Taking Shelter from the Storm

“Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm”
- Bob Dylan 

Nothing in the outside world gives us lasting peace. We've all heard it a million times "Peace Lies Within, Not Without" but most of us never really "get it." Out there, seemingly separate from us, is a mixed bag - an emotional rollercoaster of little value - at best.
 
Our careers that we put so much energy into, that we go to for shelter from the storm are some days good, some days bad. In every business there are financial gains and financial falls. You get hired (yay!) you get fired (boo). Then there's relationships. Of course, you love them to death but sometimes they make you feel good (yay!) sometimes they make you feel sad (boo). Even that vacation that you worked so hard to save for... even the best things out there... sometimes good, weather is great (yay!) sometimes it rains on your last beach day (boo).
 
The very people, places and things that we go to for shelter from the storm are impermanent. They can't possibly give you the lasting peace and satisfaction you crave. The older you get the more you may have noticed those jobs, relationships, life adventures come and go and bring you on a wild emotional ride along the way.
 
It's time to take shelter in a way that will give you the lasting happiness and peace you desire. First of all, we need to have equanimity along this wild ride. You need to let the thoughts of attachment, wanting 'that sunny day' and aversion, 'why did it have to rain today?' go. All those thoughts need to be allowed to move through your mind like "water off a duck's back,' as meditator's often say. We have to stop looking to external events for our happiness, because those people, places and things will change and if we are attached to things going "our way" let the suffering continue...
 
If you think about it about we are all looking for shelter from the storm. We look to relationships, career, money, cars, expereinces, sex, food and more to avoid pain and bring us the happiness we so deeply seek. All we get when looking in the wrong direction (out there) for our fulfillment are quick hits of fleeting happiness followed by disappointment, stress and afflictive emotions. It's not much different then a druggie chasing their next fix.
 
It's time to start taking shelter in something that can get you - finally - what you've been looking for. It's time to take shelter in the peace of your own mind. That's the one 'thing/place' that never changes. That's the one "place" that truly offers shelter from the storm. This is the "peace" you've been hearing so much about.
 
Unfortunately, you can't take my word on this. For this, you are going to need a mindfulness meditation practice so you can have a direct experience (followed by another and another). For this you are going to need to finally rest that weary mind of yours and stop attaching, racing, striving so damn hard for happiness "out there" that never arrives anyways. It's time to take true shelter from the storm.