Destiny
Many who employ positive thinking will say “I am in control of my destiny”. In another of the seemingly small and yet very significant one word or semantic changes, let’s make a change. Let’s change it to “I am in control of achieving my destiny”.
This serves as a reminder that we began our climb/journey with a given purpose. We also have free will. It is believed and taught that our soul is imprinted with the knowledge of our purpose and destiny. That inner knowledge is hidden or blocked by our shell which is the physical.
“We shall not cease from exploration and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” – T. S. Eliot
We have a pre-determined destiny, but no guarantee that we will get there unless we choose to. So it is up to us to crack that shell and fulfill that purpose. Then we will have a fulfilling life.
“You are not a human being in search of a spiritual experience. You are a spiritual being immersed in a human experience.” – Teilhard de Chardin
“Climb Every Mountain”
Sing along, “Climb every mountain….. from ”Sound Of Music by Rodgers and Hammerstein
Every ascent on our mountain climb/journey (see the Spinning Rabbi Theme) is one of struggle. Just like a cyclist, you may be tired after an ascent, but you can’t get stronger without it (heart and soul). You might say, “I don’t care if I get stronger.” Then remember this, there is another ascent coming whether you like ascents or not and each one prepares you for the next. Each one, while sometimes much steeper/difficult is actually easier because you made it up the previous ones. The struggle may not be what we want; it is what we need to get to where we are meant to go. It is a question of attitude. Sometimes a cyclist comes to an ascent and looks ahead and has an uh-oh moment. Sometimes, he says “bring it on”.
“The manner in which one endures what must be endured is more important than the thing that must be endured.” – Dean Acheson
It is natural to see the ascents/struggles as something you wish to avoid. It is often painful and who doesn’t want to avoid pain. It is then that we must remind ourselves that the struggle is ultimately good for us.
“It’s easier to go down a hill than up it but the view is much better at the top.” – Henry Ward Beecher
The fear of the struggle and the pain it inflicts often causes us to only see the darkness of going through/up it, rather than the light it will bring us at the end/top.
“Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.” – Charlotte Whitton
The Gift
A seemingly small shift in our inner-speak or mindset can lead to big improvements in our lives.
There is a Jewish teaching that we are to think of ourselves as though the whole world was created for us. Not properly understood this could lead to a life focused on what we get from it, or a “life worth living”. Properly understood, it means remembering that we were created with and for a purpose.
We are a gift to the world when we remember that we were given the gift of life to be that gift. When we remember this we are constantly grateful. It is up to us to unwrap that gift by exploring our full potential so that all of its value is available to everyone else. When we do that we will have a “life worthy of living.”
“Our aim is not to be superhuman, but super humans.” — Rabbi Shraga Silverstein
“Everyone has a different purpose in the world, and everyone’s world differs in accordance with his purpose.” — Rabbi Shraga Silverstein
Worth or Worthy
“A life worth living” is what many, probably most of us say we desire. That phrase indicates a life focused on what we get from it, which probably is not what we really mean. Let’s consider a seemingly small one word change that will, if embraced create a mindset that will lead to the life we truly desire. It will lead to a life of fulfillment of our purpose and what could be more fulfilling than that. It will lead to a life of what we give to it. Let’s add one letter and one word and make it “A life worthy of living”.
“The takers of the world may eat better, but the givers sleep better.” – Unknown
“Try not to become a man of success, but rather a man of value.” – Albert Einstein
“I cannot believe that the purpose of life is to be happy. I think the purpose of life is to be useful, to be responsible, to be compassionate. It is, above all to matter, to count, to stand for something, to have made some difference that you lived at all.” — Leo Rosten
Inspector Clouseau
The vast majority of us would make terrible detectives. We assume. We make assumptions based on little or biased information. We make judgments and decisions about what someone said or did, or didn’t say or do, or how they did or didn’t do it or say it.
Obviously (or not) an incorrect interpretation will lead to an incorrect response. That could lead to withdrawal, anger, and in-kind treatment of another. None of those will lead to our growth. It doesn’t help us and therefore by definition and extension help anyone else.
“Assumptions are the termites of relationships.” – Henry Winkler
Instead of assuming we should first get more information, including or particularly about ourselves. There is a teaching that when you see something in another that you don’t like, you are to see that person as though you were looking at your own reflection in a pool of water.
“We don’t always see things as they are, we see things as we are.” – Anais Nin
“It is better for my enemy to see good in me than for me to see evil in him”. — Yiddish proverb
Never Change
We often speak or hear others speak of changing themselves. We cannot change that which comes our way. We do have control over how we respond and the choices we make.
How we respond and our choices begins with how we see ourselves. If we see ourselves as someone who needs to change, then we are starting with a negative view of ourselves. That’s a view that says to us “there is something wrong with me”. As long as that negative view is there, it will continue to prevent us from true growth. So let’s change that. Let’s see ourselves as not needing changing but rather growing and improving.
Change into yourself rather than changing yourself.
You might not think you needed to change if you hadn’t gone through all that you’ve gone through until now, the present. So from the present point, take what you have learned from the choices you’ve made so far and create the “newer and improved” you. Not the “new” but the “newer”. Tell yourself, “I am better than this” and “I can and will grow and improve”. Say “Show me what else I need to learn”. And grow, grow, and grow… what we say to ourselves matters to ourselves
“We have to learn to be our own best friends because we fall too easily into the trap of being our own worst enemies.” – Roderick Thorp
“All men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes.” Winston Churchill
Cutting Corners
Our journey, our mountain climb begins with us as somewhat of a blank slate. We begin as we are created with our unique underlying precious value, which is left up to us to refine. We are just like a precious stone or gem that doesn’t come out of the ground exhibiting all of its potential beauty. Those stones and gems require refinement.
To refine ourselves requires making every step of our climb one with the purpose of making more of our potential beauty available. An athlete focuses on form. Sometimes it’s for injury prevention but mostly for the efficiency proper form provides for the improvement of their performance. Every move is made with the precision of purpose.
Too often we cut corners in much of what we do, rather than trying to get as close as we can to the perfect move. When we don’t get immediate negative reinforcement from cutting corners we cut more or more often. Consider this…. When you continue to cut corners, you will eventually be moving in circles.
“What a person does ultimately determines what a person becomes.” – Unknown
“Most of us go to our graves with our music still left inside of us.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes
“If good is good, is better not better?” – Rabbi Shmuel of Lubavitch (1834-1882)
The Spinning Rabbi - Heart & Soul 