Paradise is not an elusive star waiting for us to return to our heavenly past, nor is it a destiny, or prize to be sought or won or gained—it is, rather, the continuous flight of a soul reaching, reaching, reaching up… until it falls down laughing and gets up dancing and wakes up seeing and lives life believing that Paradise is where we already are!
When we let go of all our expectations of other people and simply appreciate and enjoy them as they are, we will know Paradise. When we speak and act from kindness and with compassion; when we forgive; when we weave gratitude and appreciation through all of our thoughts and words and actions; when we abandon judgment and blame, and truly want for others what we want for ourselves—we will know Paradise.
When we love ourselves enough to want Paradise, we will begin to know that we are worthy enough to have Paradise. We’ll begin to forgive, knowing that what we believed we could never forgive has kept us chained to a past that reappears (with a different face and in a different place) over and over again. We’ll stop judging, knowing that what we judge is often judged incorrectly; and we’ll stop blaming, knowing that those we blame are not here for any reason other than to help us expand our vision, change our perception, elevate our understanding, hasten our healing—and we will thank them, instead.
What I know about Paradise is that you love your way there; you laugh your way there; you dance your way there! What I know about Paradise is that it expands as we expand, it gives as we give, and it loves us… yes, it loves us… just the way we are.
Paradise isn’t where you’re going—it’s where you already are. It’s in your mind, it’s in your heart, it’s in your smile… You have not come here to find it, you have come here to live it, to be it—you have come here to let it wrap itself around you and dance you across the world; over the mountains, through the woods, and into the arms of Love.
—Heather K. O’Hara, © 2014 and beyond. All rights reserved.