Everyone should know that we’re all in this together. If you ever feel alone, you shouldn’t. Each person in this world thinks and struggles with the same issues. We all have insecurities. We all at some point feel lost and empty. Many of us choose to ignore it and search for comfort in the worst possible places. Often times we don’t like to admit it. But it’s true. If you have doubts and insecurities you’re not alone. You’re not crazy. You’re not sick. You’re normal!
In the time we live in we are becoming so disconnected from each other. Things like the internet, texting, cell phones, and television are making it easier for us to lose the human touch. The media is constantly pumping us full of false images to make us feel unsatisfactory about the way we look, dress and feel. It’s all a bunch of lies. Instead of talking about our feelings or our concerns we turn to television, radio or magazines. We identify with sitcom and reality stars who live fake edited lives. Instead of visiting or calling someone we’d rather express our feelings with semi colon’s and parenthesis. It’s all a contribution to the demise of the collective consciousness.
There is strength in numbers. There is strength in looking at people in your life, especially those closest to you and knowing that they think, feel and sometimes worry about the same issues. Nothing has taught me this more than being a part of an organized whole. Whether it has been team sports or playing in a band, you realize that in your time of greatest need the people who will understand best and will be able to lend you the appropriate support are those right next to you. This includes your family. You might feel like there’s no one you can talk to. You may feel that no one can understand what you’re going through. But what you have to remember is that we are all here now. We are all experiencing this together. We are all from the same place and we are all headed to the same place.
Everyone plays by the same rules. The circumstances of the game may be different but the rule is the same: you’re here and then you’re gone. I think this the beautiful part about life. It really puts life situations into perspective. In the face of our own mortality all one can do is laugh. It is an inevitable fate that we choose to forget while we temporarily play the monopoly game called life. We buy into fake personas and play the parts we think life has dealt us. But it’s only an illusion. Accepting our own mortality will put it into better perspective, allowing you to realize the insignificance of your worries.
Many times the worries that we have are nothing more than a false image we hold of ourselves in our minds eye. We become fixated on what we think we should be and neglect to examine and accept what IS. When examining our problems/insecurities and looking for help there is really only one place to look. We must realize that a lot of the pain and suffering in our lives is brought upon us by ourselves. We are our own worst enemies. This is not to say that we are not greatly aided by the many external forces that have been strategically placed in our lives to help belittle the human spirit. However through it all, We all have the power to choose Love over Fear.
These are the only two basic human emotions. Every other one can be placed as a subcategory within. Fear breeds pain. Pain feeds off of our emotions and eventually can manifest itself into physical illness or addiction. This is why we must guard our thoughts with all that is within us. We must change our perspective: A shift in consciousness.
All of us have a voice that runs in our head constantly if we are not conscious of its existent. You know the voice I speak of. It’s the one that replays memories/scenarios and fantasizes about things to come. It’s the voice that breeds fear inside ourselves if we do not consciously monitor it. The one that second guesses gut feelings. This voice is nothing more than your mind and your body computer running a predetermined, conditioned program. Much like a computer runs. A computer will run the program it has been designed to run untethered until a new program is introduced or a new command given.
If we go about our life and do not keep a watchful eye on our thoughts, we are subconsciously allowing external forces and others to guide the process. We must take responsibility for all thoughts that we have. This is not to say that you can control 100% of the things that cross your mind. But you can observe them. Just by observing your own thoughts you are automatically separating yourself from your mind and the body computer’s robotic/systematic process. You are automatically raising your conscious level. By observing that there is something greater than the thoughts. You can not only have the thoughts, but you can observe your mind as they rise and dissolve. It is important while observing not to judge. Accept your thoughts for what they are. Let them go as they arise. Understand that when you have negative thoughts that is not you consciously thinking. You would not consciously endanger your well-being or welcome negative situations into your life. Ask yourself why you have this thought? Ask yourself what do they have to do with the current situation you are in at the present moment. Usually nothing.
We practice are most harmful thinking/programming when we mentally check out and carry out our daily routines (such as driving, showering, watching TV, cooking, working, etc…). It is in these moments that we must be on highest alert. The thoughts that we have of ourselves, others and our life situation will eventually manifest themselves into reality. Your life situation is nothing more than a product of your thoughts (conscious or subconscious) which you in turn (consciously or subconsciously) turn into action. These actions over the course of time eventually shape your life situation.
Knowing this allows you to take control of where you are in your life by first accepting complete responsibility. Before you can begin to get your life on the track you wish it to go you must first accept where you are at and accept how you got there. This means laying down any regrets, pain or suffering yourself or others have caused in your life. You must surrender completely to the present moment. You can only change circumstances and make decisions in the present moment. There is no future and there is no past. Yesterday is long gone and you will never get it back. Tomorrow may never come. With this we must learn to live in the now. If you want to be somewhere in the future, the only way you can get there is to be there now. That being said, it is not like there won’t be work to be done. If you want something, you must take the steps to obtain it right this moment and not a second later. You must align your actions in the present with the dreams you have for the future. There is no ends to justify a means.
Many people spend their whole life working towards a goal, a fantasy in their mind, and never reach it because they forget to accept it in the now. They keep thinking it will come in time (that which does not exist) and endlessly work towards something they will never achieve. Only by simply Being can you obtain the results you wish for and receive the joy and peace your mindfulness is searching for in material wealth and relationships in the past and future.
Be here. Be now. Be who you are. Accept the things which you cannot change (external) and instead work on things you can change (internal). Remember that reality is a reflection of ourselves. We can use this as a good judge to see where we are at. Many of us don’t like to look in the mirror. We are afraid of what it will show, or may not like the results. But we must face our greatest fears an insecurities head on. We must band together and lift one another up. We must cease to put our concern on material wealth and on superficial appearance. We are all beautiful, because we are all reflections of each other. We all have a unique perspective and way of approaching life. It is our responsibility to share that with others letting them know that they are not alone. Divided we are small, together we are indestructible. We all share more in common than we do differences.
Once we learn to accept the things which do not matter: race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social status and begin to value others through the eyes of love we will all be free. Free of all pain and all suffering. Once we value Love of self and others over greed, we will hurt no more. Once we strive for inner beauty, balance and harmony with self will we then begin to see the true beauty reflected in the world. We are all everything and nothing. It only takes each one of us to make this world a better place.
There isn’t one of us who is more or less important than another. It takes all of us. We are all here for a purpose. That purpose is to love and be loved. It is the one thing that resonates with each one of us. Love conquerors all.
Know that with all my heart and soul, I love you and want nothing more than for you to love yourself and share that love with others for as long as you are here.
“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts” -Marcus Aurelius
