Imagine that I tell you that a million dollars in gold coins is shallowly buried in a spot less than a mile from here, and I’m about to tell you exactly where it is. If you dig it up, it’s yours—a gift. But I will give you the directions only once. Exciting, yes?
But then—just as I’m about to tell you the location of the gold—the person behind you puts his hands over your ears so you can’t hear me. And another person puts his hands over your eyes so you can’t read my lips. When I tell you the location of the treasure, you learn nothing.
This would be pretty annoying, wouldn’t it? You’d be irritated at the people who kept you from learning about the million-dollar gift.
We all receive the gift of life, as well as a unique collection of other gifts—intelligence, creativity, trusting, and more—that make us who we are. These gifts also make it possible for us to be happier personally and to make a singular contribution to the world around us.
In order to see these gifts clearly and to use them effectively, we cannot be distracted by fear, emptiness, or anger—among other conditions—which blind us and make us deaf to who we really are. Fear and pain—along with our reactions to them, like anger, alcohol, porn, and any number of addictions—consume our souls and detach us from our gifts, thereby robbing us of our own happiness and our ability to contribute to the joy of others.
Indulging in pain and fear is like allowing somebody to put their hands over our eyes and ears—emotionally and spiritually—and then we lose far more than a million dollars in gold coins. We lose WHO WE ARE. We lose ourselves. We lose our way in the world. We simply LOSE.
We have to dedicate ourselves without flinching to the elimination of pain and fear—with a zero tolerance—not because somebody has told us to, but because the alternative is unthinkable.
Replace your pain and fear with peace and happiness.
READ OR LISTEN TO:
