Designing a passionate life includes an understanding of the power of words. This became very apparent to me after attending the Silence Retreat. As I mentioned in an earlier post, during the retreat we were not to make eye contact, talk, or interact with other people what so ever. When we sat down to eat or during free time, we shared space with other people but had not interaction with them.
At first, my upbringing of being polite and making eye contact with people had a real problem with this whole scenario. Then I gave it up and surrendered to the silence. What I found was that I was still present with the person next to me at a whole different level. I appreciated each person for just being who they were in that moment. I had no judgments, no need to try to impress them, we simply shared the same space and it was extremely peaceful and judgment free.
After we broke silence on the second day we were able to sit down together while we ate. What I noticed during this time, is that after people spoke and I listened that my judgments came in immediately and I created all sorts of stories about the people I was talking to. It became very clear to me about how powerful the words that we say are as well as the way we say them. This brought me to a new awareness about my judgments of myself and others, and how they interfere with being present.
What would it be like to engage with people and simply appreciate them for who they are without forming any judgments? How would designing a passionate life be like without your stories around whether it's possible or not, or what will people think if I do XYZ? Sign up for my free PDD report today and find out what you can do to start on the road to living a passionate life.
