July 7, 2011

What is the prevailing feeling tone of your life? In other words, how do you feel inside as you go through the routines of your life? If you had to name it in one word, what would that word be? You don’t have to answer to anyone but your own self, so be honest with yourself. Are you struggling with a low sense of self esteem and general unworthiness? Do you tend to sacrifice your own dreams and aspirations to those around you? Do you procrastinate when it comes to doing the work necessary to bring your creative dreams to manifestation because it feels selfish when you have som many responsibilities to others that require your attention?

The world would be a much different place in which to live if people were taught from childhood on up into adulthood and through to our golden years that our own individual lives were of value simply because we are alive. While there are certainly exceptions, the vast majority of people lead lives of anonymous desperation, rather than lives of engagement in the world born of confident conviction. Silently consider your own life for just a moment. Not about what is happening as a matter of fact, but rather how you feel about what is happening. Even more importantly, sit with how you personally feel about your own self, in your own private thoughts. Consider carefully the prevailing feeling tone of your life.

Do you feel energized by your contributions to life? Or, do you feel depleted, deficient and depressed? Do you pulsate with a vibrancy and enthusiasm for life and your part in it? Or, do you more times than not feel a sense of futility and hopelessness that your life has not added up to much, or that you should have achieved more by now? Do you feel an abundance of love grounded in effective service to others? Or, do you feel afraid, guilty, ashamed or unworthy of even realizing the most meager of your own personal dreams? Do you feel you are playing a purposeful part in the greater cosmic oneness? Or, do you feel disconnected, alone or lonely, even when surrounded by the very people you love and treasure in your inner most circles?

Depending on which questions you responded affirmatively to, you are either already living a purposeful life founded on rationally held values grounded in truth principle, or leading a half life of self sacrifice, usually to the preferences, whims and dependent needs of others. If the former, then congratulations. You are exceptional and I only have one thought to offer to you: allow your life to serve as a model for others to inspire them to do it for themselves.

However, if you are feeling anything less than fully, vitally alive and completely engaged with the world, chances are on some level you have accepted the greatest lie ever told as a guiding principle for your life.  You have likely been leading a life of self-sacrifice to the interests of others, and in the process have been slowly eroding your own sense of self-esteem and empowerment. If you think this is the noble thing to do, to sacrifice your self to the whims and selfish needs of others, whether intimately known or perfect stranger, I urge you to think again.

The Greatest Tragedy Is To Live A Life Of Unfulfilled Dreams

Ask yourself soberly, is it noble for me to teach my child to sacrifice their self esteem and sense of identity to the whims of others simply on the basis that someone else needs something that they might be able to provide, even if that other person hasn’t earned it? If they do sacrifice themselves, who is gonna sacrifice for them when they need it? It doesn’t take a PhD in psychology or science to know that if one leads a life of self-sacrifice to the whims and needs of others, that in the process they will ultimately sacrifice the one thing that is the most valuable thing in the world to any individual: a healthy sense of identity and self esteem.

It has been said before that the greatest tragedy a parent passes on to their children is to lead a life of unfulfilled dreams. The only way this would be possible is if the parent is modeling a life of irrational, self-sacrifice. Doing so does not set the stage for their children to lead a better or more fulfilling life. In fact, quite the opposite. It teaches their child that they too should self-sacrifice their own dreams for another, and therein is the tragedy of accepting as truth the greatest lie ever told.

I think it is way past time for us to rethink this one and come to a different decision, one that actually empowers individuals to value their own authentic self interest. I believe that if we do, we might could just put the psycho-pharmacology industry out of business over time, and we might begin to experience a world driven far more by authentic creative expression grounded in healthy personal self esteem. Think about what the world would look like, what our experience individually and collectively would feel like if people were actually living lives of fulfillment without the need for addictive behaviors and prescription drugs that create a pseudo sense of well being. The mere thought of such a world is enough to inspire me to write several books and countless numbers of songs.

If You Are Waiting On The World To Change, You Are Losing Ground

One thing for sure, if you are waiting for others to get it, before you accept it for your own self, you will likely be waiting forever. It is up to you and me to self create our own lives grounded in truth principles, rather than accepting the lies promoted by others, even those who seem armed with well-meaning intentions. No one can do this work for us. It is ours to do and this truth cannot be escaped. Sure, we can avoid doing the work, and we can go on believing that others will change, others will come to our rescue, that the world or our governments will magically change their minds and say, “You know what? We’ve been wrong all along. We’re sorry we have asked you to sacrifice your own authentic best interests. We are going to change our ways and make it up to you.”

Brothers and sisters, that is never going to happen. Well, at least, not until individuals like you and me begin to change our own individual minds and reject the lie we have been told and have accepted as truth. Just so I am being clear as to my intention here, I am willing to be wrong about all of this, and I really don’t need to be right. I have no need to convince you or anyone else that my “opinion” is correct. If your life works for you exactly as it is, then you can reject this entire entry as being wholly irrelevant to your life and completely devoid of meaning.

On the other hand, if you recognize that you may have inadvertently accepted the truth of the greatest lie ever told as being true in your own personal experience, then I encourage you to begin immediately to do the work necessary to unlearn what you have been taught, and then to do that work for the remainder of your life as if your life depended on it. Because, you know what? Your life does depend on it, and so does the lives of those you love the most. Leading a half life of sacrifice to others is never going to bring you happiness…NEVER! So, stop believing the lie starting now and seek only the truth for yourself and then live by it, model it for others to lift them up, and most of all, teach well this one most vital lesson to your children.

The world will not stop telling the greatest lie ever told. So, it is up to you and me to see it for what it is, reject it and then live by the code of its opposite, which is: your life is as important as anyone’s life, not more important, but, also not any less important than any other person’s life who ever lived. Make sure you learn this distinction well and teach it to those you love. The success of the future depends on your success in doing so, not to mention the quality of your own life and personal peace while living it.

To read Part I…