There are too many cases in this world where we find ourselves living according to a set of another persons rules or what we think we should be doing from what we see others doing in their lives.
We need to stop looking outside of ourselves to find what will make us happy and begin to tap into that unattended person that has been neglected for far too long that lurks within for a real connection to a joyous existence.
Many of us are going through the motions hoping for that joy to arrive by indulging in haphazard activities that will bring you no closer to inner peace than sprinting across a high speed freeway wearing a pair of blindfolds and headphones blasting your favorite music in your ears before facing the inevitable.
I know that you’ve heard of the term “same effort, same result”…….meaning that you will get the same result each and every time for the same executed effort. Well this is how we have been living our lives while at the same time expecting something new and glorious to happen.
Well until we step off of the beaten path all we are ever going to see is the same old beaten path! It’s as simple as that!
In life you have to be in it to win it. God gave us an earth that is so vast, so huge and so interesting on so many levels and put so many billions of people here with us to interact with and righteously build and pursue the good things of this world that we literally have NO excuse for being in the mental, spiritual and physical ruts that we find ourselves in time and time again over the years.
While I am not picking on anyone’s favorite pastime or vice, I still at the same time must be honest and ask what in the heck are you doing seeking that deep inner joy in a damn bar or pub? From what I see the results are horrendous!
I see people staggering about and regurgitating their earlier meals all over the sidewalk and then they have the nerve to tell me that I am missing out on a good time?
You have got to be out of you mind!
And then, the whole entire next day you are feeling sick with a hangover yet you speak of your wild night of self medicating your personal pains away with a fondness that is usually reserved for some wholesome activity!
The last time I checked, the results of aging oneself beyond their years and poisoning ones system in order to kill off the one liver that you have does not constitute a good time. Maybe you might think is but ask anyone who is in the hospital near death from liver problems after a lifetime of drinking and I don’t think that you will see them hurrying up to get their hands on any liquor even though at first they probably did as they went through detox!
But for some it’s just too late!
It’s truly an indication that they haven’t yet found that special place.
Is this merely an alcohol thing? No. It could be through any unhealthy indulgence that can be seen as an attempt to self medicate because of that hole in your soul that doesn’t allow you to abundantly fill up on that elusive substance of the heart called joy.
For those of us who are in pain because we haven’t found our comfort, the self medication can come from activities that are obviously unwholesome just as well as from indulges that may appear to be a good thing to do. It could be drug abuse that one seeks to escape their pain from or it could be reckless unprotected sex with strangers that gives them their temporary rush from the painful “perception” of reality. Maybe gambling, gossip, having sticky fingers with other peoples property, whatever the unedifying activity that one dips and dabs in, most often if they have their sanity intact then they would readily admit that what they are doing may not be the best thing for them to do. Most people know right from wrong unless they are straight up crazy!
But what we must understand is that it is not always the bad activity that could be bad for us as we look to patch up the holes in our heart because we haven’t yet found that special place of peace.
What about those of us who work those extreme hours of overtime on a job that could care less about our health? What about those people who are enablers and will work themselves down into a nervous breakdown by trying to do everything for everyone around them yet never gets the same treatment in return?
You see, it doesn’t have to be something that appears to be outwardly bad that can actually be bad for you!
We can tell ourselves that we are doing a good work for ourselves, someone else or the world and it can have the same destructive results as if you really were out there smoking crack or drinking yourself to death! Heck! The end of the road can sometimes even com faster because you have lied to yourself to thinking that no bad ending comes to someone who is doing something so good for another!
But of the truth be told we will never find that inner peace in all things eternal. Not matter what the rush that comes from the activity, it will never last and leave you feeling even more thirsty, hungry and depleted than you were in the first place. What is so sad is that we do not understand this until we have become so bankrupt on the mental, spiritual and physical level that many of us will wipe out our own lives without ever knowing what it is like to have truly lived in the first place!
So what is my feelings on truly knowing how to live?
Well first off let me acknowledge that you can never truly experience life unless you are in complete alignment with the will of your Creator and are obedient to his divine laws. THAT one is a no-brainer and a prerequisite to opening the floodgates of that ever elusive divine joy that we all as human beings and children of God crave from the moment that we arrived on this planet. There is no getting around that at all.
That being said, allow me to offer a few suggestions on a human level that is based on the the assumption that you already are in line with God’s will…….
Whatever happened to indulging in those simple joys that brought you so much happiness when you were not as caught up in such a hectic schedule or jumbled mindset as you are now? Why not take the time to pleasure yourself with those things that mean so much to you?
I don’t care what it is, if it brings you a special peace of mind and you are not violating divine law, hurting yourself or damaging or exploiting another person then by all means go for it!
It could be getting out for a non directional walk in the city for some people watching and window shopping. It could be that you want to take yourself out on a date by yourself and have the pleasure of turning off your cellphone for a few hours while you do.
Maybe you might want to grab a cup of tea and cuddle up on the cushions at home to catch up on a good book or to see what you have been missing as far as the latest documentaries or nature channel offerings.
Maybe you might want to go to a different city where no one knows you to try some stand up comedy or do some karaoke. Whatever it is in your heart to do I say that now is the best time to make your desires into a reality to take you to that special place!
You must understand (If you haven’t already discovered!) that working lots of overtime in order to accrue more material goods or to pay off some bills that will always be there until the day that you pass away will not bring you that deep sense of inner satisfaction that comes from listening to the Holy Spirit in all that you do. God loves us and wants us to enjoy this magnificent earth that He provided for us but it is the systems of man that has us hypnotized into thinking that we should pay into a substitute order that has hijacked the very things that has been given to us so freely and abundantly by God Himself!
What a tragedy it is to be so fearful of stepping out of mans limited system and into Gods unlimited divine order because of the things that we “see” in mans system that we crave and haven’t the faith to believe in the great things in Gods system that we may not be able to see in front of us at the moment!
We have sold our joy out and don’t even know it! That luxury car that you have parked in the driveway won’t be able to visit you if you are in the hospital on your deathbed!
That sidepiece that you have always kept in the form of a secret lover probably won’t give a damn about you once you leave this earth as they will find another willing victim to satisfy their freakish needs once again!
That huge retirement can’t do anything for you to get you into Gods glorious Heaven if your name has not been written in the Book Of Life and are destined for eternal hellfire! There “ain’t” enough paper money in the world to bribe your way out of hell darling!
And all of those people in your family to whom you enable now will probably curse your very soul and memory if you died before them because now they will have to stand on their own two feet to make due for themselves!
So wouldn’t it be wise to find that special place in your life while you have the chance to do so in the most satisfying of ways?
We must immediately stop these repetitious rhythms that bring us down to a low level of existence and will leave us as the walking dead. Listen to that inner God-voice that we all have within that has been crying out to be heard and will lead us into a life of contentment, happiness and obedience to God!
Now you can’t tell me anything that this life has to offer that will afford you such amenities as what you will find in that special place!