“We become what we think. All that we are is the result of our thoughts.” -Siddhartha Gautama (Shakyamuni Buddha)
One of the most important things we can do for ourselves in this lifetime is to find a purpose and realize our amazing place in the grand ordering of the cosmos. Most people are constantly searching for answers outside of themselves, looking for a reason, looking for a god to solve their problems. God can and will give you all you desire in this incarnation, but first you must understand where to look. God is not to be found in the heavens; God is in your heart. You are the supreme and you have magnificent power. The question is when you will decide to stand up and claim your birthright.
It is very easy to go through life passively, blaming your circumstances on external conditions. Believe me, it wasn’t bad luck that got you that ticket or lost you a job or sent your lover packing or cost you your freedom. You made choices. The only problem is not all of those choices were conscious decisions. The truth is we spend most of our time on autopilot, letting life happen to us, because we feel powerless. But we have to see that powerlessness is also a choice. The greatest obstacle is the self, the biggest challenge is to overcome oneself, and the greatest victory is the conquering of self. This is also the most trying dilemma, because we must re-program our patterns of thought and behavior.
Through our childhood, when we are constructing our world model and learning how to think and act and what to believe, we look to those who act as our custodians, ushering us into adulthood, responsibility, self-reliance. These people are bigger, stronger, and seemingly smarter, not to mention more dominant. We learn to fear their wrath as much as we respect their intelligence, and appreciate their love. The mold of the world around us, as they would have us see it, is beaten into our heads from an early age. Then, we reach adolescence.
During our teenage years, we begin to question what we have always been told and we want to discover our own truth. We break away from the old structure and experiment with everything else, especially those things which have been forbidden us. Like Pandora we all question what’s inside the box and our curiosity takes over. At this point, none of us realize just how much our home-life and childhood patterns control our behavior- we are programmed to behave a certain way. This is not to present some kind of conspiracy about how we were raised and who is in control- that is irrelevant. No matter how you were raised, where, or by whom, those patterns are ingrained in your sub-conscious brain. Add to this all the bad habits acquired during adolescence and you may have a recipe for disaster. Regardless of the ingredients used throughout your youth to form the concoction that is you, the universal fact remains that your thought patterns, responses, and reactions are fairly set and predictable at this point.
The next step is to dominate the ego, who would have you destroy yourself. It is the ego that responds with the same knee-jerk reactions every time something disagreeable happens, it is the ego which enslaves us with addictions, it is the ego that causes us to swear off our loved ones when our pride is on the line, it is the ego that takes solace in drugs, alcohol and other deadly vices. You must overcome your impulses. We are at the pinnacle of creation, marvels of evolution. The gifts we are given have never been entrusted to any creature on this planet and yet we frivolously squander this power. We live in fear of our own potential and innumerable what-if’s concerning our fellow man. And the greatest tragedy is most of us never realize our truest capabilities in this life.
Starting today, make the decision to master your reality. When you break up the Latin roots of decision [cis- to cut and de- away from] it is plain to see that this means a resolution to break away from old stagnant patterns. Honor your being by inoculating yourself from the masses of sheep, slaves, and followers. Make a firm commitment to create your vision and live your dream. You alone are responsible for the creation of the life you lead.
Begin by writing out what you want from this life and what you hope to accomplish. Write what it takes to be successful at each of these endeavors and take a hard look at yourself- an honest self-appraisal of who you are and what you are, your strengths and weaknesses, where you are right now, what you have to do and who you have to become to get where you truly want to be. See yourself achieving these things and feel the glory and gratitude of the accomplishment. Rise to your goals and become the vision. Live out your fantasy and make your dreams reality.
Thumbnail Image: By W. Snel (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons
