Have you been ensnared by the trappings of life?
Do you live your life based on the expectations of others? Do you live life trying to conform and keep pace with everyone else? Have you become so comfortable in your discomfort that you cannot see your way clear of your trappings?
These questions are presented not as judgments but as an opportunity to dig deep beneath the piles of untruths that have been heaped upon us throughout our lifetime(s). In so doing, we reveal more of the truth of who we are and what we can create and experience.
A quote that has been attributed to Jesus best sums up the most advantageous way to move through this experience we call life. He said, “be as passersby.” In other words, experience, embrace and enjoy all that life offers without becoming attached to any of it, including our thoughts and beliefs of how we think life should unfold.
Every event of life is an experience of life, all created specifically for the experience, expression, and expansion of our Self. There is no good or bad, right or wrong, there is only experience. Yes, there are experiences we label as good or bad, better or worse, right or wrong, however, in each case they are still experiences of life that contribute to the greater experience, expression, and expansion of our Self and humanity as a whole.
“Every event in life is an experience of life. Our experiences do not define us, they allow us to experience our Self.”
The idea of living as a passerby is in truth the law of non-attachment. The law of non-attachment states we are not to identify or label ourselves as anyone or anything. We are not what we do, nor are we who others say we are.
In most cases, we are not who we believe ourselves to be. This is because who we believe ourselves to be is often attached to experiences, expectations, opinions and the limiting beliefs we hold about ourselves and others. These beliefs lead to a judgment which cannot coexist with non-attachment.
Non-attachment is living without attachment to any ideologies or dogma that would take us away from the knowledge, experience, expression, and truth of who we are. We are to trust in our Self.
Non-attachment also means being detached from a preconceived outcome. Remain open to the limitless possibilities that exist. The outcome we have in mind might be far less than what is possible. By holding a preconceived outcome, we deny our Self a much greater outcome and experience.
There is much to be gained by experiencing life as a passerby. We gain personal freedom, responsibility, acceptance, and non-judgment. We are empowered to live life from our truth as we understand it in each moment. We make empowering choices that result in living the life we have always desired. As we release our Self from our attachments space is created for new information, ideas, possibilities, and experiences.
As a passerby, we are fully engaged in life, fully invested in all that life is and offers. We are deeply and passionately in love with life while living in full expression and experience of who we are and desire to be.
When we are attached to the things of this world we suffer when we no longer have the experience of them. This is not to say we shouldn’t love deeply and have lifelong relationships, especially with our children, family, and friends. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t enjoy the material aspects of life by living in a nice home or driving a nice car or that we shouldn’t strive to be successful at something we enjoy.
We might do something that makes us well known in the world but we are not what we did, the job or status we held or the relationships we were in. We are the “being” that experiences these things. When the experience ends we still exist as the expression of the Divine that we were before the experience.
“It is when we experience life non-attached
that we are free to experience it
as it unfolds in each precious moment,
in its perfection and glory as it is intended.”
Another important aspect of the principle of nonattachment is that we are to experience the full range of human emotions. It is when we suppress our emotions that we are resisting the flow of life. By allowing the full range of human emotions we are alive and engaged with life and therefore fully expressing and experiencing our Self.
Non-attachment, in this case, means detaching from the emotion beyond its expression. As an example, allow your Self to experience and express anger but do not become an angry person. Allow your Self to experience and express sorrow but do not become a sad or depressed person.
You might be thinking, well what about joy, love, and happiness? Aren’t these emotions to which we would want to be attached? Here’s the difference; you are these expressions.
You are joy, love, and happiness. Living in full expression allows for the grandest experience of Self, which is joy, love, and happiness.
“You cannot detach from that which you are, however, you can choose whether to be the expression and experience of it.”
– Jim
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Jim Phillips is a LIFE Strategist, speaker, and America’s Leading Authority on Living in Full Expression. In fact, he wrote the book on it. He has also been engaged in the business world for over 40 years during which he has been inspiring others to higher levels of achievement and understanding through strategy sessions, coaching, writing and more than 20 International Business Conference presentations. He currently resides in Ashburn, VA where he continues his writing, coaching and speaking. To learn more, visit his website.
