Reiki: living by the use it or lose it principle

Everything in life has a purpose, while the thing itself may appear constant, it’s purpose, meaning, and value is in a constant state of flux. Our beliefs, values, fears, and doubts all influence and affect our perceptions of everything in life and everyone’s perceptions are different but of no less value and worth. Everything has value but we all value things differently, what is a trinket to one is a treasure to another; for value and beauty are in the eye of the beholder. What we believe creates the value of what we see, and what we see reinforces what we believe about ourselves.

What we value also reflects upon our self-image, we quickly associate the value of things to the value of people; we then begin to judge people by their possessions, their material values instead of their value as a person. In a materialistic world we assume that the bigger and better things you have the bigger and better (intelligent, successful, happier etc.) you must be. This misguided and false assumption leads to the acquisition of things in order to feel fulfilled and to make a statement about who we are and what we’ve got.

Once we buy into this belief (literally) we become trapped and possessed by our own possessions, we can’t face losing anything as to do so we would lose a piece of our own identity, since change is the only constant in life we are doomed to fight a losing battle against the fear that all change brings about the loss of something we identify with. This fear is the basis for our need to control, and ownership of anything can be a powerful control stimulant. This situation becomes worse when we begin to collect things in our lives, we gain comfort from having these things around us and we hang onto them just in case, from old carrier bags to old relationships. We hang onto all manner of stuff just in case.

We fill our cupboards, wardrobes, and lives with stuff, we fill our cupboards with unimportant stuff that just might come in handy one day, and we keep it along with the empty carrier bags. We keep our wardrobes full of outdated clothes that might just come back into fashion, if only we could fit into them again. We fill our relationships with all manner of one day’s, just in cases, if only’s, and I wish I had’s; and amidst all the clutter and confusion, things of true value are lost and misplaced, emotions are boxed up with our memories, safely put away for another day.

A time will come, as it must for all of us, others will clear away the clutter and confusion that we created in our lives, the cupboards will be emptied, the wardrobes cleared, the feelings and emotions dusted down and remembered as if it were only yesterday, memories worn and warmed by the passing of time. In the emptiness is the realisation that the only permanence, the only true value, is the happiness that these things momentarily brought into our lives. Happiness can never be found alone, it is the by-product of an enjoyable experience, it is the shadow cast by a good deed and the echo in the stillness of a kind thought and a loving word.

There is no permanence this side of life, the best that we can hope for is the fleeting enjoyment that every moment has the potential to bring us; but to enjoy life to the full we need to free ourselves from the baggage we surround ourselves with, see everything in life as a gift not to be owned, but to enjoyed while we have a brief duty of care over it.

The moment we hang onto anything we stop the flow of life that brought it to us in the first place. Better to receive with an open hand, and give with an open heart, thus ensuring a constant flow of life and the experiences it brings. What we use constantly is always at the forefront, be it in our cupboards, wardrobes, our minds or our relationships; the less we use it, the further back it goes until we lose contact with it all together, and then forget it’s there. How much of our lives are filled with things we never use, how much have we forgotten, how much have we lost.

If we have the ears to listen and the eyes to see then everything in our lives can speak to us; therefore everything becomes our teacher. A time will come, as it must to all of us, that others will clear away the clutter and confusion for us; we can play an active part in the process or wait for it to be done in our absence. It can be given away, or it can be taken away from us, we must choose. We have a duty of care to use and learn from every moment, every thing, every experience that life provides us with. It is right that we should enjoy life, but with every right comes a responsibility, and it is our responsibility to maintain the flow of life in all things physical and spiritual. Flowing; it creates abundance, but blocked, the natural flow is disrupted and begins to collect and stagnate. We should give what we wish to receive; receive with an open hand and give with an open heart, in doing so we create space in our lives to receive afresh as well as enhancing the natural flow of life’s experiences.

To live life by the principles of Reiki means to accept life full and flowing, and to remove the barriers that we have imposed upon ourselves which stop us receiving the things we need and desire. We should embrace life to the full, but never hold on to it out of fear of loss or letting go. It’s only out of letting go that we are able to receive anew.

Article by Phillip Hawkins

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A Reiki practitioner since 1999, Phillip started teaching Reiki in 2000 and using those skills and abilities he has spent the majority of the last seventeen years working with a wide range of social and educational needs including Autism and ADHD. Working with addicts dependent on alcohol and drugs, people whose lives were extremely violent and abusive, and others who had to deal with severe mental health issues. This has enabled him to work extensively in the private sector, schools, colleges, education and care in the community, the prison service and psychiatric units.

In 2016, Phillip decided to semi-retire from full-time employment to concentrate on developing his career as a published author and the setting up of his Reiki personal development programme at the Chilton Community College.