What does it mean to you to live an easy life? Do you envision a life on the beach or around a pool, surrounded by everything you need for relaxation and entertainment? I’m talking about something else. To me, an Easy Life means a life that is easy to live, a life without struggle or hardship. A life that flows naturally through its cycles, including pain as well as joy, perspiration along with relaxation, and death as well as birth.
The Easy Life requires energy expenditures, often very large and challenging energy expenditures. The Easy Life is not a life without effort and perspiration. You know what I mean; you’ve worked very hard at times without feeling stress or struggle. Perhaps you experienced this in sports competitions, or in exercising, or in a very challenging project requiring long hours of labor. These efforts, though challenging, were also easy, in that they felt a natural part of your life.
Life can be easy and each of us can live a life that feels easy. Even when life brings us difficulty. The ten steps I list below are my view of the steps to a life without struggle: the Easy Life. Only the first is in priority order–without it, none
of the other steps will have the desired impact. I’ll amplify each of the ten steps in future articles. For now, briefly stated, here are my Ten Steps to an Easy Life.
1. Know that an Easy Life, a life without struggle, is not only possible, but is natural. If you do not intuitively know this to be true, or know that an Easy Life is within your grasp, your life will, indeed, be a struggle. This is a fundamental sponsoring thought–life is either easy or difficult–you choose it and then you get it.
2. Understand yourself–recognize your calling in life and live it in all possible ways. Do what you love and love what you do.
3. Spend less than you earn–live within your ability to earn while honoring your calling in life.
4. Feel your fundamental connection to all people, all living things, the earth, and the Universe. You are not alone–never have been, never will be.
5. Judge nothing–no event, no circumstance of life, and no other person–regardless of how foreign the observation may be to you. Know that every being is being who they must be at this time–and doing their very best at it.
6. Live with intentions, but embrace and honor what shows up. Know that each event, each circumstance, and each person appearing in your life is a gift to you–receive it
graciously. Know that the value of each gift depends on how you choose to accept and utilize it.
7. Love fully and unconditionally. Unconditionally love all beings–including your self–all living things, all animate
and inanimate objects. Love simply because love is the essence of life, the source of life’s joy, and because you choose to love.
8. Know there is enough of all of our precious resources for everyone–enough money, food, land, and love. Give generously of your treasures and your special skills.
Compete with another only when both parties agree that a competition will be great fun–never compete under other circumstances.
9. Live in the present moment. Learn from past behaviors, but harbor no guilt, regret, or resentment. Anticipate the future for the adventure it will surely bring. But live
now–for now is all you really have.
10. Know that the joy you seek is already with you–deep within you, not outside of you where you’ve been seeking it. Joy will manifest itself in your relationships, but the source of joy is within you. Regularly achieve a quiet mind
through meditation and meet a wonderful soul–you.
