Life is a mirror, giving what you want and what you are.
This thought has been with me all day. As I think of what I want to write, I am experiencing a conflict that is not that rare. Should I write what I think or write what I think others would like to read? It is a simple choice on the surface, but in reality, it is a constant battle, and it has been going on since I started publishing blogs and letting people read my writing. However, over time, I have to write what I think and not worry about what others think. It is the only honorable thing to do.
Life is a mirror revealing your worst and best.
We all have less than encouraging voices about our abilities and thoughts. For me, they create an audience of negative people who continually judge my work, my thoughts, and my writing. The group is mocking in tone and cruel in practice. That is why there are thousands of essays I have created that were erased or just ignored. So sitting down today, I am writing about this to encourage others to ignore those voices in your life and be your best self. Life is a mirror that can reflect all the good you are and what you do in the world.
Life is a Mirror that reveals negative self-talk.
My negative self-talk is much less prevalent than it used to be, but it still needs to be noticed and combated for my best self to be presented to the world and provide the best thoughts I can that someone might benefit from hearing. Quite often, during a week, I will meet and talk with someone suffering from self-criticism, and the secret to ending it all is merely taking notice of the thoughts and realizing that it is a problem to entertain them. There is no doubt that each idea we welcome will dictate which chemicals release into our brain, which will work to determine our mood.
It is a fact that each thought we entertain will dictate which chemicals are released into our brain, each one working to determine our mood. Life is a mirror that will show these moods clearly to all who take the time to look.
Today concludes that life is a mirror that shows me what I am, and if I listen to negative self-talk about my writing, life, or character, I will never accomplish anything. The mirror of life will show you what you are each day. What do you see in your mirror? Is it someone with characteristics you admire? The admirable is there; you need to look harder if you are not seeing them.
Perhaps you need the eye of your significant other or someone who cares about you to make your positive attributes known. If your people are looking to change you, you need new people. Life is a mirror.
We are constantly moving in our lives. From moment to moment, we function to get something accomplished, find some reward, or avoid punishment. We move continually, and as we are personally involved, we fail to see the real trick. We are moving in a constant motion of infinity. We constantly move from place to place, situation to situation, and never take a moment to see the number of continually repeating experiences in our lives.
The relationships, job situations, tough breaks, and other life events are eerily similar because, without intervention, we are living in a very closed loop of things. The number 8. Just as this perfect number has no end and no beginning, the same can be said of our experiences. Unchecked, they will continue on and on, like the movie Groundhog Day. If we fail to learn the lessons, we will continue to live on a repeat cycle. The same thing over again and again. But we can break the cycle and move on to the next day. We can change the experiences brought by number 8.
Recognize the Futility of Fighting 8
You may read this and see the truth in the fact you are continually repeating the same experiences over and over again. At this point, you will probably want to push away the people and things you perceive as a weakness or a problem. But if life moves like number 8, it does. What will happen to all of those people and things you push so hard away from you? They will swoop right around that number and return to you just as quickly as you made them away. Denying your weakness is no way to defeat it; denial is a good step toward keeping a problem in your life forever.
Each time we deny a problem or try to accept excuses for its existence in our lives, we give that very thing we don’t want power over us and power to stay with us. How can you defeat a problem? Embrace it. Accept it as a part of you and recognize why it is there. Beliefs are the reality we accept, and most beliefs were ingrained in our minds before and up to the age of 7. After that, we pretty much got things as they are. If we believe we are bad at math, not lovable, or believe money is wrong, we will create circumstances that prove those things. Only when we change our beliefs will the experience of our infinite journey change. Until then, it is futile to fight the situation.
Infinite Dance
Our lives and experiences are all a part of the much larger infinite dance of the Universe as billions of people live their lives and, along the way, search for some meaning to it all. We search to find joy in things, love others, suffer and recover, and the cycle seems to repeat itself. So you are left looking at the number 8 and wondering if the world is fantastic and everything works in concert in a tightly choreographed dance? Or is it all a useless, meaningless experience of chance? At this moment, we are at the mercy of fate to determine if we are successful or not.
If you look closely at your life and are honest about it, you can see how your current circumstances directly and painfully accurately depict who you are and who you have been. Each choice you have made in life has led you to this moment. Suppose you are happy, then great for you. Keep making positive choices that will bring more of what you want. If you are unhappy, then understand that you can make changes in your life by choosing different things. Starting with the items, you think about life and believe about yourself and how the world works. As you expand your thought, the power of 8 will bring it back to you. You can let the infinite dance destroy you or learn how to be a better person.
Good or Bad? Here it Comes
So the number 8 will bring you exactly what you put out there. If you lie, you will be lied to. If you hurt others, you will be hurt. However, think about life, yourself, and treat other people to come back to you. The arrival of these things comes in their own time, but they will come. Examples than this have more supported nothing I have observed in my life. So it makes you think about everything you have thought, said, and done in your life. Selfish acts will harm you; acts of charity will aid you further down the line. How you treat others is most important. If you lie to people or cheat them somehow, you will have that experience.
The best way to live and take advantage of the infinite number 8 is to focus on life’s positives. Treat people well, and be honest, kind, considerate, and understanding in your dealings with others. If your character is solid and straightforward, it can’t be harmed by the narrow-minded, selfish tactics of another. When these are thrown at you, they will pass you by and return to the person who launched them. You can’t run from Karma.
Take a Moment
As you look at your life and what you are experiencing today, look at all the things coming into your life. It has been easy to place responsibility for any negative experiences. But in truth, all have been created through the choices I have made in life. I accept the responsibility for these things myself. My attachments to the results of things may or may not have been the best for me. I spend too much time running from one place to another, pushing things away hard, and now I understand the harder I push, the quicker they just come back into my existence. I am learning to embrace the things that make me, me, and my life. I assume my story and who I am as we both slide around the 8 of my life.
“You and I are essentially infinite choice-makers. In every moment of our existence, we are in that field of all possibilities where we have access to an infinity of choices.” – Deepak Chopra.
“Life is not about finding our limitations; it’s about finding our infinity” – Herbie Hancock.
“A Breath of love can take you to infinity” – Rumi.
It was pointed out to me today there is a slight misconception about my perspective of life. I write about my philosophy, which is one of self-improvement. Some seem to miss life is full of challenges that cause suffering in my experience virtually every day. In the past, I had fewer tools in my toolbox to deal with them, but I have dedicated myself over the past ten years to become better at handling these learning moments and being able to have a more productive and enjoyable life. To be clear, I am not happy all the time. In fact, over the past year, I would suggest there was a lot more “unhappy” in my emotional vault. But the hope is that I am not stuck with the suffering. I can overcome it, learn a lesson, and become a better person because of it. You can make conscious choices, which will allow you to find meaning in life and even enjoy the process if you open your mind to them. These are the processes I am writing about, not a “pie in the sky” ode to unconditional happiness. Here is what I have learned.
I am Responsible
Every person in the world makes a thousand decisions during each day we live. We decide everything from which clothes to wear to treating a rude person we stand in line next to at the bank. My life is no different. I make many decisions and try to make them with honesty and integrity at each moment. I don’t always make the best choices. Sometimes I eat things I shouldn’t. Sometimes I say the wrong something at the wrong time. There are even days I run a red light if nobody is around. But the one thing I always am is responsible for my choices in every way.
If I am not reaching my body weight goals because I choose to eat things not healthy for me, it is because of my poor decision. I can’t blame the food or the time of day I felt weak. Or the fact that I was feeling down because something negative occurred. No, I alone am responsible for the choices and have to accept the consequences. It is my responsibility, even if my favorites don’t bring the most desirable results. Sadness, regret, worry, anger, and other negative emotions are a part of life. But I think many don’t read here that it is your most important choice of how you choose to deal with them. You can allow them to make you bitter and angry, or you can want to learn, develop, and become a better person. I hope that the better person is the result of my suffering.
We are Not Supposed to Be Anything
The idea we are supposed to be happy all the time is unrealistic for anyone. Some may think we are supposed to feel joy and wonder about our situations, but that isn’t realistic. I have written many times that happiness is a choice, and I believe it is, but that doesn’t mean you walk around with blinders to the weak treatment others send your way or the poor feelings about yourself and the job you lost, or the disappointment you feel. I know there is no “right” way to feel at any moment.
We are not supposed to be happy, joyous, intelligent, winning, sad, disappointed, or angry. All people will, at some point, have to deal with all of these emotions, and they will do to you what you allow them to do. The thing is that how you choose to deal with them is your personal choice, and I have had to do this continually throughout my life. Do I get bitter because someone was dishonest with me? Do I carry a hatred inside for someone who has harmed me? It would be easy to do sometimes, but it wouldn’t represent the kind of person I strive to be. That is why I write about things like the power of forgiveness, how fear affects us, guilt, and dealing with our emotions. Not to discount the negative things we all deal with but to provide a path for hope for something better. It is a choice we all make for ourselves every day. There is nothing you have to be to be healthy. Just be yourself.
Darkness Walks with Light
I have thought of the events the past year has brought over and over again. It amazes me to see the balance of dark and light in my life. If you look at the people who have entered my life, left my life, and just influenced me, there is a positive balance between light, which was enjoyable, and darkness, which, of course, was not. Moments of joy, wonder, understanding, caring, and love found a check from equal moments of pain, disappointment, fear, anger, and disillusionment. It makes you wonder if the light is worth it that maybe we should live in a shady area in between where there are no great things but no horrible things either.
Unfortunately, life doesn’t work without contrast. Darkness provides a method of accomplishment; light never could. My experience with night has driven me to seek harder for the light and accomplish what before would have been impossible. The sun makes you get comfortable, like a beautiful warm blanket. It envelopes you and makes you never change. Change is inevitable and constant, so those things don’t go together. I had to learn to lift the blanket, forget the warmth, and dive into the cold of the darkness. This challenge is not something I write about often because the real lesson isn’t to embrace the difficult but to keep moving forward and maintain a sense of hope for the future. Find dignity in life despite things not being comfortable. The desire is there is more light in your future, and positive choices at this moment might help bring that about.
Being My Best
In the final analysis, I look at the idea that writing about being at peace and understanding that there is happiness in life available all the time is not a weakness or, worse unrealistic. A person can choose to look at their circumstances and see the problems. They can also look at the general state of chaos in the world and feel a sense of despair. But what will all that negativity in the costume of reality bring you? I am not powerful enough a person to solve all of the world’s problems, or even to make anyone else’s life better if they choose not to want that but………. I can make some other choices.
There are small things I can do every day to make my little part of the world better. Make simple choices to treat people with respect, kindness, and caring in day-to-day interactions. To try not to put any difficulty on people that have value to you. I strive to become the best person and succeed in life, equal to my talent and ability. To raise and fall in life and on the journey to my destiny to experience happiness. Joy is a choice I am making, proudly and thoroughly, and I hope that the great people I know have the strength to feel pleasure.
“Suffering is part of our training program for becoming wise.” ~Ram Dass
“Suffering by nature or chance never seems so painful as suffering inflicted on us by the arbitrary will of another.” Arthur Schopenhauer
“Suffering is but another name for the teaching of experience, which is the parent of instruction and the schoolmaster of life. “Horace
“Suffering is the substance of life and the root of personality, for it is only suffering that makes us persons.” Miguel de Unamuno
“Suffering is a corrective to point out a lesson which by other means we have failed to grasp, and never can it be eradicated until that lesson is learnt.” Edward Bach
“It is by suffering that human beings become angels.” Victor Hugo
“Suffering is the positive element in this world. Indeed it is the only link between this world and the positive.” Franz Kafka
“It’s at the borders of pain and suffering that the men are separated from the boys.” Emil Zatopek
“When suffering comes, we yearn for some sign from God, forgetting we have just had one. “Mignon McLaughlin
Life is a mirror, giving what you want and what you are.
