I want to share with you these things I have learned:
Everyone you meet is fighting a battle about which you know nothing.
Everyone is suffering.
Also…
Most suffering, most of the time is self-inflicted.
It arises out of ignorance of the real nature of things.
It is easy to fall into the trap of envy, or make unfavourable comparisons with others who have apparently greater wealth, have inherited more, who seem to have the perfect family, the perfect partner, who seem to have the perfect life (as we have been brainwashed/conditioned to understand it in our society); who appear to have a better job, etc.
Envy is like self-pity − an utter and painful waste of time.
Material wellbeing comes and goes. Relationships come and go. Health comes and goes. Work comes and goes. We will all know some happiness and some sadness; some joy and some grief. In fact, one is not possible without the other. Nothing is permanent; everything changes, and all that is born will die.
The only thing that you have that has and will always be there, unchanged, is your attention. When we learn to manage our attention, to pay attention to our lives in a certain way, we move from the unconscious to the conscious; from automatic reaction to chosen response; ignorance to light.
So don’t take things personally. Remember, everyone is acting out their own movie; you just happen to find yourself in it, usually with a bit-part. No one acts vindictively unless they suffer pain in their own heart. Look inside yourself to see the truth of this. Understand that. Take responsibility for your own feelings and actions.
Alternatively, you can blame others. Blaming brings with it the comfort of being “right”, but it is the comfort of the fool, and brings with it the emptiness of stagnation.
Remember, everyone is carrying their own heavy rucksack; the trick is to find someone who can be with you and help unpack it.
May you be safe, at ease and happy.
