âIf the doors of perception were cleansed
Everything would appear to man as it is, infinite.â — William Blake
Life is the best teacher.
What does that mean?
For me, as I look back on my life, there exists a series of milestones where Iâve either grown (mostly in spirit) or partially died (unfortunately, my ego hasnât been killed off!).
Like all things, though, I didnât plan it this way, and thatâs another reason why Iâm not enamoured with goal setting. (Ask yourself, would you set yourself a goal to fail in the hope of learning something profound about yourself? I doubt it.)
But, if the vicissitudes of life are to mean more than another âhighâ or âlowâ, then we need to learn from what we learn and use it to build a better life and one not bereft of soul.
Think about your last success — however you measure things.
What did it teach you?
What didnât it teach you?
Do you care?
Actually, we donât need to set the bar so high. Even the small wins and loses — the everyday if you will — can reveal to us sacred parts of our soul that do more than lend a hand in how we cope with life. The truth is, if we actually lived the insight — the sudden seeing — our lives would be immeasurably improved. To be clear, this isnât a journey of perfection or wholeness but, instead, to be at peace in a world where weâre more accepting of what is and not constantly striving for something better.
As you might have guessed, this sort of self-examination is not something weâre very good at. In fact, most people would run a mile at the very thought of going beyond the thought…
But thatâs just an escape from life.
In truth, if weâre going to connect with our soul — our true Self as Thomas Merton describes it — then itâs not sufficient to stick with the label but we have to get under the skin of whatâs really going on.
But I know what you think: none of this make much sense from an objective standpoint, and Iâd agree when all we do is move on to the next thing. But it would do if we took time out of our busy lives to reflect on whatâs really going and what can we learn deeply and profoundly.
Iâd love you to sit with the thought âWho is the person who feels good or bad when [insert] happens?â but I suspect youâll think this hopelessly narcissistic. Thatâs fine, but sooner rather than later, probably born out a deep sense of frustration with the way things are, you might come back and ask yourself, âWhatâs really going on inside my head?â.