"We don't go to a funeral in a party mode..." - Melody Beattie. 52 Weeks of Conscious Contact
Melody is talking about being in harmony with ourselves, people around us and our circumstances. Some of us have thought that being true to ourselves must mean being obviously out of step with everyone else. I've learned for myself that that's not true. Being out of step is just being disagreeable. But being true to myself, other people and my circumstances is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. It requires that I have a spiritual center comprised of knowing and loving who I am, acceptance of others (whether I agree with them or not because they are on their own paths) and acceptance of my circumstances even when I am changing them. It is a place I'm only in part of the time. Sometimes I'm so out of sync with people around me that I have to go somewhere else for awhile.
The key is that I have a purpose for my life and it's not being a missionary to persuade everyone else to my point of view. My purpose is love and kindness - being a force for good. I think the Dalai Lama said that his religion was kindness and if that's good enough for him, it's good enough for me. I don't think I can possibly go wrong with kindness!
Melody is talking about being in harmony with ourselves, people around us and our circumstances. Some of us have thought that being true to ourselves must mean being obviously out of step with everyone else. I've learned for myself that that's not true. Being out of step is just being disagreeable. But being true to myself, other people and my circumstances is a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. It requires that I have a spiritual center comprised of knowing and loving who I am, acceptance of others (whether I agree with them or not because they are on their own paths) and acceptance of my circumstances even when I am changing them. It is a place I'm only in part of the time. Sometimes I'm so out of sync with people around me that I have to go somewhere else for awhile.
The key is that I have a purpose for my life and it's not being a missionary to persuade everyone else to my point of view. My purpose is love and kindness - being a force for good. I think the Dalai Lama said that his religion was kindness and if that's good enough for him, it's good enough for me. I don't think I can possibly go wrong with kindness!
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