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If we want a better life, we have to make ourselves ready to
grow one.
Contrary
to popular guru belief, most people are not that interested
in learning how to live the good life when the key to
success requires major personal change. We're not talking
about being sacrificial, like giving up candy or sex. We're
talking about moving beyond the likes of fear and
self-hatred, stuff each of us would proudly state that we
are more than glad to get rid of. Yet, the majority of us
would rather fight with everyone than rearrange our
personalities so that our happiness doesn't depend on what
another person thinks or does. We are lazy, needy and
entirely too insecure. But, don't feel too badly, we are in
good company after all.
It
sounds strange, but wallowing in self-pity, hating our
neighbors, or even being sick, define the path of least
resistance for many of us. It's a quirk of human nature that
we can criticize our world so vehemently while at the same
time strive, at least intellectually, for a feeling of
oneness with all people. Doesn't it make sense that to
achieve oneness with others, we have to at least have
compassion for them, even if they belong to a different
political party, live on the "wrong" side of the
tracks, or follow a different religion? Again, just because
we know the key to success, doesn't mean we use
it---until…we have that one experience, no matter how
small, that makes the connection come alive for us. We
inadvertently do something nice for that annoying person and
they all-of-a-sudden become our greatest ally, or our
"bad" head cold resolves itself as soon as we
leave work and head for the ski slopes. We realize that
these shifts in attitude are tactics that may be worth using
again. An epiphany!
We
often blame our finances, our family, or our health for
holding us back from leading the good life, when, in fact,
our current situation is the result of incorrect thinking
and not the cause of the problem. Ever try to grow a bed of
roses in rotten soil? Not much success. You can spend your
life cursing the tangled web of thorny vines and the buds
that never opened, but wouldn't it be more productive to
change the soil? If we want a better life, we have to make
ourselves ready to grow one. If we start with this simple
awareness, then we begin to see life's challenges as
opportunities to till and nurture the soil. And when we are
ready to give up the luxury of complaining afforded us by
the disturbances in life, the disturbances will fade in
comparison to the wealth and abundance we have grown.
(SM)
& Copyright © 2000 K. Weissman & T. Coyne
Karen Weissman and Tami Coyne are The
Spiritual ChicksSM. We've been
stumbling along the spiritual path for longer than we care
to admit, and have gone where others fear to
tread---everyday life---to reveal the secrets of the
universe. Check out our web site |
