Trust Yourself
Words to live by, right?
Personally, I've just learned the consequences of forcing our will against our spirit, the not-so-easy way and not-so-hard way. Because I had an experience where I truly felt horrible about doing something, and I did it against my better judgment. And it end up costing me everything I had worked to build over the past 9 months, end up costing me a good friend, and ended up forcing me to reconsider my entire life.
I failed massively because even when my better instinct was telling me "Stop. Don't go through with this. The signs that this is a bad idea are everywhere." - I didn't listen.
Well, in truth, 9 months, a fair bit of money and a good friend all gone, might seem like a lot to me right now, but actually, given how real this lesson was, how in my face it was, how long it unfolded before my eyes... It was a relatively small price to pay to learn my lesson. And...
I've learned my lesson
Lately I feel really humbled, because my ego-image of myself and my desire for status and external power had taken me to a satanic place without me even realizing it. Actually I'm so glad that life cut me down because I wasn't growing in the right direction. Now I feel freed to grow in the right way and actually have an amazing life based on utilizing my own unique gifts. I'm so happy because I no longer feel impatient, no longer feel cheated, no longer feel anxious about my life, and what I'd be capable of doing with it.
I'm glad because this latest lesson was the last time that I could ever misplace my hopes in something that was fundamentally wrong. By that I mean, randomly going through life, a waiting for something good to happen to me attitude, a kind of Russian-roulette of Destiny, to try and get ahead in the world.
Now, not only have I learned, for good, that progress comes from vision, work, drive, determination, persistence and focus (can't do anything without this lesson), I've also learned that everybody has a choice: a choice between the path of least resistance, and the crummy life that would ensue from it (addiction and depression, unfulfilling occupations, relationships, and lifestyles), or the path of triumphant redemption, and the associated creative, enterprising, and industrious way of life that is so highly rewarded, both in this world and the next.
I recently asked my friend, a much older, Muslim, married man with kids; and I thought his words were very wise. I asked: "Is it just the few in this world that are blessed?"
He answered: "No, everybody is blessed, but some people do not recognize the blessings that God has extended to them. They do not realize the solutions to their problems are all around them, if they would just open their eyes, and have faith in the Almighty."
Forget this crap about comparing ourselves and our lives to other people's... Forget being a victim, forget the injustices of the past, forget lamenting the set of cards we got from birth.
In this life there's really only 3 things that everybody truly desires :
- There is Material Happiness in the form of wealth, security, comfort: Call this Abundance
- There is Emotional Happiness in the form of loving, trusting relationships filled with intimacy, commitment and compassion: Call this Companionship
- And there is Spiritual Happiness, where we work to endeavor to create what could be seen as our contribution to Mankind, that which we will leave behind when we go. This comes in the form of having worked to accomplish something that can be continued after our passing, and which can lead to an even greater good than we were able to produce in our lifetime. It ties together with material and emotional happiness because it is the sign that we did everything right, when we have people we are leaving behind, and we are leaving behind something good for those people : Call this Legacy
If we trust ourselves, and follow our best judgment, we can attain during the course of our lifetimes: Abundance, Companionship, and Legacy.
Nobody can take these things from us if we earnestly stay true to ourselves. The measure of a Man or Woman's success in the eyes of God lies not in what they thought or believed, not even in what they did or didn't do. It lies in what they kept in their heart for their fellow Brothers and Sisters.
Did we hate others, were we jealous of others, did we trick others and want to abuse and do harm to others? This is what we will be judged by. This, and our ability or inability to learn from our mistakes, to keep growing in purity and righteousness in the eyes of God. Not fake self-righteousness of believing we are on the right-side of history. Just doing right by our fellow human according to the inner light of our hearts.
If we all just try our best to live our best lives, I think God will truly bless our world and help us solve all of our problems. In this Age of Aquarius and this Great Shift that is taking place, I hope enough of us can realize this insight, learn our lesson and help to usher in the Kingdom of God...
