We are entering a time of year in the US when excess is not only permitted but encouraged. We eat excessively to remind us that we are not hungry. We offer food to others because we realize that some people are hungry, or “food insecure,” as we euphemistically call it. If we are still for a moment, we wonder about the abundance of the universe and why some experience abundance and some don’t. But when one of us hurts, like unaware hyper-empathic beings, we all hurt. Sometimes the pain is so deep that we anesthetize ourselves with food, and other tangible salves. Giving, sometimes to excess, is the hopeful relief from suffering– the sustained, negative response to pain. The limitations of feeling separate from others sets us up to believe the false ideas that we are better, or different, or less than others. We are all one spirit, with no separation. When we give to others, we are saving ourselves. Until we can experience the joy in our lives, we will do more than is necessary to find it.

Our attachments to objects and conditions in the world can sometimes weigh us down with doubt and fear and seemingly endless struggle. But is all that angst really necessary? Actually, our attachments cloud our awareness of the present moment, and thrust us with trepidation into the future or the past. Once we have traveled to those unstable places – the past and the future- our imaginative minds mingle with familiar emotions to brew a quirky concoction of blame, shame and unworthiness.  We forget that we are the promise of the universe. We are an expression of Spirit. We struggle to extract ourselves from the injurious brew, forgetting what Mooji has said, ” Feelings are just visitors, let them come and go.”  Instead, we hang onto those momentary “highs” from consumption, assumptions, and addictions. We crave attention, approval and affection from others, and even when we receive the desired responses, we question the sources and hold onto the notion that we are unworthy anyway. But the premise for our cravings is constructed by a flawed sense of self. We believe that something we did or said or believed set us up for pain. We believe that we are damaged or broken, instead of the whole, capable, beautiful spirits that we are.  We are perfect spiritual beings. Full stop. We are good to the core, with limitless potential, lacking nothing but belief in ourselves as who we really are.

A necessary life is more than one with satisfied desires. A necessary life is lived in the present moment, without the need for purpose, or approval or even happiness. When life is necessary, we let go of fear and embrace love. We let go of opinions about others, and love them completely. When our experience of life is necessary, forgiveness is a moot point, we know that we are loved, worthiness is irrelevant, and joy is abundant. There is an understated elegance in universal abundance. Spirit’s all-encompassing presence is understated in its peacefulness and joyfulness, but it is both essential and necessary.