“If we’re wrapping ourselves up to conceal any vulnerability, whatever happens to us has to go through all those extra layers. Sometimes love doesn’t even reach where we truly live.” Alexandra Katehakis
“The truth has not so much set us free as it has ripped away a carefully constructed facade, leaving us naked to begin again.” Lisa Unger
“It is not the end of the physical body that should worry us. Rather, our concern must be to live while we’re alive – to release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are.” Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
So we have a precious meeting today, and we simply must dress accordingly. Lunch with our younger friends requires the right look. Of course, the weekends can be more laid back and relaxing. The jobs keep piling up, and we wanted to finish cleaning the basement. If we can just get the rubbish out in time for the garbage trucks, we would be all set. Our in-laws might be over, and we have to clean the house. We need to pick up a few things at the food store.
Feeling so stressed out
Does this sound familiar to anyone? When is it time to think and calm ourselves from the stresses of life? So many times I remember feeling so stressed out that I spent a few minutes thinking about what the people in my life would say if I simply sailed away to a remote island. It is undoubtedly unrealistic but so aren’t our fabricated lives.
We become so caught up in the dreams about our lives that we lose the meaning and purpose of living. Our lives are lost in the murky water we continually wade through. Our children have Santa Claus and we have faith in attaining endless beauty, health, power, and money. No matter how much our more advanced in age friends beg to differ with us, we continue the façade. I suppose many people continue the belief in the sham no matter how old they become.
Fear of the unknown
I wonder if it is fear of the unknown or determination to stop time. I am not bursting anyone’s’ bubble, but chasing after fluff only leaves us confused, scared, and in search of another cover. Building on the falseness of life’s dreams sends us running scared. Whether we attain our desires or not, we are left empty and unfulfilled. It is easy to understand this if we recall receiving something we yearned for. Afterward, we discovered it wasn’t everything we thought it would be, or we tired of it in a very short time. Later we replaced it with another desired object or person.
We never ask ourselves why we get bored with the object or person. We simply move on believing the next thing will make us happy and secure. Our lives seem to continue along this track, and we fritter like butterflies, from flower to flower. At some point, perhaps it would be wise to reflect a bit at what we are looking for. Is our life only about objects and things to acquire? Does life hold more meaning than that?
What brings us the most pleasure
Perhaps we are wasting time on fabricating a life that consists of changes and disappointments. If we honestly thought about what brought us the most pleasure and the deepest moments of understanding life, we might find it to be quite different from the visions and fantasies we conjured in our daydreams. I know how deeply my love for my daughter penetrated me when she was diagnosed with cancer. My entire being and thought of self were lost. I didn’t care if the house fell down and floated away. If all my possessions were lost I would not have blinked. Love for my daughter surpassed anything else I could dream about in my life.
Power of Prayer
Likely the only thing that brought me back to living was the call to stand alongside her and battle the unknown. God, Faith, and the power of prayer, became more real to me than any search to stay young, beautiful, admired, rich, or famous. I woke up to the fact that we spend so much time on trivial items and forget about our souls. My daughter battled like a trooper and became a cancer survivor. Life obviously never went back to life as usual.
The impact was deep and lasting, as a reminder of never forgetting who we really are. All of us are so much more than bickering, jealousy, fighting, ignoring, and false pretenses and dreams we covet. So much of our lives is spent living in a trance of make-believe and nonsense, that it becomes difficult to tell the dream state from reality. Forgiveness lends quality to our lives. It transforms our living into reality.
Slowing down
Living with passion by extending respect, love, empathy, tolerance, forgiveness, and kindness towards others is more worthwhile than constantly competing for an illusory trophy made of smoke and mist. Chasing after things leaves us empty. Living provides fulfillment. Slowing down allows us to get a better view of the road we are traveling. We speed through life while grabbing this and that along the way, while each illusory object bounces away from us through the air as quickly as a tossed boomerang. we race forward to the finish line and discover the subterfuge of our lives.
Discover the truth
If we could only discover the truth before it is too late. If we could only become aware of life in its real beauty. Our senses tell us so much about life as do our discoveries beyond our five senses, which we all have but never use. Life is caring and loving others. We don’t stop loving them when they hurt our feelings or let us down. Turning against others like a vicious dog because of a perceived injury is nonsense. There are many times we perhaps hurt others in the same manner, with our words and actions.
A world of peace and love
Some of our transgressions are jealousies, competition, guilt, intolerance, violence, hatred, unkindness, insults, criticisms, bullying, dishonesty, and more. By taking all of the negatives away, we are left with the positive and attain serenity. The negatives bring more violence and anger into the world. Do any of us prefer fighting and fault-finding? I know when I have differences with others, my world is disruptive, emotional, and in complete turmoil. I am not always successful at wading off negatives, but every day that I am brings me another beautiful and peaceful day. I prefer a world of peace and love.
“It is not the end of the physical body that should worry us. Rather, our concern must be to live while we’re alive – to release our inner selves from the spiritual death that comes with living behind a facade designed to conform to external definitions of who and what we are.” Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
“Reality is merely an illusion, albeit a very persistent one.” Albert Einstein
“When you look in the mirror, what do you see? Do you see the real you, or what you have been conditioned to believe is you? The two are so, so different. One is an infinite consciousness capable of being and creating whatever it chooses, the other is an illusion imprisoned by its own perceived and programmed limitations.” David Icke
“Do not be misled by what you see around you, or be influenced by what you see. You live in a world which is a playground of illusion, full of false paths, false values and false ideals. But you are not part of that world.” Sai Baba
“He who gives away shall have real gain. He who subdues himself shall be free; he shall cease to be a slave of passions. The righteous man casts off evil, and by rooting out lust, bitterness, and illusion do we reach Nirvana.” Buddha
