Anam Cara - Soul Friend

I am reading a book named Anam Cara-A Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O'Donohue. It is fascinating!

Anam Cara in Gaelic means “soul friend”. Your Anam Cara is a person who you could reveal the deepest intimacies of your life to -- someone with whom to share your soul. Do we have friends like that anymore?

There is a section in the book that talks about spirituality. Mr. O'Donohue defines spirituality as “the art of transfiguration”. The way he explains it is wonderful. He says:

“We should not force ourselves to change by hammering our lives into any predetermined shape. We do not need to operate according to the idea of a predetermined program, plan or goals for our lives. Instead, we need to practice an art of attention to the inner rhythm of our days and lives, which will bring a new awareness of our own human and divine presence.”

Does this not sound like living in the present - and not the past or future?

I quote this passage for its profound truth dealing with being vs. doing:

"It is far more creative to work with the idea of mindfulness than with the idea of will. Too often people try to change their lives by using the will as a kind of hammer to beat their life into proper shape. The intellect identifies the goal of the program, and the will accordingly forces the life into that shape. This way of approaching the sacredness of one's own presence is externalistic and violent. It brings you falsely outside yourself, and you can spend years lost in the wilderness of your own mechanical, spiritual programs . You can perish in a famine of your own making"

Wow! I had to read this a couple of times, and each time it spoke even louder to me. It was not too far in my past that I had dropped the notion of goals as something I thought were important. As I think about it, I realize that my actions and my coaching is geared toward living with intent to take daily action toward those ideals that attract me, fit my values, and feel right inside. If any of those change, so does my intent. Whether or not I get there is unimportant. What is important is that I live my life according to my soul calling and not my intellect, ego or outside influences. You know what? It is a lot easier to live that way as well!