We all make resolutions. Sometimes we make them at the beginning of the year. Things like losing weight, eating healthier, working out all come to mind.
Sometimes we make them at the beginning of the week or month. The same types of things.
And we get into gear to do exactly what we set out to do.
Yet, we always fail.
Life happens and gets in the way of all our plans.
We keep the burden of carrying the load upon ourselves. When things fail, instead of reexamining what went wrong, we try the same things again…and again…and again.
The saying that insanity is doing the same thing over and over thinking that you’ll get different results. That’s what we do.
It is time for doing things differently…
Instead of thinking we alone can conquer our failures, perhaps we need to take a different perspective on how we are approaching our goals.
We cannot fulfill a resolution without help.
Most of the time, we reach out to exercise and business coaches to get us on the right track. Time management courses can help us stop the bleeding of useless energy wasted on silly tasks.
Getting advice from others who have led the way into a field of interest gives us the direction and training to move ourselves forward in the right direction.
But what about our spiritual lives? Do we ever consider that aspect of our humanness?
Self-internalizing gods…
We come across many who encourage us to just look inside ourselves for all our answers.
But we are only as good as our teacher. If all we have is us, we who haven’t the necessary experience and training to accomplish our goals, doesn’t that seems to be odd advice? How can we learn from ourselves, or find the answers within ourselves, if we don’t have that knowledge?
Instinctively we don’t operate like that. We take classes, learn from our more experienced peers or elders, sit at the knee of those wiser than ourselves. And all these individuals are people outside ourselves.
Even those who take yoga do not figure out the poses by internalizing or visualizing them. They took classes from someone outside of themselves.
So why do we think it should be any different with spiritual growth?
We are not gods…
Humans are not gods. We have creative abilities like we would think a god would have. And we have reason, from which we can determine order and rational operations in our lives.
But we cannot create anything from nothing. We have to work within the parameters of what we live in.
No human ever created a star or galaxy. Or life from nothing, for that matter.
We pride ourselves on manipulating our environment, but we rarely improve it.
And we cannot figure out anything without at least a starting point.
No inventor ever created anything without first having the material to start with. Even if something was created by accident, like rubber for tires, the material from which that creation sprang existed first.
We need help to shoulder the load…
When we find ourselves alone, we tend to try to reach out to another human being. We gripe, complain, accuse, justify actions, seek help, and decry our misery even to strangers.
It is natural and necessary to communicate our concerns and hurts to another human being.
But what if you were all alone? Isolated?
Or even just felt that way and found no one to talk to? Even when surrounded by a crowd? You can find no solace in another person?
That is when you need to look inside.
You don’t look inside to find out the answers. You look inside to find out what is missing.
If we cannot shoulder the load alone, and there is no one around us who could help, what then? What fills that emptiness and need that we, as humans, crave?
It’s a matter of perspective…
Take the first step to be still. Look around you, beyond the creations of man. What do you see?
Look at the sky. Listen to the sounds of the wind. Feel the warmth of the sun on your skin. Engage all your sense to what is surrounding you.
Where did all of this come from?
Everything has an order to it. For every large creature there are smaller ones upon which it depends for survival. Even the bugs we kill with insecticide would have been food for something else.
Bacteria in the soil nourishes the plants, unless we destroy them with chemicals.
The weeds we kill with herbicides in our yards were meant to feed the animals. And many of those “weeds” are edible storehouses for us as well.
There is no waste in nature. Road kill is devoured by vultures, maggots, and bacteria. Rotting plants and carcasses also become the rich soil that plants need to thrive.
Even the carbon dioxide all animal organisms exhale serves as the lifeblood of green plants. They, in turn, exchange it for the oxygen we need to survive.
None of this could have happened by chance. In nature, we have never once observed something changing by chance. There is always a reason and a purpose in the evolution of any species. And none cross beyond their species except when humans intervene – like humanized lab rats.
And order never comes from chaos. We have never once observed such a thing in nature at any time in the history of man. Were it so, then such would have continued, not stopped at a perfectly ordered design.
Something greater than ourselves was involved. Something intelligent with a grand design.
Some call this source “God”. Others call it “The Great Spirit”. Whatever the name, there is evidence of a Being far greater and more intelligent than mankind.
Peace…
In the midst of observing nature, there is a peace that becomes internalized. Just the sound of water trickling through a small creek bed soothes the restlessness within and begins to wash away our anxieties. It’s as if a key designed to fit into the lock of our heart is discovered.
And it begins to unlock that hardened, burdened heart within our aching body. It never takes it away entirely. It doesn’t have that capacity to do so. What we will see in it is evidence of Him Who created it.
Only the Creator of that key, and of the universe, gives us that gift of peace. And we can find Him when we remove the manmade distractions that continually surround us.
Turn to Him…
If you need consolation and you find yourself at the end of your rope with life, turn to Him Who created you. You will not find Him if you stand in His way and continue to try to resolve your problems. Nor will you find Him if you want Him to show Himself in the way you deem He should.
He doesn’t work that way.
He works when we fall humbly to His feet and ask Him to forgive us for trying to be our own god.
And we can only do that when we recognize that we are not in charge of something as simple as our environment let alone our lives. We didn’t create it, not did we put together.
Strength in rest…
We will only find strength when we rest in knowing that we do not control our own lives. None of it. What is happening to us is for our good, even when it appears evil.
God didn’t create our burdens. We often do that to ourselves.
It isn’t that we created the unwanted trials that afflict us. It is more how we react to them when we are afflicted.
If we see them as unjust or unfair, then they will be always see that way in our mind. A tragedy can be seen as a chance to benefit from the experience of loss, or a scheme to destroy us.
How we view our burdens will either make us fall under their weight, or make us stronger. Just like weight training.
But if we are not willing to see it that way, then every ill thing that happens will become a burden. And we will begin to fall victim to the blame game – even accusing God of what He allowed for your ultimate good.
But we cannot…
If we could control our lives, then everything would fall in line as we see fit. But the reality is that our ways will always clash with someone else’s view on how the world should be run.
We cannot see the overarching picture of how everything ties together. We only focus on our own narrow view of our piece of the puzzle.
The only resolution to this is to recognize that in every life, and in every human being, we are part of a greater plan. It is when we let go of the concept that we are in charge of our little piece of it that we can find true inner peace.
And that isn’t found in a meditation pose humming mantras.
Lasting peace, consolation, and a relief of our burdens comes only when we finally unclench our fingers from the burdens we are carrying and give it completely to our Creator. He know what is best for us.
Seek Truth and you will find it. Seek God and He will be found. But only if your sincere in your request.
He is all around us. And, when we let Him in, He will fill that empty space in our heart with His presence and Love.
Those who are mad at Him because they didn’t get the answers they wanted might want to take a look at the book of Job.
Who are we to ask the Creator of the Universe why we go through trials and tribulations?
It is always for our good. Even if we don’t see it at that moment. It is so that we can perfect virtue, one of the greatest gifts God can give to us.
When we let go, give Him control of our lives, and cooperate with Him in His Grace, then we will find peace. And our burdens will not be so heavy because we will no longer find ourselves carrying them alone.