“Yesterday I was cleaver, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.” Rumi
As evidenced by his above insight, Rumi, the Persian poet, mystic and scholar was known for his extensive writings on living so life tilts in your favor.
Throughout history, we have pointed our fingers, found fault and given blame. Always, it’s “Them”!
What good has or does that accomplish? We overlook or disregard that we’re all doing the best we can. Theoretically, each of us can do better; theoretically the first rocket to the moon would have been successful. In other words – theoretically doesn’t count!
Each of us, with what has happened in each of our lives, what we have been through, we are doing the best we can. It may not seem like it but that’s because we don’t see beneath the surface. Behind the curtain where we hold and hide our pain, anger and rage. Where it hurts too much to acknowledge or accept. But it creeps out from time to time, disrupting our moments, even destroying our relationships and lives.
We’re each doing the best we can, and we can do better by learning new mental models and skills. I encouraged someone whose pain had destroyed her life and she asked me, then why am I here?.
As Rumi encouraged us above, we can change ourselves. Life IS What We Choose To Make It!, last week’s post together with this one, cover the most important and significant steps within our control. Steps guiding, assisting, making the changes in our perspective, of how we see and think of ourselves, so our entire life changes!
Carmen Moshier ~ Child Of The Universe
Why Am I Here? One word: Love!
Life is like a myriad of facets coming at us, you and me, demanding our attention, wanting results! In spite of our success in everything else, if we develop unconditional love for ourselves then this life is an unmitigated success! Learning to unconditionally love yourself is that important. Everything else we do or don’t do, hangs on that.
Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People? Expand Our Perspective!
Expanding our awareness, encompassing an ever-increasing compassionate response to previously dismissed experiences deepens our experiences and senses, empowering us to love deeper.
How to Accept, Forgive and Love Ourselves Unconditionally? Through Grace!
Although my home life was loving, encouraging and supportive, I thought I had to earn love before I could freely receive and/or stay loved. I eventually reimagined grace and being immersed in its flow. I visualize an ocean of grace, immersing me in its embrace, acknowledging and accepting me as I am. Each moment, regardless of how life seems, God loves me and to show my gratitude – I learned to love me.
Reimagine how you visualize grace. Think of it like oxygen! Do you ever go without oxygen? No, because you can’t. Visualize grace as a concoction of a mother’s “Ouchy kisses” combined with Our Creator smiling, rubbing your shoulders while telling you, “(Your name), You’re my child, I’m so proud of you! I love you (Your name again).” [Be sure you add your name. That helps your imagination make it more real.]
How does that make you feel? Carry that feeling with you… always! Imagine a flowing river of grace. The more grace you give yourself, the more grace flows. Grace changes your life in so many ways. Giving others grace also increases your flow. Imagine it. Experience it and you’ll wish you had done so sooner.
We Live The Story We Tell Ourselves But – You Can Write Yourself a New Story!
A mental model is our belief that this is how the world works. We have countless mental models.
Using mental models is one of the most effective and efficient ways we learn. We see and we duplicate what we see. It works best when we’re aware we’re using a model, although we’re not always aware of it.
The problem isn’t that we have mental models. The problem is we don’t realize our mental models are just choices we made. We think it’s how the world is. No! It is only our model of how the world is and we can choose again, make a new model! It’s the movie version of the story we wrote! And we can write ourselves a new story, make new choices.
BTW – Nothing IS Personal!
Life has its moments. Moments that can scar us or simply float on by us. It depends on how we choose to receive and interpret the moment. Accept that we cannot possibly know all the interactions going on behind life’s curtain. Whether it’s another person, something they said or did or an event that disrupts us, it’s our choice how we react or respond. Giving the benefit of the doubt, or not, sets the stage for further disruption or lets it float on by.
Practice giving the benefit of the doubt by imaging the other is struggling with a problem. Perhaps negative self-image, home life, career disappointments. Whatever it is, they don’t know how to deal with it. The question is – do we know how to deal with it, so it floats on by? It’s our choice. We choose how to receive or interpret life’s moments. Accept that perspective, everything changes!
Developing these skills creates a synergistic aura enhancing our journey in magical ways. One of these is realizing even our own ‘oops,’ aka mistakes and slipups, aren’t personal, simply a growing experience. A parent doesn’t take it personally when their infant has a dirty diaper. It’s not personal when we’re too young or simply don’t know better.
As icing on the cake, choosing this perspective takes forgiveness to the next level! That’s the other side of this coin – there’s nothing to take offense at when we stop taking things personally. There’s nothing to forgive!
“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking.” Einstein
Throughout LFT, I included encouragement from Einstein, Buckminster Fuller, Rumi, Newton, Galileo, and others. Many of history’s greatest minds and others of notable achievement. They lived reaching for their highest star. Then left us their shoulders to stand on so we could see further and reach for our highest star –humanity’s journey of emerging consciousness. I call it Embracing our Giants.
Can you imagine what that will be like? Our world populated by people acknowledging and accepting themselves and others as they are. Faults, failures and all. Harmony, Love and Peace are ours through this perspective of accepting, forgiving and loving.
Until Next Time,
Joe