Seek Calmness

[PepperBlossoms]

The ultimate life purpose may be to seek calmness.

No matter what happens, calm will always be there when you look for it, when you need it, when you ask for it.

Calm has been waiting all this time for you and can be used as a back up plan or a main plan.

No matter the outcome, no matter the journey, if you have calmness on your side, you can feel calm with whatever comes your way.

Yes you will still have struggles, you will still cry, still feel angry, still get confused and frustrated and lost and morn loss, but calm will be there by your side when you want it to.  It can hold your hand when you are scared and weak, it can keep you company when you feel alone, it can show you love where you didn't think it existed, the quiet to listen, the emptiness to create, it can help keep you standing, it can help guide you on what to do.

You can spend your whole life chasing money, sex, attention, fame, knowledge, whatever, but that may not bring you calm and you may feel like you are chasing something that will never fill you up and you will never get enough of.  

Calm gives you the power to be okay, to accept things as they are, to find the beauty where there seemed to be none, to appreciate, to have gratitude, to be thankful, to be patient, to be okay. 

Calm doesn't have to shout or get the attention; it doesn't ask anything of anyone and it does not judge.

Yes sometimes we feel like we can't be calm - like we have to chose something else - and that is okay too.  Calmness will still be there when you want it.

Movies, music, tv, the news, conversations - they can feel like anything but calm at times.  Sometimes we have to be alone and feel like we have lost what we love most to find it but that is okay too.  We can remember a time in our past when we used to use calm and go back to that way of being if we so chose.

Edited February 23, 2022 by PepperBlossoms

[PepperBlossoms]

Actually, I want to make some other comments.

Calmness is not always the best option.  Life is like a pendulum that goes back and forth from chaos to calm and sometimes when it is too chaotic we seek out calm and when it is calm we are ready to seek out more chaos.

Also, there isn't any one life purpose that is better than others I feel like and so I was wrong on that too.

Seeking calmness can be a helpful tool when you need it but it can also be helpful to be willing to dive into chaos.

[Yarco]

Playing devils advocate a bit, calmness could be a toxic or negatively-motivated value.

The easiest way to create calm is to seek comfort, to be avoidant, to be static. Calm/peace of mind/tranquility is a natural byproduct of a fulfilling and balanced life. But if you seek it directly, it could prevent you from the temporary discomfort needed for growth.

The easiest way for me to be calm is to not take risks, to not engage with other people (especially people with differing views and opinions), to not try anything new, to totally opt out from society. I'm at my most calm watching Youtube videos and eating Doritos alone in the dark.

It's good to remember to be calm sometimes, to take a deep breath and center yourself. But sometimes in life, you have to set the calmness aside for a bit. Calmness is stillness. And the most calm and still you can be is when you're dead.

Edited February 23, 2022 by Yarco

[PepperBlossoms]

@Yarco  Yeah I can see that as well.  People could want to be so calm that they choose to shut stuff out, dissociate, seek escape/avoidance and yes that can prevent them from growth/trying different things.  Deliberately choosing the hard path/listening to discussions that we disagree with or are wanting to reject can feel like anything but calm but it can be what helps us grow the most.

I can see that it can be toxic/negative for always choosing avoidance/wanting safety and it can also be positive/neutral for trying to get back to a balanced state because one went way too far into fear/confusion/negativity and wants to find some inner peace again.

I was reading a book that mentioned how, instead of seeking positivity, to seek calmness - where calmness is more neutral and easier to get back to whereas if one wants positivity all the time - that is hard to maintain and they may be upset every time they flip flop from positive to negative and want to seek perfection that doesn't exist.  But - meh, one could gain great stuff from flipping between positivity and negativity too so I am not sure now...

I guess I was thinking about how when I was much younger I seeked calmness and it was great for my work ethic, diligence, and mindset but I can also see that it wasn't great in that I was only good at that one way of being and was not developing outside of that.

I guess I was seeing the benefit in having a calm lens and how one may be less scared, sensitive, reactive, and more patient and hopeful (but actually they may be more rejecting doing that because they may reject anything that is not calm as well).   It can be of great value to get to experience life from a negative/positive/angry/bored lens as well.  For one's survival, sometimes calm is the worst option and you have to pick something else.  Like, one may have to totally change his/her mindset to get off his/her butt and start doing something else- haha eating doritos - that does sound pretty calm!

To only want calmness is like to only want to stay the same as one is forever for the rest of one's life - which we kinda don't want because we enjoy growing (some of us) (although sometimes it is hard to endure).

I guess I have seen where wanting calmness was bad because it can get me/others to want to quit having a conversation that could totally help oneself because me/they were not seeing calmness and were saying, well this is not calm and so I am not going to be part of this anymore - which again - then it can be more worthwhile to listen to the words and not the tone (but sometimes tone is helpful to listen to too).

There are so many nuances and we often just see one/a few but then we later see so many more!!

Another thing - we can work on the muscle of being able to cope when times are not calm and can get so much stronger and do things we never previously thought be could.

[Random witch]

I would say that the ultimate purpose of life is living mostly in being state.

Ideally, It should be like 60%-80% being.

Now, in my opinion, most people live below %20 being.

 

[Spence94]

@PepperBlossoms Nice. I dig it. Peace and calm. Yeaaaaah. I just drank a cup of Organifi Gold superfood Tea. Man I feel calm. Calm is gooooooood. I'm going to bed now, gunna wake up calm and go to work calm, and do my practice calm. Calm. Yeah. My Muslim friend always used to use the word Calm. It's a good word. He had good energy about him. 

Calm.

[PepperBlossoms]

10 hours ago, Random witch said:

I would say that the ultimate purpose of life is living mostly in being state.

Ideally, It should be like 60%-80% being.

Now, in my opinion, most people live below %20 being.

 

@Spence94 Can you elaborate some more on this being state?  Like, as in, instead of in a state of searching, to be in a state of being?  How does one be in anything other than in a state of being itself?  Is it that the focus is not on searching/working/making money/learning/healing other than just being?  Where does one draw the line between the being state and not in a being state?

7 hours ago, Spence94 said:

@PepperBlossoms Nice. I dig it. Peace and calm. Yeaaaaah. I just drank a cup of Organifi Gold superfood Tea. Man I feel calm. Calm is gooooooood. I'm going to bed now, gunna wake up calm and go to work calm, and do my practice calm. Calm. Yeah. My Muslim friend always used to use the word Calm. It's a good word. He had good energy about him. 

Calm.

@Spence94 Cool.  Glad to hear that.  Haha some people have words they like to use a lot.  Calm feels calming.  I guess it is nice to get to experience calm for most of the time but also nice to occasionally get to have the other ones too for reference and adding more variety to the experience.

[Random witch]

@PepperBlossoms

State of being means being aware to what happens in the present moment, being aware to your current thoughts/emotions/body, being aware to the things around you, to the info your senses recive in the present moment, being aware the beauty of life, being connected to your intuition. It means simply living and existing as we supposed to. Enjoying life so to speak. 

 

The opposite of being state is the doing state. Doing state is also important for us because it allows us to take actions in order to promise our physical existence and survival, also to manifest our creativity to reality. But it can't exit alone and it should be balanced with being state.

 

The problem in our modern society that it puts bigger emphasis on the doing state and neglects the importance of being state. Society see the being state as luxury for rich people or as complete laziness.

We encouraged to be in doing state more than is necessary, more than we can tolerate without causing harm to our mental health and body.

We are too concerned with doing, which includes compering, competing, chasing, judging, obsessively thinking, achieving, that we forget about just being, just enjoying life. Simply existing.

On the other side we can't enjoy life and be in being if our basic needs aren't met.

So the key I'd say is balance.

I'll explain: The key for good life is to be involved in doing enough to fulfill your needs, but not beyond that. We should save time for the being state, for just existing in the present moment and appreciate life. The ultimate goal of doing is to be at the end in state of being and to enjoy the state of being. The goal of doing isn't more doing. 

My words probably expressed your message but in different words. 

 

Edited March 1, 2022 by Random witch

[John Paul]

can't you chase things and be calm at the same time? if i'm calm i'd rather be calm going on an adventure to another country with God than being calm and staring at a wall with God.

[Spence94]

5 hours ago, PepperBlossoms said:

@Random witchCan you elaborate some more on this being state?  Like, as in, instead of in a state of searching, to be in a state of being?  How does one be in anything other than in a state of being itself?  Is it that the focus is not on searching/working/making money/learning/healing other than just being?  Where does one draw the line between the being state and not in a being state?

 

 

[Spence94]

@PepperBlossoms Yeah good point. Calm almost has a sense of being washed over you when you're stressed. You need the stress to appreciate the calm wave, but also it's nice to just be feeling calm alot of the time. Peace and Calm is a good life in my opinion.