New Year's Resolutions, 2

This time of year, many of us are thinking about New Year’s resolutions. Well, actually, by this date, the second week in February, we’re probably not thinking about them much anymore because doing so makes us feel guilty. Now, we’re back in the groove, sailing along, fat, dumb and happy, and maybe a little hung over and indigestive after the Super Bowl. Still, every once and awhile we get a vague sense of unease about whether we’re living up to our potential and living on purpose.

What we do with that unease is what separates the happy, fulfilled, compassionate, generous and cooperative people from the depressed, sad, angry, blaming punishers. When the unease arises, the happy folk pause, say something like, ‘oh, there I go again,’ stop ‘thinking’ and struggling, and open themselves to guidance, shifting from the ego to spirit. The depressed, blaming punishers re-double their efforts to think harder and work harder to ‘improve’ themselves and do more of what they were doing, not realizing that doing the same thing and expecting a different result is a good definition of insanity.

So, what potential and purpose are we here to achieve? Is it to be depressed, sad, angry, blaming punishers, or happy, fulfilled, compassionate, generous and cooperative people? Deep down, most of us realize that it is the choice between these two alternatives, ego or spirit, that matters, not the kind of work we do, what kind of toys we own or how much money we have. If our purpose is to be happy, fulfilled, compassionate, generous and cooperative people, then, so long as our basic needs are met, we can be that kind of person, no matter what.

Deep down, most of us, even the blaming punishers, realize that it’s the inner game that matters; that riding the horse in the direction it’s going is cool and fun, and that going up to the screen in the movie theater to fix an out of focus picture doesn’t really work.

Deep down, most of us, even the blaming punishers, realize that flexibility and a more inclusive both/and approach that includes both spirit and body, is most effective and efficient and that our destinies (to make a unique contribution to a world that works for everyone and everything) are not straight lines to destinations ordained by ‘God.’

We realize that there are too many variables, factors and elements for one person’s tiny ego to deal with effectively and efficiently; that normally, of necessity, to get through the day we set boundaries and limit our perceptions, otherwise we’d be overwhelmed and break down. The ego is a fragile thing. But spirit is not. Spirit is totally awesome, unlimited and unlimitable, compassionate and giving of Itself; and spirit is the horse we are riding.