Have you ever noticed that when you embark on an adventure that intimately involves you, your blood pressure increases: you just don’t know what will happen! What will come is up to fate, luck, God, the gods, a good pilot or ultimately, a good helmsman. You are placing your trust in others. Perhaps this feeling of helplessness is part of the mystique of travel. I remember that a rollercoaster ride elicits the same response: terror and yet a sense of suspense and wonder. It was in such a state that I found myself at twenty or so. I was lodged in a state of puzzlement. In my experience, if you think (now some beings, of course, choose not to) you are placed in an odd reality. Whatever your color, your ethnicity, social circumstance or family background, you realize that you are free to be you: no question – you exist. Personal liberty flows through you — even inside the confining walls of your body or mind. You inhabit a special place: the residence of the self. You are liberated and yet safe inside your consciousness.
Sadly with this sense of freedom comes a wave of guilt and its concomitant nausea: guilt at being alive and nausea at the responsibility that this realization places on you. You simply cannot exist: you must seek and create. It is part of being alive, being human. “I just want to live every day and be happy,” therefore, becomes a ridiculous mantra. Human beings are naturally happy and peaceful, for that matter. These are innate traits – you don’t need to seek them. You must simply uncover them: adumbrate your mission, your “self-plan.” Everyone has one, whether they believe it or not. To quote Dr. Frankl: To invoke an analogy – Consider a movie: it consists of thousands of individual pictures, and each one of them makes sense and carries a meaning, yet the meaning of the whole film cannot be seen before its last sequence is shown. However, we cannot understand the whole film without first understanding each of its individual pictures Isn’t it the same with life? Doesn’t the meaning of life, too, reveal itself, if at all, at its end, on the verge of death? (1)
These were easy words to read but they were, for the most part, beyond my day-to-day actions. For me, my pace of growth, my education – both formal and experiential – was slow in coming. I was a turtle, while all around me the hares of the world swept past on their way to, seemingly, unachievable goals. I then realized, like the rabbit and the hare analogy, that “My path was my path.” As long as I remained true to my mission, I could proceed at my own speed. A second realization also fell upon me. I had the right to change my direction, to uncover a new trail: perhaps the second one was actually the correct one. I had a friend, for example, that was convinced to be a doctor. In the first year, he did well because the classes were only theoretical. During the second year, however, he had to work on cadavers. He became physically sick at the sight and smell of these objects. He was forced to withdraw from his medical studies. Now his family, in particular, his father, dumped vitriol on him: he nonetheless eventually studied what he had wanted to study all along — music. He got a Ph.D. in music theory. This “metier” never benefited him financially as much, but it was his true calling, and he was contented. This is true for all human beings. Our society conspires against our legitimate true calling. Yet, as young people we are subject to the vagaries and influences of youth: “The old believe everything; the middle-aged suspect everything; the young know everything … To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.” (2) The only way that we will escape wage slavery is by being “bloody-minded,” by being determined. We must believe that we can uncover our life calling and then get to work. Nothing truly gained is acquired easily. An education + experience will lead to expertise. Earle Nightingale (1921-1989),” the Dean of Personal Development” leaves us with a thought: The Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don’t wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it’s at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savored. (3)
A closing thought: I think bus drivers are the true philosophers. I recently spoke to two enlightened chauffeurs: The one spoke about Fr. Nouwen (1932-1996) and his influence on the concept of gratitude and service in one’s life. “Nobody escapes being wounded. We are all wounded people, whether physically, emotionally, mentally, or spiritually. The main question is not, ‘How can we hide our wounds?’ so we don’t have to be embarrassed, but ‘How can we put our woundedness in the service of others?’ When our wounds cease to be a source of shame and become a source of healing, we have become wounded healers.” The other gentleman spoke on the merits of belief in the self. Maybe my life is not to be rich but to nurture a successful family. “Family is not an important thing. It’s everything.”
To sum up: This week we spoke about the exciting discovery of you. The central theme that we always focus on is that, if you want to escape a nonsensical, meaningless life of wage slavery, you have the power to do so: “You are in the driver’s seat”
A small joke: Why is it when you are stopped for speeding the police officer always asks, “Did you know that you were driving too fast?”
This week, please ponder the magic within you.
Every day look for something magical and beautiful.
Quote: We must truly realize that we are free to create the reality that we want. This, however, cannot be achieved without effort. And so it develops – life playing out its dance. We each hear a different sound that echoes in its softness. Only the universe can truly understand where we are and where we are going. Look for your “zip” in life. (4) This bond you to the universe.
Footnotes:
1) Dr. Frankl: Man’s Search for Meaning
2) Oscar Wilde: Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young (1894)
3) The Strangest Secret Earl Nightingale Conant 1950’s Original FULL
4) Barnett Newman – American artist – Abstract Expressionism