Breathe with Intention

Barcelona, Spain

January 19th, 2016

Here’s a little look back on my first adventure to the Balkans roughy 2 years ago. At the time the entry was written I was exploring the topics of happiness and asking  myself question such as, why it is so easy for many people to simply replace everything in their life when they feel dissatisfaction? What I’ve learned is that many who do this are simply swapping one thing for the next in search of happiness but what they fail to realize is that happiness is not a product of what’s around them but is fully experienced from what’s within. Yes, if something truly is no longer serving you then you don’t need to justify to anyone if you want to release it but let’s be honest, the majority of us are not letting go of things for the best reasons. With that said, let’s take a look to the past.

The Balkans

So, where to start…..and what to do….

I can’t help but pick up from my previous entry A Country Full of Surprises and continue from there, because in all honesty, my trip to the Balkans has offered me perspective on life that I was needing but never knew, asked or wished for. Prior to this trip, I had the idea the heart had its limits, or that according to the way society thought, it should in many ways; I’ve now come to realize that if in fact the heart is limitless, I don’t think we should see it as bad thing. By respecting the limitlessness of the heart, amazing things can come to you. In my case, I can say that by opening myself up to the experience of being in the Balkans without any expectations, every wish I had for improving my happiness and overall general desire for certain things in life, have been granted. It’s as if my time in the Balkans and those who I’ve met, had transferred an immense amount of positive energy towards me and allowed me to continue on a more fulfilling path. I am grateful because there were many things that became very clear to me there and I know, my experiences have shaped me in a way that has been so beautiful and natural.

Why are we always searching for what is perfect, and why is it that when we think we’ve found something better we feel that it’s ok to swap it out for something new? We do this with clothes, things in our homes, people, jobs, practically everything we can think of. We have to ask ourselves something though, is the new or better always the best for us……well, in a world without emotion or attachment to things the answer may be yes. Unfortunately we don’t live in this world and because of it, answers to certain questions for ourselves can become complicated.

I’ve been reading a book lately, Living Loving and Learning by an Italian born American author, Leo Buscaglia, and the topics discussed inside have brought about all of these thoughts and questions on the paths we choose to take in our life. So before I continue, it may seem like I’m jumping from one place to another with all this but just know it’s because I’ve been throwing thoughts on the page for the last month and this has been the result, the most natural and unedited verison of those thoughts. With that said, I’d like to share a quote with you from someone I hold close to my heart, it’s something they wrote me and they are words I’ve connected with so deeply. I feel they resonate with me, for they not only are a way I think but they tell a story of my actions in life.

‘If something is out of reach, but yet you crave it and it’s still working as a magnet, pulling you towards it, there will always be a way to reach it. Nothing is out of reach if we really want it, maybe in a moment it may seem out of reach but still we can search for it until it is ours.’

Anonymous

I love this quote, mainly because it speaks to going after something in your life that you desire so deeply. No matter how difficult of a situation we find ourselves in, or how out of reach something may seem, by following what pulls us so strongly, rather then resisting it, we will reach to our ultimate desires.

It’s an experience in it’s own, reading back this entry after so long, and feeling everything it brings up for me. I came to many realizations back then that I couldn’t necessarily put a finger on it as to what to call them and for this I spent years asking myself what it was that made me so happy there. I wanted to understand the formula so I could carry it through life with me. It hasn’t been until recently that everything is starting to make sense. Let’s just say, everything in life always comes full circle. What’s helped bring clarity and understanding now to the feelings I had then? Well…the other day I was listening to a podcast episode from The Luscious Hustle Podcast, titled Do Your Darma, where Kitty Waters spoke about what Darma was for her.

Kitty says that Darma is the principle of purposefulness in life and that by following your highest excitement to the best of your ability, without any preconceptions on the outcome, the universe can bring us in things that we could never have imagined. Although I understood in a very vague way what she meant, and I kept thinking well aren’t I sort of doing that now in my life, it wasn’t until I read back this entry from the Balkans that things clicked!

Now reading back over my entry from two years ago, I see that what was happing was I was actually following my Darma without even knowing it. Going into each experience without any exceptactions or preconceptions and following what jazzed me, every second of the day. It is clear to me why I felt such immense happiness there now.

It was following my first trip to the Balkans that I came out with my Breathe With Intention phrase and new way of approaching every moment of my life; breathing through life with intention and without expectations in all I did. I see now that it roots from following my Darma. Now I’m no expert in this but I am very intrigued about this concept and will definitely begin to explore it more.

If you have any comments on Darma or would like to share your experiences and journey while practicing Darma, leave a comment down below.

You can connect with me through the contact page of my site or on @soul_essential_travel on IG where I’m hanging out, let’s be honest, for the good portion of my day.