Ram Dass Quote on Moving Forward and How Your Next Message Is Always Right Where You Are

“The next message you need is always right where you are.”

Ram Dass, Sunbeams (Page 7)

Beyond the Quote (Day 379)

Did you read that right? The next message you need—not the next message you want. Most of us are pretty good at ignoring the messages we don’t want to hear. So much so that many of us, I suspect, become blind and deaf to their presence entirely. The problem, of course, is that those messages tends to be the very messages that we most need to hear. And how do we hear something that we’ve become deaf to? How can we see again the messages that we’ve become blind to? It’s actually quite simple really.

We just have to take our hands off our ears and open our eyes. We’re not deaf and blind by consequence—we’re choosing to be deaf and blind by choice. In our ongoing attempt to seek comfort and avoid pain we’re avoiding the messages that might contain pain and seeking comfort in the immediate pleasures that are at our disposal. But, this strategy is narrow-sighted and short-term. Covering our eyes and plugging our ears is a good strategy for when we want to sleep—not a good strategy for when we want to wake up.

And if you want to wake up, then you need to do just that—uncover and unplug. You need to uncover what the underlying issues are in your relationships—with others and yourself. You need to unplug your ears from your loved ones and have those hard conversations that are being muted. You need to uncover what real potential and ability you have inside and take risks, make mistakes, and produce more art. You need to unplug those bottled up feelings that are curdling anger, resentment, frustration, and hatred inside, and rebalance your being.

It’s time to finally receive the next message of your journey. The one that’s been stuck in your inbox for as long as you’ve kept it there. No more only opening up the messages you want to read—it’s time to open up the message(s) you need to read. And they’re closer to where you are than you might realize. For, what you’re looking for isn’t something in front of you—it’s inside of you. What you’re listening for isn’t something around you—it’s within you. Your next message isn’t something that needs to be sought out or traveled to—because it’s already right here, with you, right where you are.

In a Tweet:

The next message you need is always right where you are.

Can't see it? Maybe it's because you're closing your eyes to it. Can't hear it? Maybe it's because you're plugging your ears to it.

Messages we WANT are seen and heard easily. Messages we NEED are often muted and ignored.

— Matthew Hogan (@MattHogan123) January 14, 2021

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Read Next: Meaning of the Quote: “Where There’s Hardship, There’s Ease” (Day 378)

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