A Dime a Dozen:
I find it fascinating how people instinctually respond to events that don’t even happen to them. We as human beings have a tendency to overreact to the choices, actions and lifestyles of others, while we underreact to those of our own. We do so because of our lack of communication, experience and understanding about the circumstances of others. Our interpretations are based upon inaccurate and incomplete perceptions. We are quicker to criticize, judge, shame and dispose of people in our lives than we are to make a difference. Some do this to take opportunity from the downfall and disgraces of others, while most subscribe to this sociopathic behavior to conceal their dependency, disappointment, embarrassment, hurt and pain.
Spiritual Elitism:
Yes, we all have it. Get over it. My friend Elva just recently wrote an article entitled, “The Writing on the Wall,” in which she acknowledges the awakening of the human race, then poses the question “what are we awakening to?” This is a much greater concept to ponder in light of the accelerated era of decline in which we currently find ourselves. We who have committed and practice a path of spirituality may not understand that with the expansion of our consciousness, so does our ego grow in equal or greater measure. When we chase after the light we are not present to the darkness we overlook in ourselves. Spirituality has become the new religion. As a culture we fail to observe the pompous influence of our judgement and self-righteousness.
Experience teacheth Wisdom?
Each of us have our own experiences. Though, we are more often preoccupied with those of others than our own. We are swift to pounce upon the downfallen in society to bolster our own image and status in the world. We manufacture false power through the negativity of demeaning, demonizing and disgracing others. We present ourselves as aggressive, arrogant, cynical, disempowering and sanctimonious much to our oblivion even when we express ourselves with the greatest of intentions. Our experiences teach us ways to break the patterns of society’s conditioning that ultimately transmutes humanity into a monstrosity. We sacrifice the wisdom we may kindle in life to achieve, acquire, compete, dominate and exceed.
Where is the Love?
We all embody ourselves as being civilized, creative, educated, intelligent, kind, spiritual and transcendent. Yet, when we find ourselves in challenging and overwhelming circumstances, we turn on ourselves and each other as fast as the speed of light. Our greatest friends become our bitterest enemies. What we believed, felt and thought yesterday is quickly discarded when we are confronted with conflicting beliefs or opinions distinct from our own. We not only disagree, we respond with outright anger, disdain, frustration and vitriol. Gradually we degrade and destroy all which we do not or are not willing to accept, consider or understand. The love we once had for everyone evaporates. Even our love for ourselves.
Idyllic Life:
None of us, no matter how clever, creative, smart or spiritual we believe we are, are the ideal human being. Each of us has downfalls, flaws, negativity and weaknesses. This is the nature of humanity. It isn’t the people that present themselves with authenticity and integrity with who we have to be critical and suspicious. It is all who chose to present themselves as the ideal expression of existence we should be wary. These are the people who are manipulating reality to gain advantage, advancement, position and the conversion of the world to their own image, lifestyle and vision. The more we fashion ourselves in the shadow of others, the more personal power we sacrifice upon the altar of self-importance.
Mirror Image:
Everyone and everything in our lives serves as an all-encompassing mirror. How we respond to these elements of our experience determines how we think, feel, act and are. The attention and energy we give them ultimately produces the events that will occur to us in our present and future. How and who we choose to be in our everyday life defines who we become and who and what we attract into it. We do not get how powerful we are as human beings. If we did, we most certainly would not be jumping on the comment sections of website articles to take out our angst, drama, failures, fears, insecurities and disappointments about how our lives turned out due to our own lack of investment, involvement and fulfillment.
Ready, Aim…Fire!
Our proverbial guns are locked and loaded for bear in any circumstance we may find ourselves. We are tinderboxes bouncing off of each other, who at any moment can spark, ignite and explode. More often than not we do so with the gravest of consequences. When our environment, experience and perception is challenged and/or compromised, we instantaneously react with a fervor that even shocks and terrifies us. By the time we are present to the impacts of our thoughts, words and actions, the damage has already been done. The scariest revelation is that we are not even conscious of the harm we willingly inflict upon others, when we believe we have been betrayed, deceived, manipulated and lead astray.
Keyboard Assassins:
It is so easy, too easy, to sit down in front of a computer and open fire on what we perceive to be attacks upon our intelligence, faith, lifestyle, morals and well-being. The inadequacies and insecurities of our lives are on full display when we feverishly tap out our anger, disappointment, frustration and upset on our keyboards with a passion that is evidently lacking in our lives. No matter how much we engage in virtual confrontations upon the comment streams of someone else’s article will never change what is happening around us. We can only transform that which is occurring within us depending upon how we respond. The difference we make in our lives and the lives of others begins with our ability to accept all for who they are and who they are not.
Zen and Bear It:
I have known Zen Gardner for a few years. We email back and forth occasionally, share articles on www.zengardner.com and have similar interests. Most of us on the site do, contributors and readers alike. I read his article, “The Missing Years,” and was surprised at the vitriolic response it received. As I was reading, I became present to a part of his life that was both difficult and revelationary, written with sincere authenticity. We never know what we are into completely until we see “The Writing on the Wall.” Zen made a choice to make a difference and attempt to transform injustices he became aware of about something in which he once believed. When he realized he could not, he left it and moved on with his life. The question we all must ask ourselves every day is, “do we choose to make an opinion or a difference?”
Iam Saums 