Imagine, for a moment, that you had a magic pill, or formula – like walking under a rainbow – which allowed you get everything you ever wanted immediately. Once all your dreams were realized what would your life be like? What would you do? How would you be as a person? Difficult to imagine I know but try and make the stretch………. This illustrates one of life’s great misconceptions.
We spend all our time and effort trying to pursue the things we think we need to live a happy life; we strain to get the comfortable house, secure income, stable family, abundant retirement fund, good education for our children, regular holidays and the appropriate car/s. Only to find, at the end of it all, that peace and happiness still eludes the majority of us. This is because, although we may be working very hard and might appear successful to others, we are paying no attention at all to our life’s true purpose. Once all our insecurities (those kind of things illustrated in the above list) are dealt with we are free to decide, as Tolkien had Gandalf say, “What to do with the time that is given us!” And it is only then that we realize that this was the only question that needed attention anyway. Examine the lives of the good and the great philanthropists, sages and saints throughout history and you will see that “what they decided to do…” was, in broad brush, the same. Although they all had their individual preferences (Mother Theresa’s was poverty, Carnegie’s was education and Buffet’s is the environment) the commonality was compassion for humanity and the earth as a whole. This “making a difference” offers a glimpse of where we need to look for fulfillment. We are a collective, part of a fractal universe with each of us inextricably linked to everyone and everything else. While we still need to pay the bills, let’s try not to forget the bigger picture, making a difference works for the little people as well. It helps us remember who we really are.
Namaste
Rod Briggs is an International Lecturer in the Mind Sciences. He has taught governments, universities, Olympians and peak achievers in the corporate and private sectors from all over the world. He spends half the year in Europe and the USA on lecture tours but resides on the Dolphin Coast.
Contact the Mindlink Foundation for one on one or group Stress Management Therapy at www.mindlinkfoundation.com
