It’s
like a new age chain letter. Remember when email first came out? You always
got those email that you had to send to 10 people in the next 9 minutes or else
8 other people you knew would die from the 7 deadly sins? Yea, those…but
evolved some. I got an email from Merc entitled “Motivational Experiment”…
Instructions: Please send an encouraging quote or
verse to the person whose name is in position 1 below (even if you don't know
him or her). It should be a favorite text verse/motivational
poem/prayer/meditation that has lifted you when you were experiencing challenging
times. Don't agonize over it--it is one you reach for when you need it or the
one that you always turn to. After you've sent the short
poem/verse/meditation/quote/
And
because you know I don’t conform, I read the directions, and then did my own
thing. Which was what I was supposed to do. Because the words found someone “in
the midst of a transition” in life. I’m just glad I had them around to find me
again.
…………………………
I
hope this email finds you doing well. Un/Fortunately, I’m a writer in the
making, so there is nothing brief about what you have in your inbox. However, I
hope there is something hidden in it that proves motivational – at such a time
you need…
I’m
an avid reader, which is probably why I am genetically disposed to writing. A
novel that has truly found me in the best and worst places, and moved me
forward into greater things from both starting points, has been The Alchemist,
by Paulo Coelho. Here are a few selections from the novel that resonate with
me. I reread passages all the time!
…………………………
I
tend to fret over my heavy heart. All kinds of life circumstances get me to
this point. Worry. Fear. Doubt. Disappointment. Heartbreak. Loss. You name it.
In those moments, I find it hard to hear all the good that used to speak to me
from the inside. Then I remember:
“Why do we have to
listen to our hearts?” the boy asked, when they had made camp that day.
“Because, wherever
your heart is, that is where you’ll find your treasure.”
“But my heart is
agitated,” the boy said. “It has its
dreams, it gets emotional, and it’s become passionate over a woman of the
dessert. It asks things of me, and it keeps me from sleeping many nights when
I’m thinking about her.”
“Well, that’s good.
Your heart is alive. Keep listening to what it has to say.”
Success
is a silly fear. I finally accepted that one day, on a plane, speaking to a
stranger about a dream. About becoming a writer. Having written a “book” and even
with starting a blog the dream feels ever the more distant. Today even, I war with
the thought that I am a writer. Even in this email to you. Because it’s a
dream. A really
big dream:
What you still need to know is this: before a dream is
realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the
way. It does this not because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to
realizing our dreams, master the lessons we've learned as we've moved toward
that dream. That's the point at which most people give up.
I
work in crisis management. And although that isn’t the only frame for this next
thought, the reality is, I see sadness. I see young people daily who have such
powerfully potent potential locked inside of them. They are life changers. They
are world changers. They make everything about me better. And then, something
bad happens. And I weep for them. But, in my weeping, I feel the worst guilt.
Because in acknowledging their losses, I have a desperate gratitude for all
that I have. For it not being me. And I sometimes feel bad about that. Feel bad
that I have achieved some great things, great things that others will never
realize.
The mere possibility of getting what we want fills the soul
of the ordinary person with guilt. We look around at all those who have failed
to get what they want and feel that we do not deserve to get what we want
either. We forget about all the obstacles we overcame, all the suffering we
endured, all the things we had to give up in order to get this far...
I
can remember back in undergrad as a Physiological Sciences major. Everything
about that work was hard. Tough. Difficult. I had to study all the time.
Whether it was calculus, or physics or cadavers, I always had my nose in a
book. On the outside to others, it seemed like the concepts just came to me.
Like it was magic. Most people did not know how I struggled to perform in those
classes. I, many times, wondered if I was “cut out” for it. I felt like it
should be more natural. Things should just make sense. But they never did, not
until I accepted the fact that I had to commit. I had to work hard. I had to
put all of me in it. Because on the other side of it, there was something
bigger than I could imagine.
“Why do they make things so complicated?"
“So that those who have the responsibility for understanding
can understand,” he said. “Imagine if everyone went around
transforming lead into gold. Gold would lose its value.”
“It's those who are persistent, and willing to study things
deeply, who achieve the Master Work.”
I’m
Christian. I only make that statement to inform this next thought. My absolute
favorite, most inspirational verse in the Bible to date is Romans, 13:8… Owe no man any thing, but to love one another:
for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law. His description of
what happens when we love (aside from fulfilling God’s law) continues to
inspire me.
Love is the force that transforms and improves the Soul of
the World. When I first reached through to it, I thought the Soul of the World
was perfect. But later I could see that it was like other aspects of creation,
and had its own passions and wars. It is we who nourish the Soul of the World,
and the world we live in will be either better or worse, depending on whether
we become better or worse. And that's where the power of love comes in. Because
when we love, we always strive to become better than we are.
And
there are times when I wonder the meaning of life. And I realize that I will
never know. And knowing that I will never know, or be able to comprehend that sometimes
sadness me. It makes each minute feel less meaningful. What is the purpose for
the search, if I know now that I will never really know? Then I remember that:
“Every second of
the search is an encounter with God.”
Gratitude.
I have much to be grateful for. And because I know myself, I know that I didn’t
deserve many of the things I have, like the daily grace I get from God. Knowing
that, I often times find myself actively refusing the vessels He uses to bless
me. The people He uses to give me more than what I’m due. I wish I didn’t feel
that feeling, that I’m not deserving, or that I have to accept exactly what
I’ve given. I almost always respond as the Monk did. So as I’ve journeyed this
life, I have learned to be gracious in my giving and even more so in my
receiving.
“This is for you,” he (the Alchemist)
said, holding one of the parts (of gold) out to the monk. “It's for your generosity to the pilgrims.”
“But this payment
goes well beyond my generosity,” the monk responded.
“Don't say that
again. Life might be listening, and give you less the next time.”
I
pray you are well.
All
the best,
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