Truth Seeker and Story Teller
Becoming who you know you are and want to be is not something that happens with the flick of a light switch and “Ta-Da, here I am.” It involves daily work (sometimes every single minute) and must have intention and determination.
It is the work itself that is the journey, the person you intend to be.
And how you carry out that work shows who you are becoming and who you intend to be.
We get busy living our lives and doing and gaining those things that we believe we must do and get. Yet buried beneath the busyness lies our spirit heart, the quiet beating of our higher self that waits to be called and listened to.
I attained the things in life that were important to me as a young man: marriage and kids, a good career that ultimately allowed me to retire in comfort, and the possession of things I “needed” to make my life comfortable and accepted.
I had done everything right on the outside but had forgotten to pay attention to the inside.
I recently wrote about how we need to have the determination to pursue our intentions, otherwise, we may get easily sidetracked by any number of things, good and harmful.
Here are some things that I’m doing. Perhaps they’ll help you on your journey as well.
Have you ever climbed a mountain or ev
en the local ski hill just to get away and think? About what you’re doing with yourself, whether it be your job, your family, school, or even about the meaning of life (whatever that means to you)?
Now, I come by mountain climbing naturally having been raised in the mountains and accustomed to having a mountain to climb outside my back door. This was the perfect opportunity for a teenage boy to take the dogs for a hike, hang your feet over a cliff, and view the distant highway, wondering where everyone was going and how important was it that they got there.
At no other time has being responsible for the place we live been more important. In this time of a worldwide pandemic, we must take care of our little corners of the world – our communities.
We’re told to self-isolate and meet only in very small groups. Great advice, even when it includes your family. We will get through this but we must get through it together.
Once we accept and become being responsible for ourselves, as noted in Part 1 of this series, we must continue to be this for ourselves because the next step is to realize that we are responsible for others.
I don’t necessarily mean for their day to day sustenance and upkeep (although that might prove to be the case at some point) but, rather, for their growth and support. I believe this also includes accepting them and ensuring that they know they belong and that they matter.
I went to an old friend for the definition of responsible; a hardcopy dictionary from my young adult years that I haven’t used since Google searches came into our lives.
Responsible:
“Able to answer for one’s conduct or obligations.”
“Trustworthy: able to choose for oneself between right and wrong.”
Synonyms: trustworthy, accountable
Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (published 1986)
I recently wrote that “you are not responsible for other’s happiness, but you could be the reason for it.” But that didn’t seem quite right. It didn’t ring true and as I thought about it I realized that we are indeed responsible for it; just as we are for treating people with love and respect.