For the past few months many of you may be wondering why you have not been receiving our monthly newsletter. We can always put the blame on our server or our web-host etc... but the truth was we have not written any newsletter for the past few months. We have nothing to share-we were experiencing a "writer's block". Anyway the good news is the "writer's block" is now melting down - so we are on once again. Interestingly it is this very newsletter which melts down the 'block'.
It occurs to me that most people would put blame on an 'outside' factor when things don't go right or go their way. And when things go right, we tend to claim it as our own doing.
A common example is when one's life is running smoothly and successful we feel proud and tend to claim full responsibility for it but when one's life is full of problems and our business is in a bad shape, we often cry out "Why me ?"
We will blame our friends, neighbours, our customers, our staffs, our boss, our government and even God. The funny thing is how may of us thank our friends, neighbours etc...when things are going well like a breeze. Here, we can note that most humans prefer only the good side and tend to push away the "bad" side. We just don't like to 'own' the 'bad side'. In fact, ironic as it may seem, it is this non-acceptance of the 'bad' side which is the cause for a lot of our miseries, sufferings and mental anxieties.
If we were to push away something or someone because we don't like it or hate it, we inevitably experience bad feelings and bad mental states-hence suffering ! If we can be ONE with that "thing", and not pushing it away or hating it, we will experience a sense of peace and well being.
Through the ages we often hear wise statements like "accept it", "surrender to it", "become one with it", "be one with the universe", all of it means almost the same thing-accept what ever life brings, take it solely as your own responsibility and not blaming others, only then will you be able to transcend the sufferings of life. It's important to note that leaving this responsibility to any outside factor or 'being' would still create a 'separation' or 'alienation' and would not help either. At best it may only give you a temporary relief.
Remember we learn to walk alongside all the fallings. We succeed alongside all the failings. A wise man was once asked, "Master, why do we have to die?" And he answered, "Because we were born".
May you accept all your bad experiences
Your fellow traveler in time.
Billi Lim
1 comment:
Good words.
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