Here’s the thing.. we are not all alike. We are not all equals in the sense that we have the same gifts, knowledge, experience, and privileges as others in life. Animals, plants, minerals (rocks), the oceans…they are not equal to us. Our question is not that everyone and everything is or should be equal. Our Creator gave us the ability and responsibility to take care of and be good to other people and other life.
Do you know how I know this for sure? Because we have the ability to be kind, caring and responsible. Mankind was imbued with the grace of goodness and the ability to care. For us to not act in this manner, every second of every day, means we are not living up to our own gifts and potentials.
While life is not black and white with a few gray areas, human behavior generally can fall into recognizable categories. I want to preface this by saying that I am not a fan of labels because I think our true nature could never be defined. I believe we have the freedom to choose and change a label at any time. Our spirit, our true essence, is unique and beautiful and cannot be boxed in a label.
Our societal conditioning, however, has shaped and formed our physical mind and behaviors into label-able molds. Because we are dealing with people not living up to their full divine potential or purpose all the time, we will break people down into two categories… good people who do bad things and bad people who do good things.
Very few people will stand up and admit (even to themselves) that they fall into the latter category. Your choices and willingness to accept everything that is in your life or has and is happening to you as your own responsibility will determine where you fall. Life is not happening to you, you are creating life. Are you ready to take that responsibility no matter how bad life has shown up for you?
What choices do you make? How many times in your day are you creating? How many times in your day are you destroying? Is everything you do to better the whole, or just to better yourself? How many times a day do you sincerely compliment the people around you? How many times a day do you complain or judge?
Get a notebook that you can use as a journal. Take a piece of paper and split it down the middle with a line. Write Creation on one side and Destruction on the other side. Every time you do something sincerely that improves the life of someone else, write that under the Creation side. Put a star by the ones where you improved the life of another and you did not receive anything in return. Write down every time you took a sincere interest in someone you didn’t know. Write down the number of times you smiled at someone when they looked sour or unhappy. Write down every time you started a conversation with someone just to learn about them.
Under the Destruction side, write down every time you criticized someone, no matter what they did to deserve it. Write down times you were angry, annoyed or irritated, no matter what the reason. Write down when you interrupted someone. Write down when you said or thought, “I told you so” to someone. Write down when you did something for a selfish motive. Write down anything that you did that was not producing a positive result in someone else (i.e. watching TV, reading the newspaper, looking at magazines, looking at someone online that did not produce benefits for someone else). Write down anything that you did that did not benefit others. Actions are not the only important things to write down. Write down every time you thought or felt something negative about another person.
We live in an ever-moving universe. We are either evolving or devolving. Destruction devolves the spirit and will eventually break down the physical body. Our spirit is as big as a universe; not as tiny as a soured crab apple. We have potentials for greatness and we were intended to share that greatness with others. Our divine nature is to make sure we show people (and other living beings) how truly great and amazing we think they are.
Have you ever known a teenager that started on a track of destructive behavior only to see how that teen’s life quickly snowball into utter chaos that infected others like a contagious virus? People begin to back away from these destructive whirlwinds because they don’t want to be (or are tired of being) caught up in the devolving chaos. Destructiveness causes suffering whether you can personally see it or not.
We hear the phrase the dumbing down of society, and this is not the full picture. The accurate phrase is the numbing down of society. We no longer can instantly feel when something is going on in us, whether it be our health or feelings. Cancer and other diseases do not happen over night. There is a gradual breakdown of the body. We are so numbed down that we are not aware that disease is festering and we are suffering.
Everything is living and has a voice. Feeling does not only come from tactile response and is not isolated only to humanity. To believe otherwise is an inflated view of self importance. Feeling also happens in the consciousness and energy of a living thing. Animals, plants, minerals, and water all have the same capacity as we do to suffer. They do suffer too. An experiment was carried out on a plant by a scientist. He wanted to record the reactions of a plant when he exposed the plant to certain stimuli, like burning one of its leaves. With the help of a machine, he was able to record the stress of the plant. Just him thinking of burning one of the plant’s leaves caused the plant to register distress. We have scientific proof that shows us that animate and seemingly inanimate objects can and do suffer.
Suffering happens when we care so little about other living beings and so much for our own comfort and wants. We become immune to the need of the whole and only see our own problems. I call this the ME. Have you ever wondered why people get so happy when a dog comes bounding over the greet them? The dog isn’t focused on the ME, he is focused on you. The dog isn’t suffering because his attention is on you, his happiness is making you happy. When you are happy, his tail wags faster than we even thought possible. The dog doesn’t want anything from you. He isn’t being nice to you or pretending to be interested in you just to have his needs met.
The ME is very important. When you truly learn about yourself, you learn that ME is nothing without WE. Once you realize this, you begin to sincerely pay attention to and take care of the whole. In doing that, all of the sudden your ME is taken care of. We spend a lifetime trying to get our own needs met, only to find that they are never fully met. Suddenly, something remarkable happens when we begin to take care of the whole. We become happy. Magic happens and our needs are met… and yes, this is magic. This is a Law that governs humanity. This is our God code.
Many cultures around the world recognize that everything has a voice, even if it is different from our voice. Cultures teach that we are all connected. Religion teaches us that we are made from the dust of the earth. We are a part of this living being we live on. If we destroy or act careless with the planet or other living beings because of our ME obsession, we are hurting ourselves and will not have the happiness so many people are searching for.
How we treat animals, children, plants, water, rocks, and yes, even our living spaces and cars, is more about human behavior (and your behavior in particular) and is a test of our basic character.
Is your basic character a good person who does bad things or a bad person who does good things? Or there is another alternative? Are you willing to step up to the plate, break free from the labels and molds and fully step into your divinity?
My advice, be the person that you were created to be. Stop messing around with anything less. Be unique and beautiful. Be caring, responsible, and create every second of every day. You have a choice to be happy or be miserable. If you choose happiness, your life will reflect the magic of your divine you.