Connecting Not Collecting

How many Facebook friends do you have? How many pairs of shoes? How much money in the bank? How many cars? How many square feet?

You see, we’ve got it all wrong, this life thing.

It should be about connecting, not collecting.

It's not our fault, very few of us were taught this. It's not our parents fault, very few of them were either.

Everywhere we turn, from our formative years into our adulthood we are being told and shown that success equals acquisition and that more is more.

We're not really given the messages quality over quantity, less can be more, and sim-plicity is key.

These saying are sayings for a reason. They hold a universal truth.

As long as we believe it is about collection, peace and happiness will elude us. With this mindset there is always more to be had, more to strive for, more to achieve, more to de-sire, and dissatisfaction with what currently is.

When you collect things, people, praise, experiences...there is dissatisfaction with what currently is. There is always the desire to add more to your collection, and it will never be enough.

We live our lives simultaneously wanting more and fearing losing what we already have. Although we may feel momentary joy, it is fleeting. Fear and dissatisfaction set in quickly. There is no constant baseline of contentment or inner peace.

Connection is the opposite.

Having one solid friend who knows you inside and out, who loves you, human messi-ness at all, who will celebrate your triumphs as if they were their own, and who will be there when everything falls apart is worth more than a thousand social media friends who more often than not, wouldn't notice if you disappeared.

Connection is about putting down your phone and not only listening but HEARING when someone speaks to you.

Connection is enjoying nature not as something outside of you, but something that is part of you.

Connection is about making eye contact with a stranger and smiling at a baby.

Connection is not buying into the man-made illusion of separateness based on politics, color, gender, sexual identity, religion and all of the other fabricated divisions designed to pit us against each other and control us.

Connection is realizing the truth that we are all one human family. We are all citizens of the planet, and that we are all in the world and of the world.

Connection is living in the moment as it is, not for some future moment hoping it will bring us happiness.

Connection is loving ourselves as we are, aligning our mind, body and spirit and dis-carding all of the identities that were put on us, to uncover and step into our true es-sence.

Connection like everything, is a choice, and it is available to you this very moment.

"If there's so many people here, then why am I so lonely? Can I get a connection?"
- OneRepublic