REALITY, SELF-INFLICTED
Friday, September 24, 2021
I don’t know which came first and which came next.
Sorting out the good things from the less-good, the great stuff from the not-so-great is a different exercise in calm compared to mid-storm. Some recent events have caused me turmoil yet delivered heart-thumping results; some for good, some for not.
We can let the NEWS convince us that someone else or external forces and events drive our circumstances. True, there is so much we do not control – cannot own, but that is ‘everyone else’s collective reality.’
We react to those events, forces, and circumstances – but we create our reality, as kids in playschool do arts and crafts.
As we get older, we get better/craftier at everything; we know our acuity and reflexes will decline, much like hearing and eyesight – but we control our lives 24/7. We have from the moment we left the protective clutches of parents and home. It would be easy to hold others, to hold the world/universe, accountable.
But those are excuses we allow.
Or not.
Everything good that is going on right now is a product of the choices we each made.
Everything difficult is too.
Everything.
Think about everything great in your life – who is responsible, who gets the credit?
And nobody gets blamed.
Then think about every difficulty in your life – who is responsible, who is accountable? These are not issues of blame assigning or shaming. They are about acceptance and thinking. The larger challenge, however, is whether we want things to be different. For that, only one person can take up the cause to make a difference. Neither Rome nor the Taj Mahal was built in a day. Creating life changes, an alternative future, requires effort. It requires one decision – one we reaffirm and work on every day.
And yes, sometimes we skip a day
Best not to skip two.
Reader feedback:
Cranky old man eh? Maybe you have some justification. You are probably correct in thinking there are few who want to hear about your angst but trust me Mark, you are not alone. Many of us are just biting out tongues these days, not through fear of speaking out, but weary of our words falling on deaf ears, like a voice crying out in the wilderness. Who is around to hear?, DM, Okotoks, AB