Wherever you look there are books about meditation and speakers highlight how everything in the universe is connected and if you think hard enough whatever you dream can and will appear.
Having all that was taught to me as a child now questioned and dissected, it is difficult to ascertain exactly what is and is not in today's world.
I do know that however I try I cannot find myself "going" the road of what is today's religious aspirations.
I love and enjoy nature and treasure people and events in life, but I also find myself frustrated and unsure with the wars, high food and gas prices, as well as the anger and violence that seems to permeate daily life.
There is and always will be a "higher" power as far as I am concerned, but my "higher" power and yours, no matter the name given, whether it be God, Lord, Spirit, Buddha, and all the others -there is a connection between all human beings - we know in our very fiber that we are not alone, the world and beyond is tended to and follows a cycle no matter how hard man tries to disrupt it or find a better way.
We are in this situation together -yes, but we need to find our own ways of reaching out, extending and growing.
We cannot and should not "copy" or mimic what others are doing, but we can learn and incorporate bits and pieces until we truly "find ourselves.
" Whether you find yourself in tune with or at odds with the current beliefs, that is you.
You are unique, one of a kind, and no matter how you twist and bend, you cannot be your neighbor, best friend, or even your mom and dad.
If you are not true to yourself, then you are not true to life.
We all have our good days and our bad.
Tears are not wasted but are "picked up" by invisible beings who cherish them as diamonds in the rough.
They are turned into the droplets that produce rainbows and that mythical pot of gold.
Smiles are delights that cause the sun to shine brighter and the flowers to turn their heads to the sky.
Hatred and anger are weeds that need to be tended to and violence in any form is "unacceptable.
" People today have allowed their governments to lie, cheat and steal and they remain silent.
Humans look the other way at hunger and poverty until it reaches its tentacles into their pockets and homes.
High gas prices and the cost of putting a meal on the table can be overwhelming, but they are also doors to inspiration and motivation.
Would you slow down your pace of to and fro if you did not pay dearly at the pump or would you consider home cooked meals more if the receipt at the grocery store did not look like the national debt? Today's mantra is true in that we are all connected - but then that brings the fact that if we fray, tangle and break so do so many others.
If you believe in spirit guides, angels, or you look at the moon to feel safe and assured in your footsteps, then that is your belief system.
Even as a nation, our ancestors, the people who lived generations before us, have left their imprint, ideals, and errors for us to consider and relay all this into our everyday existence.
Wars did not work in the past and they will not work in the future.
Fire power will always destroy, and it will never have the capacity to create and build up.
Without the old time belief that "what is good for the goose is good for the gander" must include allowing other countries and nations to live and grow at their place in the sun, but allowing the ability to ask for help or to share ideas and inventions.
There is not one "right" country as there is never only one answer to a dilemma.
If a government deliberately causes death and destruction, through lies and manipulation, no matter the outcome, it will never be right.
When others follow suit, why stand in desperation and shake your head when you were the leader in the parade? So you see, life as we know it or as we perceive it is individual, but the ties that bind are there as well.
The tethers keep us grounded but allow us to safely reach for the heavens and beyond.
If you fall, know that others are there to either pick you up or walk over you.
Those that walk over you will find the same fate, whereas those who stop and lend you a hand will add to their success story - for so it is written in the book of life.
The x's add up as quickly as the +'s but they cause your particular tapestry to have flaws and color runs.
The very tapestry that you weave with each moment of life will allow you to walk proudly forward, or cause you to hide in corners for fear of discovery.
Once again, it is your choice because it is your life.
You pick and choose, but know that decisions are not judged by the masses, but by the individual heart and soul.
Something to think about ©Arleen M.
Kaptur July, 2008