As human beings, we are engaged in an ongoing battle with the self. Are you aware of the nature of this battle? If not, today's blog post has been written just for you...
Without thinking about it too much, think of something you know you "should" have done this past week, but did not do, even when you know "it" would have been the RIGHT thing to do. Have you thought of it yet? Let me tell you mine: we were on vacation this past week in Nashville. We went to Belle Meade,which is a tourist destination in the area. I picked up a few things to buy in their gift shop, including a soft cover book about Belle Meade. It was $10. When I got back to the car to see what was in the book (because it was so "thick" in my mind), I realized that three of the books were stuck together. My first thought was "Ugh!" because I knew I needed to return two of the books. The other part of me was like "Oh well!" because the books were stuck together! As we approached the entrance to the gift shop from where we had parked, I asked my husband to stop the car. He was annoyed. So was I. Yet I returned those two books anyway....
It was the right thing to do.
As such, this is one of the internal battles we will always struggle with as part of our human condition: doing the "right" thing versus the easy thing, the self-serving thing, the careless thing, the hurtful thing, the "bad" thing, the evil thing...you catch my drift. When we no longer care about doing the right thing, we have a whole other and larger problem: we have lost our humanity. Life is then reduced down to mere survival, on a daily basis, in order to obtain the most (for self) for the least (effort). You don't know any people like this? You are kidding, correct? We are ALL people like this when we choose to be!
Needless to say, our first internal battle involves our spiritual selves and our chosen spiritual condition in any given moment of time.
Next, without thinking about it too much, think of something you did do this past week, because you were most invested in "being" right/proven correct. Once again, for me personally, being on vacation and seeing how residential two-lane roads were set up in the Brentwood/Franklin area...I wondered how the city planners, road commission, and anyone else involved with the construction of such infrastructure would allow what I observed!? I had never before been "down south" in my life, by the way. And in my "attempt" to be proven correct, I am immediately presuming that those roads exist to let people die who make a mistake while driving. There are no guard rails. There is no "land" next to either side of the road in both directions; the sides of any given road just end and there is either a cliff or a ditch deep enough for a car to go straight down into in nose-to-ground fashion. Until I find out the facts about why such roads have been or are continuing to be constructed in this manner, I am going to assume that I AM RIGHT! And that, dear readers, represents the nature of our second internal battle withthe self: OUR OWN EGO...
Needless to say, our second internal battle involves our ego and how inflated it is or has become over time.
Never forget: Humility = Most invested in doing what is right.
Pride/Arrogance = Most invested in being right.
The last internal battle we struggle with as human beings has to do with our physical body. Yep, it boils down to the Spirit, the Ego, and the Body as being in conflict with each other besides the obvious overlap that can occur amongst and between them!
The body wants to feel right/feel good....and/or to avoid pain. That's it. Nothing more to understand about that reality of our human condition.
So, what did you do today to feel right/feel good...and/or to avoid pain? I just ate some popcorn with chocolate drizzle on top as I am typing out this post. Should I have eaten some popcorn with chocolate drizzle on top? My ego says OF COURSE IT WAS ONLY 150 CALORIES! My spirit says "I thought you wanted to lose weight before Maui?" My body says "MORE POPCORN!"
See what I mean?
My example here may sound silly, but believe me...we humans get ourselves in a whole lot of trouble because we won't even "notice" these forces within as mattering and contributing to our own self-destructive path when we jump on it---and stay on it for months, years, decades...or perhaps our own entire life long!
Doing "right" versus Being "right" versus Feeling "right"...who would have thought? It's that simple.
When we become brave enough to confront our past and present choices that have put us on the path of self-destruction...we find that it is possible to actually practice treating ourselves kinder and gentler as we begin to DO THE RIGHT THING for ourselves as caretakers of the life we have been gifted with.
Our path begins to shift because of the shifts going on within us mind, body, and spirit. We are no longer choosing to pursue those same dysfunctional patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving that keep us entrenched in self-destructive habits and choices. We find ourselves actually and genuinely LIKING and ACCEPTING who we are better than we ever have before---because we are actively taking better care of ourselves! Kind of like the recovering People Pleaser on Blast who finally learns how to stop staring at his phone 24/7 because he's given himself permission to not "do" phone after 6PM on any given evening. How about you? Could you do that also? Why not if not? Believe me, your phone isn't going to give you much comfort on your death bed that's for sure!
What are you "addicted" to these days that prevents you from being the person God created you to be? What do you keep on doing even though you know it's not right for your mind, body, and/or spirit? Think about that. Unless of course you are o.k. remaining on the self-destructive path once you have become comfortable enough with it...
Until next post...