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“I said to the man, who stood at the gate of the year, 'Give me a light, that I may tread safely into the unknown.' And he replied, 'Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way.'”
— Minnie Louise Haskins
I am of the notion when you focus on what's good in life this expands to change the way you interact with yourself and others. If you savour each small win, the experience of your life will be one where you overcome suffering and emotional disappointment. And when it comes to our end-of-year retrospections, growth is always the greatest hope that brings action.
Actions are thoughts given body; and although it's totally normal that we tend to focus the majority of our attention on the external world, the material things we're trying obtain, and our relationships with others, this continually active self-growth must be fuelled from within and not the time of month. Try to remember yourself twenty years ago, ten years ago, or even just last year: Are you a completely different person than you used to be? What parts of you have changed? What has remained the same? Forge your resolutions for the coming months in the answers you find.
In doing so we come to the conclusion the truth is that the development of self into the person we want to be is actually the most important thing we can put our energy and attention towards. Once we achieve a real connection to our authentic self and realise our true purpose, all of the external achievements will follow anyway.
Now this pursuit of self-expression doesn't slip farther away from us as we age. Ageing is a natural thing, an unstoppable destiny of the stars, but the key is that we continue to grow, mature and evolve as we age. In fact we move closer to our truth with every passing year. As you get older, even if your body deteriorates, your soul flourishes. Youth is a turbulent hormonal time of experimentation and exploration, it is as we continue to stabilise with age that we find an opportunity to get closer to inner wisdom.
I, myself, am enjoying growing a year older, because I focus on the excitement of growing. I will be going back to university again in 2015, and I can't wait to continue my search for the truth among the company of friends. And to continue learning from your past and improving your future self, the focus must be on growth and the adventures that lie ahead. When we seek answers to how much we have changed from our youth, we should marvel at how far we have come, not mourn who we no longer are.
However, if you often feel dissatisfied with your life, and not quite sure how to change things around, or are you constantly putting your dreams on hold because of financial constraints, family responsibilities, insecurity or fear of the unknown, then you're not alone. Hope in growth is an eternal spring, but the mouth of its stream begins in you. So take a sip. Or dip your toes in. Test the waters. If you've been searching for answers to improvement, or if you've been longing for something, but don't know exactly what it is, then turning towards that source is the solution.
Once you catch on to this idea, it expands - from what it means to be you to what it means to be human. Most people walk through life isolating themselves from others, without realising the great influence and incredible connection that we have as human beings. If you've been looking for the answer to the meaning of life and humanity, then surely you'll have realised by now it's in us learning to get along with one another? Giving back to others can lower your blood pressure, lower your cholesterol, and help you sleep better and live longer, but the bottom line is the same for one as for all - love.
Perhaps until we reach this fundamental mature stage of growth, humanity's own awareness of its self will remain in its infancy. The human world continues to suffer heavy losses towards enlightenment this year, as in recent years past, and I have documented some of our darkest episodes on my blog. It feels like the economic crashes stemming from America's mortgage crisis have mentally unbalanced our collective consciousness. We live in terror and in fear of difference. We respond with hate. Paranoia abounds.
Evidently six years on and we need group therapy. Even our bad skinny diets have helped to turn us into short-tempered thin sacks of intolerance. But our outer world, too, has been gradually turning into a climate conducive to fear ever since America's disastrous response to 9/11 and beyond. We've had centuries of bloodshed in Europe based on differences and dominance - cultural, racial and religious - so it's not too surprising that built on some of its most puritanical elements, America would so ingloriously follow suit.
Yet if we really understood the rules provided by religious scripture from all folklore, faiths and foundations, we would see that they are all ancient coded guides on how we can get along with one another. We all share the same bottom line. Indeed we NEED to get along if we are to survive. Our co-existence is part and parcel - and the main ingredient - of our existence.
Obvious, isn't it? Only what a punishing irony it is to see that throughout human history we have used the coda of peace and goodwill to destroy, dominate and assimilate any and all whom we deemed different than us based on the prevalent narrow-mindedness of the day. In the same breath we have praised our gods while acting with godlessness.
Until we wake ourselves up to this, not even being of the same faith may save you from the increasingly mindless wrath of our ages, because it will always find some other difference to attack - if not of faith, then of skin colour range, or race or region. We stay silent when it attacks another, not realising that one day it WILL turn its destructive force on us. This is why we must actively seek positive growth, and not allow ourselves to shrink smaller with despair.
Despair is deadly. I began this short post by saying that when you focus on what's good in life this expands to change the way you interact with yourself and others. The opposite is just as true. Thus rather than focusing on our losses, we need to hold on to our gains as 2014 makes way for 2015. Remember the good in 2014, along with the wisdom proffered by the bad, and go towards growth by going closer towards you.
I leave you with that thought, and wish you all a prosperous new year.
Ever yours in love,
