The search begins?

Often I think of myself (and others) as souls rather than our physical selves.. or our bodies. We seem to be dominated by providing for our physical self or bodies and sometimes suffer from carrying thisburden. Wandering in the world trying to appease the needs and lighten the pain, the hunger, the longing for love, the fear; I have often felt the desire to be free of my physical self and its needs; to be liberated. Is it possible to be more ‘soul’ than body? I ask myself if all life is about is investing in me (including kids, family friends etc as extensions) .. to live a good comfortable life.. the so called servicing of the body. The dentist, the gynec, the spa, the hairstylist, the gym and the movies even.. clothes, accessories, jewellery.. the intellect, good educa-tion, reading, training. Work as I see it is a means of livelihood but also a tremendous means of learn-ing constantly and at many levels!! But I am not my body.. am I? How can I connect with my self? Is that what spiritual awakening is all about? How can I find myself? Looking into myself.. soul searching .. looking inwards and not out-wards… is this the answer? If I were to sit down and write down what are the good things about my life and what I would love to have that I do not .. I realise they are all body food. But looking inwards and the first thing I realise is that there is only little one can do to change the world outside of me. What I have is full control of myself; how I think, how I react, how I feel. I could live my life looking inwards, carry out my worldly duties, accept graciously, taking in stride the pains and burdens of the body.. in a way that we ser-vice our cars and sometimes even give it a new coat of fresh paint, or replace broken parts, so that it will carry us where we need to go. But should I rather focus on ‘myself’; the me –the one that dwells within. Me-that is of genderless, formless and pure, does not need any grooming, does not belong to a caste, race or country. Me that is free of all those shackles that bind me to the body and its needs. Me-that takes charge of the body and directs it (not the other way around), me - my soul.