Written by: Marnix Pauwels, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
‘Don’t learn to swim when you’re drowning.’
This analogy came up after reflecting on all the times where people contact me when life looks really grim and difficult and they have been piling up worries for eons and eons.
Feeling the peace within is easy when life seems simple and straightforward, but it’s almost undoable when you are cornered by problems.
I see this misunderstanding all the time in potential clients (where they show up with a collection of problems they’ve accumulated over many years), and in people, I already work with (where our coaching opens up a world of freedom which feels totally amazing and liberating but will always be challenged by the mind again).
You can do something about this, prepare for this, be ready for it, but you’ll have to do the work whenever you can.
Work?
In particular spiritual circles, people will smugly tell you ‘that there’s nothing to do, and that nothing will be left undone’.
Which sounds kinda deep and could be very true on a completely elevated or purely integrated conscious level, but which is also not practical and quite disrespectful of the human condition most of us experience constantly.
It may be true that everything just happens the way it does for no specific reason and without you and me having to interfere, but from that same perspective, you could also claim there is room to dive in and do shit anyway.
In the most radical way of looking at life, you already ARE Consciousness having a ball being lost in the human experience, yet there’s no need nor obligation to sit under a tree and wait for the enlightenment to strike.
You CAN do stuff.
Now I know that I always rant about people asking for ‘tips and tricks', but that’s not what I’m aiming for here.
It’s not really about specific actions or habits, but about your intention behind them, the reason we do it, and the clarity it can bring.
Because what you CAN do and really should do, is change your relationship with thinking, with perception, with your personal reality.
What you CAN do, is get a conscious appreciation for the only thing that never changes in your life, no matter where you are or what you do or how you feel.
What you CAN do, therefore, is become aware of awareness, and follow your curiosity to experience more of that delicious, neutral freedom.
But do it as much as you can and as often as you can, make it into a metaphysical daily habit, and don’t wait for the shit to hit the fan.
Life is one big-ass playground and laboratory, and you can turn literally everything into an object to play with and learn from.
You can find lessons in the day-to-day stuff, and you can try all kinds of activities, as long as your only goal is to become deeply aware of awareness itself.
Learn to get rid of the mental stuff you don’t need, and fall in love with what’s left behind.
Read books, watch videos, meditate, go on hikes, start working out, take cold showers, write, breathe, fast, or gently sway in a hammock, whatever.
Whatever gets you there.
Play, explore, investigate, try shit.
Because whatever takes your attention away from the mumbling, threatening and chronically dissatisfied mind gives you an opportunity to dramatically change the relationship with your thinking.
And it will help you to consciously land where you are safe and solid and endless: the space before and during and after.
You’ll want to do that as much as possible, and eventually, you’ll find yourself being more inventive when it comes to learning and exploring, much more resilient and creative in daily situations, and much, much more free to find new options where you use to find none.
Of course, we’re essentially divine energy in motion, but within the play, there’s also room for waking up, unveiling, even progress.
So if you want to be ready for when the big waves come again, go in the water now and learn to feel comfortable splashing around.
It will make all the difference.
Marnix Pauwels, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Marnix Pauwels is a Dutch transformative coach and author of eight books-mostly-about mental health, living in Amsterdam with two cats. He has worked in advertising as a copywriter and Creative Director for 30 years, is a singer/songwriter, and has extensive knowledge of addiction/compulsive behavior, depression, and anxiety, deepened by personal experience. Marnix has always been fascinated by what drives people, and more in particular, what drives them crazy. He’s read over 5.000 books on self-development/improvement, life-hacks, and spirituality viewed thousands of videos on the topics, and kept on exploring the depths of the human mind and how to navigate our psychological storms with grace and respect. As a transformative coach, Marnix has helped thousands of people find a more playful, exciting, creative, and liberated life, living from a clear mind and a deep trust in their personal resilience. Marnix is a curious world traveler who loves to meet new people, write, wonder, and keep fit and happy.
