Life, Our Biggest Teacher, But For Some Learning is Exhausting
Life, Our Biggest Teacher, But For Some Learning is Exhausting
By Viola Woolcott
Problems come in all shapes and sizes and you can be sure that we all have them. What makes the biggest difference is our attitudes and how we are dealing with the ‘obstacle‘. Difficulties aren’t something to be avoided. They are there to be used, they are opportunities for learning. For some learning is exhausting. For others it’s just ok, something that ‘got to be done’. To me learning is exciting, enjoyable… it’s an adventure!
Pollution, poverty, ignorance, religious confusion, violence, war, crime, terrorism, jealousy, alcoholism, drugs, immorality, oppression, hunger, obesity, illness, depression, impatience, slavery, political upheaval, just a few to mention, the number, the extent of problems that human beings are facing has never been greater.
Instead of less problems, with the passing time come more problems and families are drowning in a sea of ’wrong’ standards of behaviour. Existing problems grow collectively worse and not better and they have never brought more division between people. Man has never been more careless, incompetent and failed more miserably in everything he does to sort his truly great problems. In a matter of fact, human race has never appeared more than now, to lack the necessary ability to face up and deal with their personal problems. The difficulties seem to great to overcome. More and more people seem to be unable to look after themselves.
We are stuck, as we run ceaselessly away from our problems, just to follow our desires. It is necessary to face even the less enjoyable aspects of existence. There is no pleasure without some pain - no pain without some pleasure. Good times - bad times. Ecstasies as well as frightening times. Life IS joys and miseries.
Men cannot find a way to resolve his problems, but he can invent amazing technology. He cannot process his personal problems properly, but to process great amounts of information he harnessed the power of computers. Astronomers cannot find a way to preserve the beauty of earth, but throughout the universe, they are able to find new impressive galaxies. Genius of man create weapons for mass destruction and attract worse forms of terrorism to the world, but why are they incapable of achieving freedom? The magnificence, size and precision of the universe has been discovered, but why can’t we discover the path to peace? We are powerless to unleash life’s biggest questions, but we have unleashed the power of the atom. We are taught how to earn a living, but do we really know how to live?
Something is terribly wrong. Be kind to yourself. Be patient. Respect yourself. Learn to see yourself in an impartial manner. With all your inadequacies, with all your sorrows. Avoid unpleasantness towards yourself. This is reality. Bad times have to be examined. When you are miserable you are miserable. Confront that what is happening. Be silent. Look it into the eye without reacting. Examine the badness. Mindfully observe it. Study it. Learn from it. Learn how it is build, what it is made of - as your only way out of the trap is to study it, to take it to pieces and understanding it is your way to freedom. Life is your biggest teacher.
Filed under: Mind | Body | Spirit on December 7th, 2007
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