355 Both Of Us Can Be Right December 2017 Thursday Week 4

Thoughtful Thursdays-#355 December 21 The Strong Within Daily Affirmation Podcast Both Of Us Can Be Right I got in a discussion with a friend about control, and we both decided to agree to disagree. She said that we weren’t in control of anything in our lives, and I disagreed with her. I get her point when looking at the grander cosmic scale of things, that maybe we are merely animals essentially controlled by our emotions, with a slightly higher awareness of things…or maybe even that fate plays a part in our design. She brought up the point that if a meteor was to hit the earth that everyone would be afraid and scared and not in control as we would be victims of our emotions. And while I understand her opinion, I still don’t agree. I brought up the point that people experience different emotions and not everyone would be scared, and she disagreed with me. Even heroes feel fear she said…which I agree with. But they have conditioned themselves to not let their emotions dictate their choices. If you look at firefighters, military personnel, or police officers for example…they are less likely to freeze up like the average person would because they’ve gone through drill after drill to prepare them for chaotic situations. My argument wasn’t that they don’t feel fear, but that not everyone feels or experiences the exact same emotion for a similar situation.  People don’t process events the same way.  So maybe if we were to take it from another angle away from heroes…what about someone who was wanting the world to end…so they could end their pain? They would process that event as a blessing and be happy about it. I do believe there’s more to it than just deciding how to process an event with our mind. I think we understand something happens, like a person dying, and we’re not immediately sad about it. It might feel that way, but what happens is our mind will process the event and then we decide what emotions to associate with that event. It’s a collaborative effort, and I’ve come to find that while I don’t have control over the things outside of me, I have control over how I experience those things within myself. And as I said there’s more to this equation such as listening to our intuition, being more connected to the spiritual realm, and all the other depths of life. However, the point I’m trying to get across is what happened previous to our discussion. I was re-reading my favorite book Siddhartha by Herman Hesse, and the last reading point, I’d come to when I closed the book, was a quote that helped to bring peace to me during my discussion with my friend. In the beginning of the argument it was about proving my point, but halfway through I felt this pulling inside me saying, “what are you doing?” I recalled the quote in the book, and I immediately held my tongue as I let my friend finish what she was saying. The funny thing is, almost at that moment my friend brought her point to an end as she said let’s just agree to disagree. So maybe she felt the same energy as me of not wanting to argue this point anymore, or maybe she didn’t want to hurt a friendship over a philosophical way of looking at life. And the quote I was thinking of said this: “A true seeker, one who truly wished to find, could accept no doctrine. But the man who has found what he sought, such a man could approve of every doctrine, each and every one, every path, every goal; nothing separated him any longer from all those thousands of others who lived in the eternal, who breathed the Divine.” ~ Hermann Hesse, Siddhartha And so during the argument, this quote reminded me that I didn’t have to be right. I didn’t have to prove my point, or disprove hers…we both could be right. I’ve been in eternal searching looking to go deeper in things, and by doing so I could never accept any truths, as I was always in the eternal seeking mode. I would always be trying to prove my point to others, and why they should think a certain way. Because if I can get others to think this way, then maybe there’s something to my thoughts…and maybe I wasn’t wrong in pursuing them.  But what does it matter, whether they believe my way or not…if they are living in accordance with their truth and are happy and fulfilled? I know sometimes I want people to live their best life and to know they have the power to be who they want to be…that they’re in control of themselves in the situation. But is that really about helping them, or is it more about trying to prove I’m right? Is it more about me, than it is about them? I’ve come to know over my life that there are many truths to one path. I think I’m a seeker because I enjoy bettering myself, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but sometimes I think I seek just for the sake of seeking. If you are continually looking, how can you ever stop to enjoy what you find? And that’s a deep thought right there because when you’re in eternal searching, how will you know that you’ve really found what you sought? How will you know when you’ve come to the best answer you could’ve? When should you stop digging? I don’t have an answer for you, but it’s my hope that I can find love and peace in everyone’s path. That I don’t judge them for thinking differently…but that I wish them well in their journey. Maybe for me, I want to help so many people because I see myself in them. And if I can help them, if I can seek for them, then maybe I can be the answer not only for them…but for myself. I’ve come to many truths that have brought me peace…but the reason I kept seeking, were those truths were too easy. I mean the meaning of life should be a hard task, you should be seeking your whole life…but, what if we already have the answer? I believe we do…and my truth doesn’t have to be your truth. In fact, we could have two totally different ideas and still be right. Both of us can be right. And like the quote in Siddhartha, when you’ve found what you’ve sought, everyone else can be right too. It’s not about proving to them why they’re wrong…it’s about living your truth. And for those who want to know your truth, you can share it with them by living your life and being the example first…and then answer their questions when they’re ready to ask you. Today’s Personal Commitment: What are you seeking, and why are you seeking it? Will you ever know when you find it? I’ve spent a life time in paralysis of analysis…where I would find an answer but it would never be what I thought it should of been so I’d keep looking, or I found the answer I wanted but it felt too easy or off in some sort of way and I would then continually search because maybe my answer wasn’t good enough. And there’s nothing wrong with finding a better answer, but sometimes the answer doesn’t need to be searched for but aligned with as we stop seeking eternally and accept an answer for the moment. What’s your paralysis of analysis, what are you continually seeking that’s keeping you from moving forward in a healthy manner? And when you find that answer, ask yourself why you are doing it? Sometimes we are doing eternally seeking for fear of leaving a belief behind that we have had for a long time, sometimes it’s for fear of having to do something different that feels uncomfortable, sometimes it’s for fear of failing, and sometimes it’s just because it’s all we’ve known and so why change when nothing’s supposedly broken. And I’m not saying you and I are broken, but maybe we can pause from time to time from our seeking and ask is there a better way. Sometimes we can find joy in doing what we found and relish in it in the moment. Because if we are always seeking, does that mean we are never satisfied in the moment? So today, how can you find peace in not having to prove someone else wrong, but to find fulfillment in your truth? Both Of Us Can Be Right     Thanks for listening.  I'm sending great energy your way as we become Strong Within together, Personal Development Life Coach- Chris O'Hearn Contact info- email: [email protected]  phone:865-219-3247     Music by: - Zest by basematic (c) copyright 2011 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. - I Have Often Told You Stories (guitar instrumental) by Ivan Chew (c) copyright 2013 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. Location: Knoxville, Tennessee USA but available worldwide