. Do your best to make it an all day, every day event.
As Dan John, who is a strength coach and a religious studies academic, once said,
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“If it’s important, do it every day. If it’s not important, don’t do it at all.”
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Every single day do whatever works for you to remind yourself of peace and calm and joy and love and being the person you want to be. The Ishayas' Ascension meditation and a little study of inspiring books and websites does it for me. What works for you?
Just 10 minutes could be enough. Could be, but be careful:
Chances are you'll love this new way of operating in the world and want to do it more often. It certainly is addictive (in a good way.)
Whatever you do, I promise you it makes the rest of your day so simple, so effortless. Even, and especially, if you’re got a busy and/or challenging day ahead of you.
Alrighty?
I really hope that helps clarify somethings for you. If you have any questions, just shout – okay?
Go well,
Arjuna
PS.
I have a new website! I’m going to add a bunch of things to it soon, such as a podcast, however right now it’s looking great. Pop on over for a wee shifty:
www.arjunaishaya.com
If you’re keen on really getting to grips with meditation and mindfulness, mastering your rollercoaster mind, and living a life of peace , joy, happiness and 200%, you’ll want to have a look at my one-on-one mentoring programme:
www.arjunaishaya.com/mentoring
PPPS:
Oh, and I’ve been doing a few short videos recently on the Facebook. If you’re interested, have a look here:
https://business.facebook.com/pg/MrArjunaIshaya/videos/
Let me know how you find them!