“Our life is shaped by our mind; we become what we think.”
— Buddha
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Call me paranoid, but I have this feeling that life is out to help me. And you too. Everyone actually.
And before you flick off this in disgust, thinking I’m some kind of woo-woo, unplugged from reality, happy clappy moron, let’s look at the options, the choices that we have in each and every moment.
But first, a little to set the scene from the great Viktor Frankl talking about what he discovered from his time in the Nazi concentration camps:
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“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way.
And there were always choices to make.
Every day, every hour, offered the opportunity to make a decision, a decision which determined whether you would or would not submit to those powers which threatened to rob you of your very self, your inner freedom; which determined whether or not you become the plaything to circumstance, renouncing freedom and dignity …”
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That last line:
“… your inner freedom which determined whether or not you become plaything to circumstance, renouncing freedom and dignity …”
Powerful, huh?
So, what do you want to be?
A plaything to circumstance? Thrown around on the rollercoaster of life? One minute a break of sunshine, the next a plunge downwards away from what you think you need? Constant hopelessness or frustration, lashing out or whining and complaining and feeling victimised by every roll of the dice of God?
Or someone who refuses to let life define you, instead steadfastly choosing to define your own life?
Be someone who chooses to see everything as yours to take on or discard, to make meaning from as you wish. That all of life is a benefit to you, regardless of surface appearances. That it’s a game that you must play, but you get to play how you wish.
This is our power – the power of definition. And this power is the one thing that cannot be taken away from you, regardless of what surrounds you.
You decide! You choose!
You have to realise that you are already choosing – maybe it’s unconscious, maybe it’s half-baked, maybe it’s driven by what emotion is current in your nervous system – but you’re already filtering every moment through your attitude. You’re already changing what happens to you via your interpretation of it.
Hence we get those beautiful words from Anais Nin:
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“We do not see the world as it is, we see it as we are.”
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We are the definers of our own reality.
Now –
Either you're choosing to live in an impersonal world, void of meaning, destiny or purpose; where you’re just a plaything of circumstance – or perhaps you're choosing to see that life is actively out to get you and to hurt you … a world of misery, pain, suffering, struggle and subjugation.
Or,
You're choosing to see the world as benevolent – out to bring you something truly important and to wake you up. That despite the obvious shortcomings of life and lack of understanding of the master plan on your behalf, that there is so much beauty, truth and rightness too.
You have to realise the results of your choice.
Will you submit to the internal powers that will remove your ultimate freedom and dignity? Or will you choose to define your life as you want to live it?
This is the true heroism that Jesus and Buddha both talked about:
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“He who rules his spirit has won a greater victory than the taking of a city.”
— Jesus
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Choose to make the every-day, every-moment choices of heroism. Define your own life, change your own life. Fully embrace your choice to live with complete dignity, joy, contentment and truth – be a lighthouse of freedom to all those around you.
It all starts within.
Become the master of your mindset, of your choice.
And go well this fine day,
Arjuna
PS.
Do check out my new book if you haven’t already.
“Chasing More and Finding Enough – How Being is the Greatest Foundation for Everything You Do” is available on Amazon and online book sellers, all over the world.
and …
If you’re really serious about mastering your attitude, learn Ascension.
I believe it’s truly the next step in an inner practice for discovering what it’s like to truly be alive.
There are courses all around the world, and I just happen to have one on 25/26 September.
You are so welcome. Let me know if you want more details.