We are nearing the end of our study of "A New Earth" and in the final chapter Tolle talks about the three modes of awakened doing:  enthusiasm, enjoyment, and acceptance.

I love that he contrasts our usual means of doing with what he describes as the awakened doing.  Most of us work with stress, tension, and drive.  Tolle points out that stress diminishes both the quality and effectiveness of anything done under it's influence.  In contrast is the work done with enthusiasm.  The very word comes from the Greek words en and theos and means to be possessed by god.  He says that enthusiasm brings into existence a wave of creative energy and then all you have to do is "ride the wave". 

He says that enjoyment is the second mode of awakened doing.  When the creative power of the universe become conscious of itself, it manifests as Joy.  You don't have to wait for something meaningful to come into your life so you can enjoy what you do.  There is more meaning in Joy than you will ever need.  I have written here recently about discovering the empowering satisfaction of doing things just because I enjoy them. 

Reading this chapter has been a powerful affirmation of these truths that I've been incorporating into my life.  I'm not sure where I got the idea, and it's not really important to dig to the roots, but I know that for a long time I've carried the notion that real work was not enjoyable and that if I was having fun, enjoying what I was doing, then I wasn't working hard enough.  Imagine my surprise when I realized that the work I do with enjoyment is more productive, more effective, more satisfying, more valuable than all that I managed to do with striving and effort?

The last mode of doing he talks about (although he really mentions it first, I twisted the order here) is acceptance.  He only spends a short time, about one page, on acceptance but that's all he needed.  He said it beautifully.  In his example you probably won't enjoy changing a flat tire on your car at night in the middle of nowhere and in the pouring rain, let alone be enthusiastic about it, but you can bring acceptance to the task.  Acceptance means you are at peace while you do it. 

If you can neither enjoy or bring acceptance to what you do - stop.

How freeing is that?  What a wonderful way to live.  That's the essence of responsible living, to know when to carry on and when to move on.  I wish I'd gotten this lesson when I was younger. 

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It's still warm with clear blue skies overhead, but there was no talk this morning of skipping school due to sweaty feet.  Tucker in fact was happy as he skipped out the door with his favorite tuna sandwich packed away in his lunch box.  He had to take the "emergency lunch" today because he forgot to bring home his nice fancy insulated lunch box yesterday. 

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The noisy neighbors moved out over the weekend. 

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I think I have an answer to the insurance problem.  New Mexico has a program for insuring people who have been denied health insurance due to high risk factors (like heart disease).  Being overweight isn't on their list of conditions for which they provide insurance services, but I called and the customer service rep said that the fact that I'd been denied by the company I applied with first automatically qualifies me for their program.  So I'm sending in my application as soon as I can have it notarized. 

It's expensive, doesn't cover as much as I'm used to thinking that insurance covers, and has a deductible that has to be met before it will pay for anything, but it's better than nothing.  If I fall and break my leg, I know that there's a maximum of about $2500 that I would have to pay before they would cover the rest.  So lets hope now that I'm accepted and can move on from dealing with this. 

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Happy May Day!