Wednesday

 Daily Reflection — “Give and Receive”

This morning, I rose around 2:50, and by 3:00 I was already on the yoga mat. As I began to move through my practice, I could feel the intelligence of the body guiding me — twisting, turning, opening. It’s amazing how yoga has now flowed into my running. The run has become meditation — a moving prayer, a posture of stillness in motion.

As I moved, words began to rise in my mind: gossip, intelligence, patience. Then the thought came — how do we treat each other?

Whether rich or poor, every one of us must learn to give. Because when all we do is take, we become disconnected from the true flow of life. Giving and receiving are one — they are the breath of existence.

So many people believe that wealth or comfort will protect their children. They send them to the best schools, place them in the best neighborhoods, thinking that’s security. But the truth is — it’s not. A child raised in comfort can still fall into addiction or homelessness, just as one raised in struggle can rise into greatness. Every soul has its own journey of awakening.

For me, these past ten years — experiencing homelessness, staying disciplined, and living without substances — have been my greatest teachers. They taught me appreciation, gratitude, and self-honesty. When you go through pain consciously, it humbles you. It teaches you to value every act of kindness.

But when you escape pain through numbness, you lose that appreciation — you miss the lesson.

So today, I remind myself: Give and receive. No matter who you are or where you are, you can always give something — a smile, a word, a prayer, a helping hand. Energy must move.

Because one day, the person you give to might be the one who saves your family, your friend, or even your future self.

As the day continued, I noticed my mind observing many things — not to judge, but to understand. The more I read, the more I realized how every teaching, every philosophy, and every religion carries its own truth and limitation.

While reading, I found myself both inspired and questioning. Words can be beautiful, but I also see that sometimes when people speak about detachment, they forget that the very act of creating, writing, or teaching is itself participation in the material world. You cannot escape it. The universe expresses itself through form — through creation, through exchange, through movement. Even asceticism is a form of creation. To deny that is to deny life itself.

I am learning that true education is not in knowing, but in not knowing. When I do not know, I am open — open to every idea, every path, every contradiction. But once the mind thinks it knows, it begins to reject. That’s when division begins.

No one is truly wrong; they are only expressing their current level of awareness. Years ago, I might have been angry at others, but now I see no reason to be. Each soul acts according to its own understanding. And when I accept that, peace returns.

I see now that the greatest escape in life is not through substances, wealth, or even helping others — it is through distraction. The human mind will do anything not to face itself. Some run toward work, others toward saving the world, and some toward self-destruction. But all of it is the same motion — movement away from silence.

Healing does not happen in motion. Healing happens in stillness. It is only when we stop — truly stop — that truth begins to rise like the morning sun.

Every experience in my life arrives as a mirror. They are not people anymore — they are reflections of my own inner lessons. Each reflection shows me something about my past self — the one who used to run, chase, and search for peace in the wrong places. Now I know that peace was never lost; it was just buried under noise.

The mind loves to fix others because it is afraid of fixing itself. But once I stop running, once I breathe deeply and return to presence, I see clearly — the only one I have ever needed to heal is me.

And that, perhaps, is where true wealth begins.

#GiveAndReceive #YogaReflection #InnerPeace #EnergyFlow #Awareness #HealingThroughSilence #Discipline #StillnessWithinMovement #Gratitude #SelfHonesty #YorubaYogi