"If I have the belief that I can do it,
I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning." Gandi
By meditating with the goal of compassionate understanding not only of myself, but for my fellow man; I was given the understanding that positive transformation, even though painful, occurs through the edification of one another.
I have felt old since I was a preschooler. I made the remark to a friend recently that if I'd have known how serious life was going to be, I would have acted like a kid when I was one. It has never been important to me to belong to any group. It no longer matters so much to me why I have felt this way; nor does it matter so much that I have often been misunderstood or felt invisible. I have many times, after sharing truths about myself been discounted, minimized or told that there is no way I could or should feel or think the way I do. What this has taught me is to share less, because being discounted and minimized is hurtful.
My spiritual beliefs have remained basically the same throughout my life. How I attend to my spiritual house has been alternately static and chaotic. It is only when I attend to my spiritual needs, I have felt any peace. It is only then I transcend the ties which bind me; to meet adversity with fortitude. It is a struggle, to say the very least. Psychiatrist,Viktor Frankl, wrote about his experiences as a prisoner in a concentration camp in his book, "Man's Search For Meaning," and although it has been years since I read this book at the age of nineteen, I remember being struck by the realization that I had been struggling to survive my own traumatic experiences by giving meaning to them. In any person's spiritual journey there are lessons which are meant to be shared, a deeper meaning that is a gift for the individual to share with fellow travelers. Shared with the purpose to help all of humanity.
It is amazing to me that the scared little girl I was as a child, and who is still so much a part of who I am, still believes such a things are even possible; but I do.
If you believe it, you can achieve it. There are no original thoughts or ideas. We humans have been the same and will remain as our Creator made us; endowed with the abilities and talents that he abundantly gave each and every one of us. Collectively, our true potential can best be realized by recognizing where we are the same, and understanding our interdependence; not in our differences. The closer each of us gets to truly accepting this and acting upon the knowledge that we are, "in this together;" the closer we will be to ensuring that all of us have a life worth living; because we made it happen together.
"Justice is conscience, not a personal conscience but the conscience of the whole of humanity. Those who clearly recognize the voice of their own conscience usually recognize also the voice of justice."
Alexander Solzhenitsyn Russian Novelist, Nobel Prize for Literature 1970
first published November 3, 2010
1 comment:
Solzhenitsyn is a good one to quote here, dear, and I'm grateful for your blog on this topic. It's a hard one, especially if you've been thru "the system" with a child or for yourself. I'm also familiar with the discounted and minimized feeling--I get it a lot. And there is now, believe it or not, a commercial that speaks to some of what you said: a man is a star of some kind, living the life, then it comes to a press conference and he pauses and says, "I will no longer be who you think I should be anymore." I'm so there, and I'm glad to hear you are too! Good work and great blog, dear! You know who I am...on FB, so forgive the "Anonymous" comment, but I prefer to stay that for now. Love ya! --Sacha
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