Been doing some reflecting lately and I've realized that life is so much simpler when I am who I am, rather than who I think you want me to be. Rather than acting in a manner that will bring about what I think are the best results (getting my way), I should be honest and let the chips fall where they may. I really wish I could say that I'm not influenced by what people think of me, but that would be a lie. I do care what people think about me, and most of the time what I say to others is preceded by how I think they will respond. The problem comes when they don't respond in the way I anticipated, or they respond in a way that I don't appreciate. What I've come to realize is that when interacting with others, I must constantly remind myself that I am not a director. I cannot direct a play that others didn't choose to be in, then get mad when they don't read the script the way I wrote it. Life is real and the time we have is not meant to be spent trying to control others, by acting like we think they want us to act, just so we can get our way.
Our intent should be to generate love whenever we can and in whatever way we can. I heard a guy say the other day that when we have no fear, we are obligated to teach others how to be fearless. Love does not house fear so if we are to generate it, we must be fearless in our endeavors to do so. We can cease being afraid of the outcome if we make certain that our intent is pure. Case in point (hypothetical of course): "I spend my last money on something I didn't have to, and now I'm twenty dollars short on my rent. My brother has always bailed me out but I know he's going to ask me what happened and I'm fearful of hearing the truth about myself. which is inevitably what he's going give me. So I come up with this incredible sob story that even the Grinch who stole Christmas would fall for. But guess what? He doesn't go for it and I have to sit through a ten minute lecture about my shortcomings. I walk away with the twenty dollars, but my ego, my self esteem, and the love I thought I had for my brother have all been compromised." The question is: How do we find ourselves in these positions? The Answer: Because fear is the basis of our approach and generating love is not our intent.
So how could the story have played out differently? Here we go: "My intent is not going to be to get my way, but to be straightforward about who I am and where I stand right now. I'm going to allow my brother to be who he is, without being fearful of what he might have to say. After all I know I spent the money needlessly, so why not be honest and admit it. I'm going to listen intently, and take heed of my brother's response in the hopes of learning something, while, at the same time, I'm going to allow him another opportunity to run his mouth which he evidently enjoys doing. Then, no matter what happens, the love will have been generated and because love is reciprocal, my spiritual well being will be strengthened, embodying me with the knowledge that some way, some how, the rent will get paid. Cause, after all, love always makes a way."
Let's be honest and be who we really are ya'll. Let's not be skerred to give love a chance and see where fearlessness will take us. After all we have nothing to lose but fear itself.
I'll holla…
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