Mind Boggling
By Njeri Mucheru-Oyatta
Chapter 85
What is the meaning of my new motto? How does it apply to my life in practical terms? Am I to be alert and careful with what I think, say and do every minute of every day to ensure that my thoughts, words and deeds are in accordance with my new motto?
When I asked myself the above questions, I almost gave up on this new motto. It is impossible to expect myself to calculate every thought word and deed. It would be like counting calories, something I cannot understand how anyone manages to do. In spite of my doubts, I had a strong feeling that I was on the right track and must find a way out of this puzzling moment to move onto the next step.
As I sat and pondered about how I could possibly start my new life of becoming a loving person, I remembered that the Bible says that Jesus is the way the truth and the life and no-one comes to the Father except by Him (Jesus). In my quest for love, I temporarily forgot about Passion which is the only means by which I can get to know Love.
I have found that in order to live by my new motto, I have to pay attention to my feelings. When I feel strongly about something, that strong feeling is a signal showing me that the situation I am in requires me to pay attention to the lesson which the situation is meant to impart. At such a time, I need to think deeply about what feeling I am getting from the situation and if that feeling does not reflect the qualities of love, then I must consult my mind and change the way I think about the situation so that I can change my feeling toward the situation to reflect a quality of love. This is vital because my thoughts are what invoke me into action. By changing the way I think of any given situation and thus change my feeling toward the situation to reflect a quality of love, my actions in that situation will determine how my life unfolds. During this process, my character will be moulded to reflect the qualities of love and more importantly, my destiny will be directed towards the life I was born to live.
When I reached that conclusion, I was excited about my new life and could now see that what I thought an impossible task was very possible. This process of discovering how to live a life driven by Passion to find Love in itself showed me how Passion works. It helped me change despair into hope.
The important thing is to pay attention to any strong feeling I get. In the absence of a strong feeling, I can get on with my life normally. In time, I expect that with each moment of Passion, and with each lesson learned, my normal life will begin to change as a natural consequence of my changing character.
My destination is to become a person who: suffers long and is kind, does not envy, does not parade herself and is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek her own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things - a person who NEVER FAILS.
I must say that in as much as I understand what is required of me, I know it will not be easy. I have already experienced how difficult it is. Somehow, I am beginning to see that my driving is an ideal stage for learning. Going by my new motto, this is what I must do.
In traffic jam, no matter what kind of a hurry I am in, I must embrace the suffering and still be kind to my fellow drivers, even if I have a throbbing headache! I cannot allow myself to be rude by refusing to give way to anyone trying to cut into my lane no matter how rudely they cut in. I cannot allow myself to be provoked by the actions or abuses of any driver or pedestrian or police officer. Provocation leads to feelings of anger, fear, pride etc which are not qualities of love and which will distract me from my goal. I should not focus only on myself and how late I am for my appointment; I cannot seek my own; I must be considerate and selfless. Worst of all, I must take responsibility for my fellow road users and ensure their safety and help them as they try to get to where they are going. This is what ‘bears all things’ means to me. And even though in ensuring that I act with Love I find that I am getting very late for my appointment, I must believe that I will not fail in my goal. When the person I am meeting calls me, I should not be rude and refuse to pick up, I should stop my car, if necessary, and truthfully explain my predicament. In this endurance and hope, I will find that actions motivated by passion and love will always succeed in achieving the real goal which is to teach me who I am. How can being late ever impress my new client?
Anything is possible with God. He will ensure that my interests are fulfilled so that I learn my spiritual lesson and I achieve my humanly purpose. God works in mysterious ways. Where my actions dictate failure from a human perspective, from a spiritual perspective, my success is inevitable if I am acting with love. Previously, I was looking at life from a human perspective. Now, I am looking at life from a spiritual perspective.
The change will not be easy but I think that the change will make my life much easier. And an easy life is truly, what I am looking for. Who doesn’t want an easy life?
Chapter 85
What is the meaning of my new motto? How does it apply to my life in practical terms? Am I to be alert and careful with what I think, say and do every minute of every day to ensure that my thoughts, words and deeds are in accordance with my new motto?
When I asked myself the above questions, I almost gave up on this new motto. It is impossible to expect myself to calculate every thought word and deed. It would be like counting calories, something I cannot understand how anyone manages to do. In spite of my doubts, I had a strong feeling that I was on the right track and must find a way out of this puzzling moment to move onto the next step.
As I sat and pondered about how I could possibly start my new life of becoming a loving person, I remembered that the Bible says that Jesus is the way the truth and the life and no-one comes to the Father except by Him (Jesus). In my quest for love, I temporarily forgot about Passion which is the only means by which I can get to know Love.
I have found that in order to live by my new motto, I have to pay attention to my feelings. When I feel strongly about something, that strong feeling is a signal showing me that the situation I am in requires me to pay attention to the lesson which the situation is meant to impart. At such a time, I need to think deeply about what feeling I am getting from the situation and if that feeling does not reflect the qualities of love, then I must consult my mind and change the way I think about the situation so that I can change my feeling toward the situation to reflect a quality of love. This is vital because my thoughts are what invoke me into action. By changing the way I think of any given situation and thus change my feeling toward the situation to reflect a quality of love, my actions in that situation will determine how my life unfolds. During this process, my character will be moulded to reflect the qualities of love and more importantly, my destiny will be directed towards the life I was born to live.
When I reached that conclusion, I was excited about my new life and could now see that what I thought an impossible task was very possible. This process of discovering how to live a life driven by Passion to find Love in itself showed me how Passion works. It helped me change despair into hope.
The important thing is to pay attention to any strong feeling I get. In the absence of a strong feeling, I can get on with my life normally. In time, I expect that with each moment of Passion, and with each lesson learned, my normal life will begin to change as a natural consequence of my changing character.
My destination is to become a person who: suffers long and is kind, does not envy, does not parade herself and is not puffed up, does not behave rudely, does not seek her own, is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity but rejoices in truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things - a person who NEVER FAILS.
I must say that in as much as I understand what is required of me, I know it will not be easy. I have already experienced how difficult it is. Somehow, I am beginning to see that my driving is an ideal stage for learning. Going by my new motto, this is what I must do.
In traffic jam, no matter what kind of a hurry I am in, I must embrace the suffering and still be kind to my fellow drivers, even if I have a throbbing headache! I cannot allow myself to be rude by refusing to give way to anyone trying to cut into my lane no matter how rudely they cut in. I cannot allow myself to be provoked by the actions or abuses of any driver or pedestrian or police officer. Provocation leads to feelings of anger, fear, pride etc which are not qualities of love and which will distract me from my goal. I should not focus only on myself and how late I am for my appointment; I cannot seek my own; I must be considerate and selfless. Worst of all, I must take responsibility for my fellow road users and ensure their safety and help them as they try to get to where they are going. This is what ‘bears all things’ means to me. And even though in ensuring that I act with Love I find that I am getting very late for my appointment, I must believe that I will not fail in my goal. When the person I am meeting calls me, I should not be rude and refuse to pick up, I should stop my car, if necessary, and truthfully explain my predicament. In this endurance and hope, I will find that actions motivated by passion and love will always succeed in achieving the real goal which is to teach me who I am. How can being late ever impress my new client?
Anything is possible with God. He will ensure that my interests are fulfilled so that I learn my spiritual lesson and I achieve my humanly purpose. God works in mysterious ways. Where my actions dictate failure from a human perspective, from a spiritual perspective, my success is inevitable if I am acting with love. Previously, I was looking at life from a human perspective. Now, I am looking at life from a spiritual perspective.
The change will not be easy but I think that the change will make my life much easier. And an easy life is truly, what I am looking for. Who doesn’t want an easy life?
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