Saturday, July 6, 2019

July 6--It's All in How We See Things


Inside yourself or outside, you never have to change what
you see, only the way you see it.

Thaddeus Golas

* * * * *

Today's Meditation:

I think there should be a little more to this quotation; I believe that the point Thaddeus is trying to make is that if we want our worlds and our lives to improve, nothing has to change but the way we look at them.  And boy, is that true.  A shift in perspective, even a minor, subtle one, can help us to see that even in the midst of strife or crisis, the world is what it is, and the way we look at it determines how we feel about it.

Emerson once wrote about what would happen if we were to pack our bags and move to Venice in order to improve our lives--our surroundings would change, but we'd soon discover that we brought along the same old person.  We may live in a place we'd dreamed of, but we'd still see life and its situations in the same ways.  Our surroundings may provide us with a momentary lift or shift, but the bottom line always is that the way we see our selves and our lives is the most important determiner of how we live those lives.

Instead of judging ourselves, we can accept ourselves.  Perhaps we still want to change some things, but we are who we are at the moment, aren't we?  Instead of wishing the world were different, we can look for the hidden diamonds and treasures in life as it is--and they're often not even hidden, just invisible to us because we don't bother to try to see them.  Instead of dwelling on something negative that has happened to us, we can count our blessings and be truly grateful for them.

If there ever is to be any sort of change in our lives or the ways we live them, that change must come in our own worldview and self-view.  If we want to see improvements in our lives, the first step always is to see the beauty and the gifts in the world we live in, and truly appreciate them.  It's only when we improve the way we see the world that our world will start to improve around us.

* * * * *

Questions to consider:

In what ways do you still look at the world or at yourself in negative ways?

What are some things you can do to truly improve your view of yourself?

Why is it more important to change how we see things than to change what we see?

* * * * *

For further thought:

The great lesson from the true mystics is
that the sacred is in the ordinary, that
it is to be found in one's daily life,
in one's neighbors, friends, and family,
in one's backyard.







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