|
Today's
Meditation:
While
I do often dislike it when people encourage us to get
"control" over our own lives-- as if everything
in our lives were actually within our control-- I think
that what Orison says here can resonate with most of
us. He's using the word "control" in a way
that I see as a synonym of "determine," as a
word that doesn't imply manipulation or forcefulness, but
simply making decisions and sticking to them in order to
become the people we wish to be.
He's
right, too. By making ourselves do whatever is
possible, we can help ourselves to become the people we
wish to be. By sticking to our decisions in life, we
can help ourselves to grow and develop into wiser, more
compassionate people. We can enter management at
work and grow professionally, we can strengthen
relationships and grow emotionally, or we can take our
hobbies to new levels and grow creatively.
Or
we can just sit back and watch TV all day and all
evening. We can be passive consumers of other
people's efforts.
Some
people want to tell us what we can be and what we can't
be. They're simply wrong-- and they're out of line
for telling us what we can become when they really have no
idea of what we can become. Our destinies are in our
own hands-- even the people who follow Zen or Buddhist
philosophies and who see the world and our lives as a
flowing river in which we simply follow the current have
made the decision to espouse and live by that particular
philosophy, the decision to accept life and what it brings
us.
Let's
not fail to see our potential to determine the directions
that our lives take. Let's treat ourselves well and
give ourselves the chances we need to become the people we
wish to become. The opportunity is in our hands,
right here and right now.
|
