Step Eighty-Five

Inspired by Donald Zolan

Step 85. I Find Happiness In Small Things Today.
You will find happiness in small things because happiness is with you. You will find happiness in small things because you are learning to be still and observant. You will find happiness in small things because your mind is becoming receptive. You will experience happiness in small things because you are being present to your current circumstances. Small things can carry great messages if you are attentive to them. Then small things will not aggravate you.

A still mind is an aware mind. A still mind is a mind that is learning to be at peace. Peace is not a passive state. It is a state of the greatest activity, for it engages your life with great purpose and intensity, activating all of your powers and giving them uniform direction. This comes from peace. God is still, but everything from God is generated into constructive and uniform action. This is what gives form and direction to all meaningful relationships. This is why your Teachers are with you, for there is a Plan.

Practice stillness twice today in deep meditation. State your lesson’s affirmation upon the hour and consider it briefly. Allow your day to be given to practice, so practice can infuse itself into all of your other activities.

Practice 85: Two 30-minute practice periods. Hourly practice.



Here you will find the entire book free for download http://stepstoknowledge.com/

Here you will find pointers for getting started if this is your first encounter with this practice: Taking the Steps to Knowledge.

March 5, 2013 Round One: Finding happiness in small things is certainly a blessing and something I take joy in practicing. Like taking small steps too, even if it is three forward and two back, I am still moving forward.

It has been my experience that it is the small things that bring about the greatest progress in the long run. The task for me is to keep this wisdom in mind and not get discouraged if I feel things are not moving fast enough.

I understand however that this Step is calling for the expansion of mind that comes when I move beyond my normal mental state of hustle and bustle and busy thoughts to reach a more balanced state of integrity and discernment. The statement that a still mind “engages your life with great purpose and intensity, activating all of your powers and giving them uniform direction” is so powerful! This is what I am striving for.

October 7, 2014 Round Two: Many things spoke to me today in this Step.

"Allow your day to be given to practice, so practice can infuse itself into all of your other activities."
This is happening. This is becoming my experience as I continue practicing Steps. They are becoming infused in my daily life, infused in my being.
"Peace is not a passive state. It is a state of the greatest activity, for it engages your life with great purpose and intensity."
I am becoming more aware of the truth of this – being peaceful does not mean being passive. A peaceful state is one of heightened awareness, of being in harmony, of being in tune with life.

I took great delight in a small victory today. I had allowed an offhand comment my husband made to pierce me to the core and bring me down. I went with the emotion to see where it would take me. It took me somewhere I no longer want to go, so I switched directions. I saw that if I had not retorted to his remark in the first place (it did not need a retort), I would not have received the belittling response from him. Also my initial response was based on my misunderstanding of Russian. So first, I saw I was reacting from the ego and decided to sweep my ego aside, and second, I learned something about Russian grammar and sentence construction that I will remember in the future. I changed my outlook, it was a small step forward and my mood improved. I found happiness in this small thing.

September 20, 2018 Round Three: I feel that I find happiness in small things on a regular basis. My mind is stiller and I am more aware. Volodya is leaving today, I hope for longer rather than shorter. This day last year I was concerned about how it would all be with him going forward, where we would be living. I was moving more stuff away from Moscow, helping Ursula to move into our room, removing myself from our Moscow apartment. I pondered the wisdom of this. But a year later we are still in the village despite Volodya’s intrusion. We are working steadily toward building our own place on our plot. Meditation in front room, no noise interference from the neighbors - 4.42-5.12. Mind expansion, potent practice. Came out at 5.10 when I heard Sasha moving around in bed, coughing, blowing his nose. I saw and heard things I cannot bring back to memory now. I trust I integrated them. Talked to Claire yesterday, she is still doing well with the voices.

Greg told me today that he had read my story. He said he learned a lot about me and Sasha, he said he saw himself in both of us, he said he laughed, smiled and cried. I am so happy he shared with me.

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