Chop wood and carry water...
"Before enlightenment, chop wood and carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood and carry water."  When people come up to me at my live events, I frequently hear from them (and you may have even been one): "When I get to this point in my career, I will..." Or, "When I get to this income level, I will..." Or, "When I achieve this reward, then I will..." These statements are always followed by some action or behavior that they're going to put into practice after they achieve or acquire their "magic bullet." When I hear these types of comments, regardless of the context or the promise being made, I typically think, "No, you probably won't." Why? Because if the habit has not yet been developed, it won't be acted upon. Life doesn't miraculously change until YOU change. The Zen proverb above is telling us that success, happiness or Harmonic Wealth® (you choose the term) is not a destination but a process. You and I both know that no award, no income, no new toy, no promotion will make us happy and/or successful.Life will not miraculously change when your next goal is attained. You'll still chop wood and carry water, or maybe you'll still pay bills and sometimes wonder where the money is going to come from. The difference comes in the attitude with which you do these things. When true happiness and fulfillment is reached, you'll learn that the journey is the adventure, the excitement and the fun of life. The journey is Harmonic Wealth, and the journey never ends...Here's how you can start experiencing happiness and fulfillment starting right now:
Make your life magnificent and enjoy the process.To your continued wealth and happiness,  P.S. Million Dollar Mindset is on sale through June 30, 2007. Learn the six Critical Success Factors on the journey of Harmonic Wealth. Click and save 16% off the retail price. Labels: enlightenment, harmonic wealth, message |
"Life doesn't miraculously change until YOU change."
How true! We love to fight this one tooth and nail, But when we do change miracles happen. That chopping wood and carrying water becomes the most blissful experience in the moment you are performing it!
This post is so perfect I can add no more to it... so I will offer the words of the great enlightened monastic Ajahn Chah to complement it.
"No one and nothing can free you but your own understanding."
I'm off step into the miracle of my day carrying some wood and chopping some water (now THIS will be a great miracle!!) with great love and presence.
Deeply grateful for this perfection James!
Much Love to you!
Amy
James,
Initially, I got this Zen Proverb via email and I didn't feel connected with it. Then, I visited your blog and saw this message several times. To put it bluntly, it began to annoy me! haha Yes, as much as I adore you, I resisted your message. A couple of times, I even said aloud to myself (sarcastically), "chop wood, carry water, chop wood, carry water" shaking my head or with an eye roll perhaps (and I told you mentally to put a new message up because I didn't like this one *smile*) Now, however, I realize I must say thank you once again because, just like so many of your teachings, this is a gift that helps me to access the Truth inside myself.
Many of us are waiting for the perfect time or the perfect "happening" in order to move our own feet. Many of us look for a magic wand or a magic pill to solve our challenges. Personality, gender and other differences exist, yet at the heart, at the core, the human struggles are really the same. We may take a diet pill without changing our diets. We may look for someone to love us without truly loving ourselves. Women and men have often been socialized quite differently and "valued" for different roles. I think many women (consciously or unconsciously) still hold onto the belief that a "prince" can rescue them and that HIS power is what they need most. I have said, "women have holes but are still whole." This may sound vulgar but I think that it is really important for women especially to remember that we do have worth and power regardless of what relationships we are in or not in. Conversely, men have historically been valued for their individual achievements and may use the "good story" that they cannot do something because they have not done so in the past or because there is something external keeping them from achieving.
Chop wood and carry water NOW. Many times we wait. We wait and we wait... for the right time, for the right person, for something external to move us and perhaps even do the work for us... and yet, there is tremendous sense of esteem and accomplishment that comes from taking action and responsibility, utilizing our own power, tapping into our own creative energies. I don't think we could ever get this solely from external sources, including circumstances. Yes, we are all One, we are all connected... I believe all energy comes from God... but I also think that we must be a part of that - we must see our part in it and we must act our part in it... and it is through this that we do right by ourselves and truly enrich the world. Sure, it's difficult at times; but, I don't think we would want it any other way really.
The journey of life is a process and being in the moment, and grateful for what we have this moment, is so key. With this realization, we turn anxiety into excitement. We can celebrate and enjoy all that we have & all that we are. We must remember that we can choose Peace right now, no matter what or who is in our lives.
Often it is the thinking about things that makes them most difficult anyway. How many times have you had a stack of dishes in the sink and thought about washing them several times? The thought may not be appealing and can be dreaded. However, if you thought about it five times, you might as well have washed the dishes five times AND in the most miserable way you possibly could! Yet, when you just get up and wash the dishes, it's generally not as bad as you thought - in fact, you might even enjoy it... and the sense of accomplishment, when it's all finished, is a reward in and of itself.
We do have the keys to unlock our internal prisons and change the world for the better. Talk about freedom and independence! All of us are separate yet connected... let us be One in this commitment to choose Peace.
Chop wood and carry water. Chop wood and carry water. Now I say it is a new way. I don't say it with sarcasm or annoyance. I don't say it with the thought that YOU need to pick something else, something that sounds more warm & fuzzy to ME. Now I say it with a spirit of wonder and appreciation for a gift that has been given to me.
Chop wood and carry water. Thank you James. I know that in order to bring these messages to us, you must chop your own wood and carry your own water... and I also know that in order to do all the wonderful things I do, I must chop my wood and carry my water.
I remain open to growth and I pray that you remain open as well. I wish you tons of Strength, Grace and Joy along the way! Keep smiling.
As always, God bless --- Love always, J
finally i found a way to contact to you. but still I'm not sure that you will answer me or not. I need your help and I really want to have an answer from you.
Coach Please HELP me
I always knew that there is something in myself than will help me to be an important-powerful person and especially when my heart broken at the first time I really want to be a famous success person in my life.
That time I was young and I really didn't know that what I am really wanted.
Now I want somebody with all of my heart and I really love him. I always have a dream of living with together and in my dream I always have a great feeling that I didn't want to get up of my dream. But now every thing seems to be destroyed. I know that in our relationship I had some mistake and I really want another chance to be with him and make him and actually myself happy. Now every thing is seems to be gone and our friendship is off. With all of my heart I thought that it will go in a right line. Do you know I really love him but now it seems he stops his feeling and want me to stop have feeling on him! What should I do?? I never want to force him and never, never force this hope to God I just wanted that every thing going to be ok.
Now I can't get that what is going on? If there is really the low of attraction in this moment where it's?
Do you know I really want to be an architect I am engineer of agriculture. My job is something that I don¢t really want I am looking for a good job but it seems that the time is stops. What should I do now?
Coach Please HELP me
Yours
Nassim