Chasing seagulls for fulfillment

Chasing seagulls for fulfillment

That is what I want — to abide in a love that is not of this world. Perhaps that is what we all want, even when we are seeking to manifest things.

by Scott Grace — 

I love watching dogs run after seagulls on the beach. They set their sights on a flock and then are focused, single-minded and even quite passionate about running down a bird. At the same time, they are fulfilled in the thrill of the chase, having a tremendous amount of fun just frolicking on the beach. Going home without having caught a bird does not for one moment diminish their love of life.

When we realize that just being alive is the gift that keeps on giving, we may pursue our own gulls (or goals) just as passionately, but far less frantically. We value the process as much as the intended outcome. We embrace whatever we encounter along the trip with loving arms open wide enough to be grateful for the gift within it all.

When we have tasted the nectar of a fulfillment that is not dependent on the outside world granting us our desires, we realize that life is blessing us as much when we do not get what we want as when we do. In those times, we get to practice being friends with reality, letting go of our adversarial position to what is.

A heavy burden is lifted each time we release the arrogant assumption that we are in possession of the big picture perspective enough to really know what our highest good is supposed to look like. We get to more thoroughly chew on yet another spiritual slice of humble pie, as when A Course In Miracles invites us to digest: “I don’t perceive my own best interests.” Or, for those of us with ears and hearts ready to hear and eat the whole pie, the Course puts it more bluntly: “The world I see holds nothing that I want.”

It is no secret that getting what you want does not automatically lead to lasting fulfillment. If that were the case, the bathroom cabinets of the married, rich and famous would not be filled with such an abundant supply of expensive anti-depression and anti-anxiety medication.

Yet we all want what we want. And like dogs on the beach, our wanting can be a joy unto itself, an expression of pure passion and aliveness. Or not. While wanting can be defined as desiring, it is, to the ego, also synonymous with lacking.

“The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want” means that when we surrender our attachment to a specific outcome, we can learn to trust, take it easy and lean into the general well-being and benevolence of the universe, which is always taking care of us. Abraham Hicks advises us to “go general” with our goals, to focus on being happy no matter what, rather than seeing ourselves as happy because some outer condition has been met.

There is nothing wrong with having specific goals, and going ahead and chasing and manifesting them. Yet you can attain the world, only to have your achievements intensify your inner turmoil. An ego’s basic condition of lack, that nagging sense of separation and “not enoughness,” cannot be overcome by worldly success. When Jesus said his Kingdom is not of this world, he was speaking for all of us.

Even my mother, a practicing agnostic with her feet firmly on the ground, will exclaim after her first bite of Junior’s cheescake, “Out of this world!”

When we get rigidly attached to a desired outcome, however, we are coming from the assumption that we are not whole beings until we get what we want. And that is an illusion that life delights in coaxing us to let go of.

Thaddeus Golas in The Lazy Man’s Guide to Enlightenment says, “There is a good attitude to take towards any goal: It is nice if it happens, nice if it does not.” Does that mean we are to be detached from having passion? No, just detached from craving a specific outcome, from thinking there is some tear in the fabric of perfection that needs to be stitched before we can fully enjoy being alive.

A state of being is available to us that is not of this world. Echoes of it visit us ever so briefly in the first few morsels of cheesecake, the first few mouthfuls of romantic love and other fleeting moments of satisfaction. For some people who consistently choose to practice “Seeking ye first the Kingdom,” that state sets up shop and sticks around as part of the fabric. It becomes the foundation of a sense of self that is rooted in eternity.

That is what I want — to abide in a love that is not of this world. Perhaps that is what we all want, even when we are seeking to manifest things.

Have you had enough of telling the story of not enough? Do you want out of the state of wanting that always leaves you wanting more?

Then let us remember together: “I am as God created me, and I am free, whole and complete as I am. I am enough, I have enough and I do enough. I wake up from the dream of lack. I am drenched in abundance at all times. Every sunrise is proof of my infinite wealth, every breath is a miracle, and all is supremely and eternally well.”

As that state of enoughness and abundance takes root in you and permeates your being, you will most probably be moved to chase some gulls and have some fun.

Gangway … I will see you on the beach!

Scott Grace is an intuitive, game-changing life coach who does sessions via phone or Skype. Free 30-minute intro session at [email protected]. scottsongs.com.

Reprinted from AzNetNews, Volume 34, Number 2, April/May 2015.