Clarity For Life

Honor Your Desires

Article by Nicola Walker

When I reflect on all the desires that have surfaced in my heart throughout my life, I am thrilled. My desires have made my life what it is today. My desires have offered me, glimpse by glimpse, a picture of who I am as a soul. Yes, it is true that my desires have sometimes got me into trouble. But over the years, I have also learned to discern my “pure” desires from the desire that form out of avoidance or impulsiveness.

Buddhist teachings tell us that to desire is to suffer. I am not a Buddhist myself, but I do know that the precept about desire leading to suffering is sometimes misinterpreted. What the Buddha means is that attachment to desire leads to suffering. It most certainly does. Who hasn’t felt the agony of unrequited love, or the painful longing for something you haven’t got.

Pure desire, on the other hand, is like a precious jewel. It lights you up and enriches your life. A few weeks ago, I was sitting in the garden sipping morning tea when I was struck by the beauty of the clear, fresh air and bright blue sky. A memory of being on holiday by the sea floated into my consciousness and a flash of desire arose within me to go down south to Capitola, a favorite resort at the southern end of Northern California, a couple of hours from where I live. I told my boyfriend about my vision, and because this was a pure desire, my communication was energetically pure. My boyfriend totally got that this could be a wonderful thing to do that weekend. So off we went, found a hotel for the night and had a fabulous time. We returned revitalized and fresh for a new week.

When you honor pure desire, you create the experiences and subsequent memories that make life worth living. You flesh out your one great life. When you sit on and squelch your desires, you take away from your light. Life becomes harder and you push to get through the day. When you honor pure desire, you make the best of yourself and everyone around you is blessed. Life gets easier and you open up once again to your intuitive wisdom and the possibility of miracles.

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