“Before enlightenment chop wood carry water. After enlightenment chop wood carry water.”
 
That age old saying really encompasses a ton of wisdom. Now, I get it, most people could care less about enlightenment. But, we all wish to live in a space of happiness and tranquility. We all want to live a life that we consider to be good.
 
How much time to refine the various elements of your life to achieve that, “Goodness,” or that, “All Rightness,” do you spend each day? How much time do you consciously do in your doing to get to that space of true fulfillment?
 
The answer is, most people do nothing. They simply live their Life Time driven by whatever it is that is driving them. But, in all of that, they can never find a true inner peace or harmony.
 
The thing is, if you ever wish to obtain that more refined state of living, you must focus on how you are doing what you are doing, and doing what you are doing in a format that will not only achieve they greater goal that you desire but hurt no one and help as many people as possible in the process.
 
In Zen, we understand that each action one takes sets an entire course of events into motion. If your action is small, well thought out, and good in its doing, it sets positive events into motion. It is just the opposite, if your action is not thought out or creates any form of negativity or havoc in the life of Any One or Any Thing.  But, most people don’t even think about this. All they contemplate is how they are feeling, in a whatever unrefined manner that they exist within, leading to no positive forward motion.
 
This being noted, how you do what you do is essential to your overall pathway towards a better and more fulfilled life. Even the smallest of doings can become a pathway to the grander whole.
 
For example, how do you start out your day? What do you do, in your doing, when you get out of bed? Is it thoughtless, where you are simply doing what you must. Or, have you made what you do each morning a meditation.
 
Here’s the thing, anything can become a meditation, if you allow it to become a meditation. Anything can become a pathway to consciousness, if you see it as such.
 
For me, when I get out of bed, if I am going to have a morning cup of tea, I go and pour the water into my cup, (so I don’t waste water), pour it into my tea pot and warm it up. Then, I very consciously pour that water over my tea leaves and ponder it as I watch the water gain its color. If I am going to drink coffee, I pour my coffee beans into the grinder, grind them, and then very consciously move them towards my percolator. Sometimes, I watch as my coffee percolates. Allowing it to become a form of focused meditation.
 
You see, everything you do can become a meditation and pathway to a greater whole in your life, if you allow to become that Some Thing.
 
After my morning drink, I go and make my bed. I do so, trying to make it as nice and complete as possible.
 
Later in the day, as I cook, I always try to make the meals with precise focus and love.
 
When I put the dishes in the dishwasher, and when I take them out, I use that time to observe the forms and the shapes of reality.
 
By doing the small things, that we all must do, but by allowing them to become something more, they can become a pathway to consciousness.
 
These are just a couple of examples of how you can make your everyday everything be something more than simply a chore.
 
If you hate doing it, it is an inconvenience. If you love doing it, it becomes a meditation.
 
The situated pathway that most people follow in their life, however, is that they just do with no consciousness in their doing. But, if you live your life like this, what happens is that you pass through your Life Time while developing no deep understanding. All you are left with is simply a life lived but not truly experienced.
 
More than this though, are you truly happy with where you find yourself in your life? For many, the answer to that question will be, “No.” Most will define this fact, if they ever even try to define this fact, is that their dissatisfaction is given birth to by what they don’t have, what they do not possess. From this, anger and disillusionment are given birth to, which causes a person to live a life defined by negativity. From this, all kind of critical, negative, and not good actions are enacted.
 
Think about your own life. Where do you find yourself on the scale of fulfillment? Where do you find yourself on the scale of self-actualization or, dare I say, enlightenment? Are you happy? Are you fulfilled? If you are, great! If you are not, why not? And, even more importantly, what has this lack of life fulfillment caused you to do?  For many/for most it causes them to walk down a road of negative enactment. Whether towards themselves or towards others.
 
Where do you find yourself in the realms of consciously living your life?
 
Everyone can make their life better if they wish for their life to be better. How? Live consciously. Only do things that spread positivity. Never hurt. Only help.
 
As previously stated, in Zen, we understand that each action one takes sets an entire course of events into motion. If your actions are positive, they lead to positivity. If they are negativity, they, obviously, lead to negativity. And, whichever one you evoke will always bounce back on you.
 
It is understood that the enlightenment of the world begins with each individual. The more people who live their life consciously, the better the All and the Everything become.  
 
So, what are you going to do next? What are you going to do today? What are you going to do when you wake up tomorrow? Live your life from a positive space of consciousness, leaving good and positivity in your wake? Or???