Good morning, God, and thank you for a new day in our lives. I hope that I'm able to make the most of this new day and not just enjoy it, but make something of it that will be positive for me and the other people in my life.
Summer is here, and the transition of the seasons is a good way to remind ourselves just how "seasonal" our own lives seem to be. While most people really like summer because of the heat and the longer days, I have to say that it isn't my favorite season at all--it often gets too hot, and I need to have an air conditioner on just to sleep sometimes. And when it gets TOO hot--boy. In the winter we can dress appropriately and compensate for the cold, but when it's hot there's really nothing that we can do to compensate for the heat. I'm fortunate that I don't live in a place that's also humid.
But anyway, I just wanted to say thank you for today and let you know that I am trying to keep life in mind, that I'm trying to reflect on it rather than just pass through it; to learn from my experiences rather than just move through life from experience to experience without getting anything from them. So thank you for this new season and this new day--I really do appreciate them.
A reply:
You're very welcome. And I'm very glad that you're reflecting--it's important that you do so if you want to make something more of your life than just an existence. But I trust that you'll also allow many situations to simply be, without too much reflection on them. Sometimes reflection isn't just unnecessary, but it can seriously diminish the pleasure and the learning that can come from simply feeling a situation, from letting it touch your heart instead of your mind. I gave you a mind that you can use to interpret and analyze and explore, but I gave you a heart to live from. Yes, they must work together, but human beings seem more willing to let their mind dominate and they thus make the heart suffer. Don't do that, okay?
Thursday, June 23, 2016
Wednesday, June 15, 2016
What to do?
Good morning, God, and thanks much for this new day in our lives! We have another set of hours to do with as we will, and I hope that I'm able to make those hours productive and useful and enjoyable.
As you know, we had another massacre in our country a few days ago. Meanwhile, the politicians keep attacking each other, more and more people are going into debt and struggling financially, the schisms between groups--political, racial, ethnic, you name it--are growing wider and people are getting more and more angry at each other, calling each other names and threatening each other over the most ridiculous of causes. . . it makes me wonder just what we're supposed to do. How can we fix the world? How can we help people to care for each other rather than be angry at each other and try to hurt each other? Not a lot makes sense these days, and it seems that things keep on getting worse. Corporations are growing stronger and controlling more and more of our money and resources, while millions of people have to do without--though many of them can afford their cell phones and monthly data plans.
When I was a kid, I thought the world would be a much better place by now. There would be more equality, we would have figured out how to spread prosperity around so that more could live full lives. We wouldn't have so many differences based on gender and race. And to a certain extent, that has come to pass, but at the same time, in some areas things are even worse.
And what can I do about it? I've never felt so helpless and so lacking in influence. We have two negative candidates for president, and I don't want to vote for either of them. So what do we do? How do I find something to do that can help me to feel that I'm actually doing something about situations that bother me so much? I don't want to be a person who complains without doing something about the situation, but I'm also not in a position of influence who can change these things. It's very frustrating, and there seems to be no end in sight for the frustration.
A reply:
Things will always go wrong. You're a human being, exercising your free will, and you're surrounded by other humans who are also exercising their free will. The major problem is that not every human being exercises free will with an eye on their responsibilities to their fellow people and their societies. Not every person looks for the common good, but for their own good, no matter what they say they're doing. Not every person uses their creativity and imagination--they simply do what others have been doing because it's somehow "safer." People allow themselves to be ruled by their fears rather than their love and compassion. Add to this the fact that these days, because of technology, you have a much broader view of the world around you and you see things that you never would have seen before, and you have a very difficult world to live in. That is, it's difficult to live in if you care about your fellow humans and you hope to make the world a better place. Which is most people. It's rather easy to live in if you want to take advantage of others and look out for your own good only. The human race is full of predators. It always has been and it always will be, unfortunately. I didn't make you that way--it's just that many people choose that path because they're afraid of the paths of love and compassion. They're so afraid that they won't have control over themselves and others that they create what they believe to be control by hurting others instead of helping them.
But your bigger question was what you can do about it to allay your frustration. And it's a very good question. First of all, it's important to remember that you're not the caretaker of the world and that it's not your responsibility to fix all of the problems of the world. You have your own sphere of influence, and it's important that you recognize it and be well aware of it, and then do your best to make sure that you put as much positive energy into that area as you can. For example, you're a teacher. You can teach young people to recognize the problems that they witness, but you can also teach them not to fear and to feel good about themselves. People who feel good about themselves are much less likely to need to hurt others than those people who feel very bad about themselves.
A confident person is much less likely to respond to a hurt with another hurt, so you can teach young people to have confidence. An educated person is much more likely to recognize problems that are occurring than someone who doesn't have a broad field of knowledge, so teach the young people to see the world in its entirety, and not just in small slivers that reflect their own self-interests.
You know other things you can teach. You know how to make people feel good about themselves. Compliments and encouragement really can change the world. And your students may not go out and change the world themselves, but they may parent a child who does. Do the absolute best you can within your sphere of influence--you are where you are for a number of reasons--and you will have a positive influence on the world. You just won't see it in the news. You may never see any concrete results at all, but that's what faith is all about--keeping on even when you don't see results.
And learn to love the frustration. It's a sure sign that you really do care, that you really do love.
As you know, we had another massacre in our country a few days ago. Meanwhile, the politicians keep attacking each other, more and more people are going into debt and struggling financially, the schisms between groups--political, racial, ethnic, you name it--are growing wider and people are getting more and more angry at each other, calling each other names and threatening each other over the most ridiculous of causes. . . it makes me wonder just what we're supposed to do. How can we fix the world? How can we help people to care for each other rather than be angry at each other and try to hurt each other? Not a lot makes sense these days, and it seems that things keep on getting worse. Corporations are growing stronger and controlling more and more of our money and resources, while millions of people have to do without--though many of them can afford their cell phones and monthly data plans.
When I was a kid, I thought the world would be a much better place by now. There would be more equality, we would have figured out how to spread prosperity around so that more could live full lives. We wouldn't have so many differences based on gender and race. And to a certain extent, that has come to pass, but at the same time, in some areas things are even worse.
And what can I do about it? I've never felt so helpless and so lacking in influence. We have two negative candidates for president, and I don't want to vote for either of them. So what do we do? How do I find something to do that can help me to feel that I'm actually doing something about situations that bother me so much? I don't want to be a person who complains without doing something about the situation, but I'm also not in a position of influence who can change these things. It's very frustrating, and there seems to be no end in sight for the frustration.
A reply:
Things will always go wrong. You're a human being, exercising your free will, and you're surrounded by other humans who are also exercising their free will. The major problem is that not every human being exercises free will with an eye on their responsibilities to their fellow people and their societies. Not every person looks for the common good, but for their own good, no matter what they say they're doing. Not every person uses their creativity and imagination--they simply do what others have been doing because it's somehow "safer." People allow themselves to be ruled by their fears rather than their love and compassion. Add to this the fact that these days, because of technology, you have a much broader view of the world around you and you see things that you never would have seen before, and you have a very difficult world to live in. That is, it's difficult to live in if you care about your fellow humans and you hope to make the world a better place. Which is most people. It's rather easy to live in if you want to take advantage of others and look out for your own good only. The human race is full of predators. It always has been and it always will be, unfortunately. I didn't make you that way--it's just that many people choose that path because they're afraid of the paths of love and compassion. They're so afraid that they won't have control over themselves and others that they create what they believe to be control by hurting others instead of helping them.
But your bigger question was what you can do about it to allay your frustration. And it's a very good question. First of all, it's important to remember that you're not the caretaker of the world and that it's not your responsibility to fix all of the problems of the world. You have your own sphere of influence, and it's important that you recognize it and be well aware of it, and then do your best to make sure that you put as much positive energy into that area as you can. For example, you're a teacher. You can teach young people to recognize the problems that they witness, but you can also teach them not to fear and to feel good about themselves. People who feel good about themselves are much less likely to need to hurt others than those people who feel very bad about themselves.
A confident person is much less likely to respond to a hurt with another hurt, so you can teach young people to have confidence. An educated person is much more likely to recognize problems that are occurring than someone who doesn't have a broad field of knowledge, so teach the young people to see the world in its entirety, and not just in small slivers that reflect their own self-interests.
You know other things you can teach. You know how to make people feel good about themselves. Compliments and encouragement really can change the world. And your students may not go out and change the world themselves, but they may parent a child who does. Do the absolute best you can within your sphere of influence--you are where you are for a number of reasons--and you will have a positive influence on the world. You just won't see it in the news. You may never see any concrete results at all, but that's what faith is all about--keeping on even when you don't see results.
And learn to love the frustration. It's a sure sign that you really do care, that you really do love.
Tuesday, June 7, 2016
The best of intentions
Good morning, God--and thanks much for this new day in our lives! We have another day to live and to love and to breathe and to learn and to experience, and I hope that I'm able to make the most of it. Thank you very much for the many opportunities that lie before me today--I really do appreciate them, and I hope to make the most of them.
I have a question for you today that may sound like I'm bitter when I'm not--why is it that so many of the things that I do bear no fruit, and actually often fail pretty miserably? I've done a lot and I've worked very hard at what I do, yet I very rarely see any positive results of the work that I do in life. I especially don't see any positive financial results of my efforts, and after a while that starts to wear one down, I believe. In my positive moments I'm fine with this fact, but there are other moments when I feel frustrated and confused. It's very hard sometimes to put forth so much effort and see so few tangible results. And it's not about expectations that haven't been met--it's more about the frustration of working very hard and very much and seeing almost nothing in the way of results.
Why is it that when all is said and done, I've basically failed at so many of the things I've chosen to do, even though I've put all that I can into them? And what might I do to stop failing--or is failure simply a part of who I am? And I don't say that as a defeatist, but as someone who has had so few tangible successes in my life that I start to wonder if there will ever be any sort of tangible success--be it financial or otherwise--for me to see as results of my efforts.
A reply:
You're welcome for the day--it should be a very nice one. It's interesting, because your first paragraph says quite clearly "I'm going to do my best to live this day fully and completely," and what could be a more compelling success than that?
Of course, if your definition of success involves return on what you've done, then success is more difficult to define. And return is often a very good indicator of success. You've written several books, and one of the indicators of success of having written is to have people actually read those books. You've had relatively few people buy and read your books, which can be a very difficult thing to have happen. After all, you wrote them with important life lessons in them, yet if no one reads your books, those life lessons aren't shared at all, are they? This can be discouraging, yet I know that you're already planning your next few books. You aren't discouraged enough to stop doing what you feel called to do--and I would call that being successful, also.
On whose terms are you defining and measuring success? Your own, or those of other people in the world? Are they the terms of people who judge and who make others feel inadequate if they don't meet certain arbitrary criteria, or are they the terms of people who love others and who care for them and who would be supportive of you in anything that you do? Which group of people would you rather belong to? Why?
"Failure" for one person is another person's success. I cannot give you an answer for your question--I don't know why your books haven't sold, why some of your commercial ventures haven't earned you money, why so many relationships have fallen by the wayside. I can assure you of one thing, though--keep on living your life and doing what you feel called to do. Ultimately, success means doing what you feel called to do and doing it well, and so far, you're there.
I have a question for you today that may sound like I'm bitter when I'm not--why is it that so many of the things that I do bear no fruit, and actually often fail pretty miserably? I've done a lot and I've worked very hard at what I do, yet I very rarely see any positive results of the work that I do in life. I especially don't see any positive financial results of my efforts, and after a while that starts to wear one down, I believe. In my positive moments I'm fine with this fact, but there are other moments when I feel frustrated and confused. It's very hard sometimes to put forth so much effort and see so few tangible results. And it's not about expectations that haven't been met--it's more about the frustration of working very hard and very much and seeing almost nothing in the way of results.
Why is it that when all is said and done, I've basically failed at so many of the things I've chosen to do, even though I've put all that I can into them? And what might I do to stop failing--or is failure simply a part of who I am? And I don't say that as a defeatist, but as someone who has had so few tangible successes in my life that I start to wonder if there will ever be any sort of tangible success--be it financial or otherwise--for me to see as results of my efforts.
A reply:
You're welcome for the day--it should be a very nice one. It's interesting, because your first paragraph says quite clearly "I'm going to do my best to live this day fully and completely," and what could be a more compelling success than that?
Of course, if your definition of success involves return on what you've done, then success is more difficult to define. And return is often a very good indicator of success. You've written several books, and one of the indicators of success of having written is to have people actually read those books. You've had relatively few people buy and read your books, which can be a very difficult thing to have happen. After all, you wrote them with important life lessons in them, yet if no one reads your books, those life lessons aren't shared at all, are they? This can be discouraging, yet I know that you're already planning your next few books. You aren't discouraged enough to stop doing what you feel called to do--and I would call that being successful, also.
On whose terms are you defining and measuring success? Your own, or those of other people in the world? Are they the terms of people who judge and who make others feel inadequate if they don't meet certain arbitrary criteria, or are they the terms of people who love others and who care for them and who would be supportive of you in anything that you do? Which group of people would you rather belong to? Why?
"Failure" for one person is another person's success. I cannot give you an answer for your question--I don't know why your books haven't sold, why some of your commercial ventures haven't earned you money, why so many relationships have fallen by the wayside. I can assure you of one thing, though--keep on living your life and doing what you feel called to do. Ultimately, success means doing what you feel called to do and doing it well, and so far, you're there.
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