June 11
The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to
sacrifice what we are for what we could become.
Charles Du Bois
* * * * *
Today's Meditation:
I've often missed opportunities in my life because they didn't fit "who I was." Retrospect has often told me that my decisions at the time were rather silly, because I later learned that who I was, was subject to change, and that the ways in which I look at the world in one moment may not be the same ways that I will look at the world in a few moments, in a few weeks, or in a few years.
What we are is simply the result of our reactions to all of the teachings that we've encountered and experiences that we've lived through. When something happens to us, we "learn" from it, but the learning that we do by no means is final or definitive. The person who we are today is not the same person that we will be one year from now. And we'll grow into that new person only by letting go, only by keeping in mind that we are dynamic, not static, beings who thrive with change and growth, but who diminish ourselves with stagnation and holding on to the old beliefs and ideals that no longer serve us well.
Many people have sacrificed their realities of being business people in order to become teachers. Many have sacrificed their realities of being a married person in order to escape abuse and manipulation. Many have sacrificed their dependence on alcohol and drugs in order to live "clean" lives. Many, many people realize eventually that certain paradigms, no matter how comfortable they may be because we know them well, are unhealthy and destructive. Others realize that though things are going well, they could be going better, and it's necessary to sacrifice the status quo in order to improve life.
There really are few limits to what we could become, other than our own limiting beliefs. When we do want to become something else, though--something better--we do have to sacrifice who we are. We can change from becoming a frustrated worker and a good husband and father to being a satisfied entrepreneur and still a good husband and father--not every aspect of our self must change. But if we do want to grow, we do need to leave some things behind, just as the butterfly leaves behind the cocoon and its life as a caterpillar.
* * * * *
Questions to consider:
What kinds of change might be in line for you in your life, if you want to continue (or start) to get the most out of life?
How might you go about deciding what kinds of changes might be helpful or appropriate for you?
Why do so many of us find it so hard to let go of current paradigms?
* * * * *
For further thought:
It seems necessary to completely shed the old skin before
the new, brighter, stronger, more beautiful one can emerge. . . .
I never thought I'd be getting a life lesson from a snake.
Julie Ridge
More thoughts on potential
More thoughts on letting go
The important thing is this: to be able at any moment to
sacrifice what we are for what we could become.
Charles Du Bois
* * * * *
Today's Meditation:
I've often missed opportunities in my life because they didn't fit "who I was." Retrospect has often told me that my decisions at the time were rather silly, because I later learned that who I was, was subject to change, and that the ways in which I look at the world in one moment may not be the same ways that I will look at the world in a few moments, in a few weeks, or in a few years.
What we are is simply the result of our reactions to all of the teachings that we've encountered and experiences that we've lived through. When something happens to us, we "learn" from it, but the learning that we do by no means is final or definitive. The person who we are today is not the same person that we will be one year from now. And we'll grow into that new person only by letting go, only by keeping in mind that we are dynamic, not static, beings who thrive with change and growth, but who diminish ourselves with stagnation and holding on to the old beliefs and ideals that no longer serve us well.
Many people have sacrificed their realities of being business people in order to become teachers. Many have sacrificed their realities of being a married person in order to escape abuse and manipulation. Many have sacrificed their dependence on alcohol and drugs in order to live "clean" lives. Many, many people realize eventually that certain paradigms, no matter how comfortable they may be because we know them well, are unhealthy and destructive. Others realize that though things are going well, they could be going better, and it's necessary to sacrifice the status quo in order to improve life.
There really are few limits to what we could become, other than our own limiting beliefs. When we do want to become something else, though--something better--we do have to sacrifice who we are. We can change from becoming a frustrated worker and a good husband and father to being a satisfied entrepreneur and still a good husband and father--not every aspect of our self must change. But if we do want to grow, we do need to leave some things behind, just as the butterfly leaves behind the cocoon and its life as a caterpillar.
* * * * *
Questions to consider:
What kinds of change might be in line for you in your life, if you want to continue (or start) to get the most out of life?
How might you go about deciding what kinds of changes might be helpful or appropriate for you?
Why do so many of us find it so hard to let go of current paradigms?
* * * * *
For further thought:
It seems necessary to completely shed the old skin before
the new, brighter, stronger, more beautiful one can emerge. . . .
I never thought I'd be getting a life lesson from a snake.
Julie Ridge
More thoughts on potential
More thoughts on letting go
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