On December 8, 1943, I slid, head first, into a brightly lit world. And with one slice through the umbilical cord, my mother and I were free to be uniquely separate individuals.
Next thing I knew, some guy flipped me upside down and smacked my naked bottom so soundly that I grabbed hold of LIFE with a strong spirited cry. You’d think that such an indignant beginning would have prepared me for what was to come, but no such luck. As far as I was concerned, the world was my oyster, and I was the sun, around which the universe would surely revolve. Needless to say, I had no clue that I was the product of—sexual passion. Lucky for me, I was the result of love connecting with lust.
Next thing I knew, some guy flipped me upside down and smacked my naked bottom so soundly that I grabbed hold of LIFE with a strong spirited cry. You’d think that such an indignant beginning would have prepared me for what was to come, but no such luck. As far as I was concerned, the world was my oyster, and I was the sun, around which the universe would surely revolve. Needless to say, I had no clue that I was the product of—sexual passion. Lucky for me, I was the result of love connecting with lust.
As an infant, I’d not yet met my baby cousin, who’d been born in California, so I crowned myself first grandchild on both sides of our family. As everyone’s dimpled darling, my life felt grand, until two weeks before my third birthday party, when FATE knocked down our apartment’s front door; tragedy struck, and life grew grim.
When tragedy interrupts the natural course of a child’s life, an inexperienced mind may wander into a terribly confounding, emotional maze. Once lost in this maze, it can take decades to figure out how to reclaim one’s original path. I mean, we can't 'get over' something until we know what we're trying to recover from—right?
Luckily, my curious mind will set out on this quest after I crash through a wall and find myself wandering through a foreign land, wondering if it’s possible to be true to those I love and be true to myself, simultaneously. Thank goodness, my quest will guide me toward a path strewn with insights, and as I go forth, 'connecting the dots', I'll find that being true to those I love and being true to myself are one and the same.
With time, I'll learn that the key to maintaining inner peace during conflict does not depend upon pleasing others or pleasing oneself. The key to maintaining peace of mind during conflict depends upon figuring out which of my perceptions contradict DEEPER TRUTHS, and are, thus, in need of change. Bottom line:
Perceptions change, but TRUTH IS TRUTH.
Once I began to quest for DEEPER TRUTHS, my sense of self awareness deepened. And as self awareness deepened, step-by-step, so did peace of mind—even during moments fraught with conflict. Again—self awareness leads to insight—which leads to change. And change is a mixed bag.
As one change leads to many more, you'll watch me come upon many forks in the road. And though I'll take a wrong turn, now and then, my compass will remain set upon my quest until find my way back to that stage of development, where tragedy's dark clouds of fear caused me to misread so many signals that I lost sight of my true path. Needless to say, I knew none of this on December 8, 1943.
In fact on the day of my birth, I 'knew' nothing at all. I certainly had no clue that tragedy changes the natural course of a child's development, or that life is a quest—not for happiness but for TRUTH—which offers peace of mind. And as you shall see:
As one change leads to many more, you'll watch me come upon many forks in the road. And though I'll take a wrong turn, now and then, my compass will remain set upon my quest until find my way back to that stage of development, where tragedy's dark clouds of fear caused me to misread so many signals that I lost sight of my true path. Needless to say, I knew none of this on December 8, 1943.
In fact on the day of my birth, I 'knew' nothing at all. I certainly had no clue that tragedy changes the natural course of a child's development, or that life is a quest—not for happiness but for TRUTH—which offers peace of mind. And as you shall see:
This trio of TRUTH, INNER PEACE and HAPPINESS are, often, one and the same.
Though we are born knowing nothing, our instincts are fully functioning right from the start. And while cradled in my parents loving arms, my instincts had a strong inkling that I'd been born under a lucky star ...
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