Are You Playing Hide & Seek with Your Life?

My teacher once asked me a profound question that changed my entire perception of ME. 

You see, I always considered myself a spiritual seeker, one who is in search of the wisdom that will ultimately lead to enlightenment or samadhi.  I was even proud of this perceived status that I believed being a “seeker” would offer me, including the circles of other “seekers” that I would have the opportunity to hold the company of.

And then one seemingly ordinary day, I was asked a question that ROCKED and SHATTERED this entire mirage!  

So what was this life changing inquisition???  “Andrea, my teacher asked, do you want to be a seeker or an explorer?”  He asked the question with the most innocent tone and unbiased demeanor that embodies his entire being.  And I immediately knew the answer.  The answer did not come from any kind of negotiation in my head, it shot straight out from my heart and made the answer glow in neon lights so pronounced that I could even hear their buzz!

I want to be an explorer!  I do NOT want to run around playing Hide and Seek, and hoping that who or what I find will match up to the very limited picture I have created in my head.  I do NOT want my life to be daunted with the notion that I’m supposed to be hunting ANYTHING.  I want to be FREE.  Free to experience the mystery, the awe, and the wonder of POTENTIAL, infinite potential, the kind of potential that I unknowingly bind up with my words, expectations, and limitations.  

So next time you find yourself out there chasing something, whether it be a job, a relationship, a feeling, an asana, a brownie, or the latest I-phone….check yourself….check if you might be giving up the extraordinary potential available to you RIGHT NOW because you are lost in a mindless game of Hide and Seek.  

Regardless of whether you are hiding or seeking, you lose!  You are either lost in an endless pursuit of dissatisfying expectations OR you are hiding behind experiences that have ALREADY happened and are IMPOSSIBLE to re-create.

So what do you say….will you step out of the game with me?  Will you set yourself free to explore the Wild West of the next moment?  The moment that no one has ever been to, the moment that no one has ever seen, or felt, or lived EVER before?  

It all depends on whether you choose to seek or explore...