02-01-2022, 05:35 PM
Why is it difficult to live? A child will reach for something and believe that they can have it. We came into this world believing that good things would happen. To one degree or another, we still believe this. You wouldn’t be reading this if you didn’t.
What gets in the way of us having what we want? The Pandemic, certainly. But to really understand we need to dig deeper. You see, if we are honest, we have spent our whole lives being disappointed. Educators call it socialization, parents call it “doing what you are told.” Your boss calls it “doing your job.” We are hemmed in on every side by society, even our friends have certain expectations for our behavior. And how we respond to this endless barrage of expectations, determines the quality of our lives. We can believe that we are being picked on, rebel, fail at school, lose a job or lose friends one after another. We can believe that we are worthless, stop caring, go through the motions, let these expectations crush us inwardly to the point where there seems no point in living.
But where does having a belief system fit in all of this? After all, a small child believes everything you tell them, so things are so much simpler for them. But we are adults. We don’t just accept everything we are told. We choose what we believe in, or at least that’s the ideal. And that choice can be thought out and carefully reasoned or it can be a hand-me-down, borrowed from someone else, or worse, a reaction against what others believe.
You are the expert on you. If your life is not what you expected, you know it first. How often we hear a tragic story about someone and people we know exclaim, “Who would have known?” Of course no one expects an answer to that question even if there is one. It helps to read about others who struggle. Here’s a story:
A man was born into a lower class working family. He was an only child. A dreamer, he never held down a job in his life and his father died when he was young. One day, when he was thirty, he decided to make his many dreams come true. He started telling others about how they could live a better life. At first, people listened and he became quite popular. But then of course there was a backlash, as there usually is. People got jealous over the attention he was getting. His enemies conspired against him, accusing him of saying politically incorrect things. One night, when he was alone, he was arrested, and his friends abandoned him. He was then cruelly treated by the government, deprived of a fair trial, tortured and soon after killed.
And a major world religion sprang up from his teaching! Unlikely story? More strange than fiction ever could be? Yes, that and more. You see, if this could happen, anything is possible. Investigate Roman Catholicism. Ask questions. Do the hard work of taking seriously a new belief system that has the power to change your life for the better no matter what your circumstances are. I look forward to hearing from you!
What gets in the way of us having what we want? The Pandemic, certainly. But to really understand we need to dig deeper. You see, if we are honest, we have spent our whole lives being disappointed. Educators call it socialization, parents call it “doing what you are told.” Your boss calls it “doing your job.” We are hemmed in on every side by society, even our friends have certain expectations for our behavior. And how we respond to this endless barrage of expectations, determines the quality of our lives. We can believe that we are being picked on, rebel, fail at school, lose a job or lose friends one after another. We can believe that we are worthless, stop caring, go through the motions, let these expectations crush us inwardly to the point where there seems no point in living.
But where does having a belief system fit in all of this? After all, a small child believes everything you tell them, so things are so much simpler for them. But we are adults. We don’t just accept everything we are told. We choose what we believe in, or at least that’s the ideal. And that choice can be thought out and carefully reasoned or it can be a hand-me-down, borrowed from someone else, or worse, a reaction against what others believe.
You are the expert on you. If your life is not what you expected, you know it first. How often we hear a tragic story about someone and people we know exclaim, “Who would have known?” Of course no one expects an answer to that question even if there is one. It helps to read about others who struggle. Here’s a story:
A man was born into a lower class working family. He was an only child. A dreamer, he never held down a job in his life and his father died when he was young. One day, when he was thirty, he decided to make his many dreams come true. He started telling others about how they could live a better life. At first, people listened and he became quite popular. But then of course there was a backlash, as there usually is. People got jealous over the attention he was getting. His enemies conspired against him, accusing him of saying politically incorrect things. One night, when he was alone, he was arrested, and his friends abandoned him. He was then cruelly treated by the government, deprived of a fair trial, tortured and soon after killed.
And a major world religion sprang up from his teaching! Unlikely story? More strange than fiction ever could be? Yes, that and more. You see, if this could happen, anything is possible. Investigate Roman Catholicism. Ask questions. Do the hard work of taking seriously a new belief system that has the power to change your life for the better no matter what your circumstances are. I look forward to hearing from you!