If you read my recent post about Modeling, you may remember that I noted a present challenge I am working on; giving love to those who I don’t think deserve it. In the article, I wrote:
Giving love to the poor, the sick, the helpless was my earlier, and seemingly easier, work. Now I’ve advanced to trying to give love to that $%^*# in the fancy car who bullies me with dangerous tailgating. It’s black-belt curriculum for my heart!
I was reading Happier Than God today. In it Neale Donald Walsch reminds us that most of our lives is a fantasy, and that we create it through attracting what we most need in order to learn, grow and evolve.
He writes, “rest well in the awareness that you, yourself have drawn [people and events] to you, that you might fulfill life’s potential, its promise and its purpose..” (page 221)
When I think about it, this means that I attracted the $%^*# in the fancy car. How about that? The poor guy probably didn’t even want to speed…
For my own purposes, I created that scenario. Maybe it’s to practice loving those who I think are undeserving. Maybe it’s something else, something which I presently don’t understand.
This way of thinking opens a whole new window for me. It certainly removes any victimhood I have been holding onto. It puts me front and center of my own life. I create the good and I create the bad.
If you agree that thought produces the experience, then you can see that most situations are neutral until I invest them with meaning.
An example: There is a car traveling very close behind my car. Option 1–the guy is a jerk in a fancy car who thinks he’s better than me. Option 2–the woman driving just got news that her baby’s heart condition has taken a turn for the worse. She is speeding to Children’s Hospital to try to catch a last moment. Despite all her money, this woman can’t buy her child’s life. Option 3–the guy driving just got his dream car. He’s the first person in his family to have a car, to make money. He is showing off for his dad, who sits beside him terrified but terribly proud. The son’s success justifies all the sacrifices the dad made to give his children opportunities he never had.
Your response is probably something like, Option 1–curse and offer a finger; Option 2–pull out of the way and say a silent prayer for the lady, then hug your kids extra hard when you get home; and Option 3–gently remind the son to drive carefully, especially with such a powerful car, and a smile for the dad, glad to share his pride and joy.
Three different responses, two of which are heartwarming, to the same situation. Our life really does happen mostly in our head.
