Quote:
Originally Posted by LucKeeLife
Yes I see how we are evolving towards understanding what being more emotionally intelligent is. To my knowledge there has been much progress worldwide when it comes to social activism and human rights. Where I become cynical is in knowing that this conversation has been held for as long as there has been inequity among us. Why is there such disconnect between what we are capable of and how we live?
There is likely a lesson in here for me, I have expressed much more of a critical response than accepting that there has been a lot of progress and change likely won't happen the way I want it to
Sorry for such a late response, I went to visit my grandmother for a week in Delaware. Most of this response was done before I went, and I've added in place of digression my own perception of spirituality and religion. Spending the week with my grandmother who recently began going back to church has helped significantly with my recent relentless anger. So an update within an update, but my anger is dissipating with persistent awareness.
I completely understand your criticism in this situation, certainly if I had not been such the mess that I was, I too would be quite cynical. Yet because of the struggle that I went through and the trauma I've endured, I've learned how strong I really am.
Recently I have been doing much soul searching, and have come to learn much about myself. I feel that this "knowledge of self" is the key to opening the door to true ubiquitous unity.
So the disconnect between our potential and how we are currently living might be as simple as getting to know ourselves on a deeper level. Figuring out how we cause our own suffering per individual life story.
For instance, I mentioned I have recently begun soul searching, yet this is something I do regularly. This time my intentions were different, and the outcome has been more beneficial than any before it.
Usually when I seek to enlighten myself, I look outside of myself for answers. Perhaps I would look into what causes other people to treat me poorly, or speak down to me. Ironically enough I would end up looking for ways to handle their problems, not my own. This resulted in me feeling more confused than I was in the first place.
So this time what I did differently was to look at why I got angry, or why I would talk down to people.
This endeavor put me in an extremely awkward situation with myself.
Here I was, wanting to figure out how to stop getting so angry every time something didn't go my way, and I couldn't help but want to hide.
Yet this time I found some of my biggest triggers for my anger. For me, I curse a lot. So what I have put together is that when I am already bothered, and begin to curse, it starts adding fuel to the fire subconsciously until it's burning and raging inside me.
I've always been a bit of a hothead, and I have felt much regret for the pain I've caused others over the years because of it. It's something I struggle with daily, and with a year of sobriety under my belt I have finally realized it is this anger that I let drive me to the point of insanity time and time again.
It seems so simple, just stop being angry.
"Don't you want to be happy?"
Of course I do, I imagine everyone would like that.
The thing about finding a solution to the problems we have in our society is that there are an almost infinite amount of problems. Each of these problems will also have an almost infinite number of ways to solve them.
In order to fix a problem we have to know what it is. If we only "kinda" know what it is, we can only "kinda" fix it. Which isn't actually fixing it, and can sometimes makes it worse.
So it would be grand to have "The Ultimate Guide to Finding Perspective for Dummies", but I don't know if they have that one yet so it comes down to the individual to figure out the path they must take in order to gain the perspective they need to perpetuate the growth of our community.
Perhaps this is a type of spiritual experience that one must have, to learn to embrace the bigger picture.
It is my observation that has shown me that there are a great number of people who discredit spiritual awareness because of there lack of knowledge about Religion.
Being knowledgeable about the differences between organized religion and spiritual awareness could be another key to monopolizing our potential.
For instance, I wouldn't consider myself religious yet I do try to be spiritual. Recently I have begun reading a Bible that was given to me by someone I hurt in my past, it's The Every Day Life Bible with notes and commentary by Joyce Meyer. The commentary and notes add to my understanding of this book. I've taken to Psalms, in which through prayer and song there are lessons in maintaining faith in the fact that the life you have been given will get better. I feel that faith is something we lack in a way that we don't know how much we need it.
I choose to read the Bible without obligation to my perception of its meaning. I choose to embrace in its words my own higher power, that invisible, impossible force that is ever withstanding of time.
For me at this point in my life it is very easy for me to believe in something greater than my own existence. I might believe that the teaching of all religion has had the soul purpose of bringing us to our OWN understanding of what God is, and to learn to love that concept of God.
The word "God" has become offensive to our society in some ways. Most who do not understand spirituality are almost perturbed by the suggestion of believing in something bigger than themselves.
Perhaps they are as I once was, so hurt by all the pain that they feel the only power they have left is to believe solely in themselves. I don't believe the stories in the Bible happened as they were written, but I do believe that those stories are metaphors for a better way to live life without being encumbered by resentment and hopelessness.
So what if we were to look at our societies entirety as a person? Could we give this "person" characteristics and habits, beliefs and opinions? Better yet, lets imagine that this "person" is a close friend.
I see this "friend" of ours with so much potential, but the odds are heavily stacked against them. They have all the resources they need at their disposal, and an almost infinite amount of support. When I notice that they are doing some stuff that's not good for them, I decide as a good friend to try and help. When I approach this friend I am met with defensiveness and the inability to accept accountability. There is a part of them that knows they are hurting themselves, but there are also voices in their head that are louder and saying that they've always done things this way, so why change? Then that other part says, even if there was a good reason to change, how do I even begin?
So to sum this up, although it may seem trivial to believe in a better future society, we must seek self fulfillment on an interpersonal level in order to eventually perpetuate a better attitude about life in general. We must give strength when our peers seem weakened by hopelessness, and do whatever our part may be to get the next right thing done.
If you work on yourself, and become all the things you wish to see in other people while having faith in the brilliance of your life, the world will change in time. Just remember that in order to measure time it would have to be finite, yet our existence is presumably infinite.