Peace, Love and Understanding
I watched The Secret – Dare to Dream last night. It was a good story. I read “The Secret” when it came out mostly out of curiosity and because I read a lot of Dale Carnegie, Norman Vincent Peale, Napolean Hill, Robert Schuller, and every Sales Guru from the 1980s and on and on.
Here is what I have learned – The message is reasonably simple, and now that I have lived over six decades, let me shorten the journey for you.
- Work hard
- Don’t expect to be given anything
- Don’t believe everything you are told; in fact,
- Question everything you are told.
Enjoy the Journey
- Even when you are hungry, eating potatoes, pasta, or rice every night.
- Know one thing: if you believe you are a worthwhile investment, you will soon have what you want, and your prayers will be answered.
Over the last couple of months, I watched the “major news channels,” including the BBC, to see what they were or were not talking about.
The news is the same—hours and hours of COVID stories and devastation what horrible times we live in, broad brushes of hatred and the uncertainty of the future.
A day or so ago, Andy told me a story of several high school kids who ended their lives, one by one, from the same community. Life is hard enough without listening to non-stop end of the world crap.
Do you know the meaning of the word community? Come in Unity. Do you know what happens when people have a community? They thrive. Know where real change happens? In your community, in your family.
If you are repeatedly told that things are horrible, there is no future; you will never amount to anything, life sucks, and you believe what is drilled into your head, guess what?
That will be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
QUESTION EVERYTHING! (a forgotten motto from the 60s and 70s)
Strengthen your mind with what you can control and not let anyone control your life. Seek the truth, fill your mind with what will make you grow, not what will make you grow sick, with a diseased mind.
Be careful of those you allow to be your Gurus’; they too are on a journey. Take their message for what it is worth; if it is worthwhile, fit it into your life. But don’t put them too high on a pedestal. They are Human with Human problems.
If you have read any of my stories, I have relied on the Lord, MANY, MANY TIMES. And still do.
I wonder if the top “Life Gurus” have ever tested their beliefs on the thousands of poor living in the streets of LA or any other major city. That is the test I want to see.
Please show me a program that takes someone who has nothing and creates something. Are we to believe that the growing number of people living in the streets want to be there?
Wouldn’t that be a great test? You have so much to offer. Your formula works, but wait, does it only work if I pay thousands of dollars to attend?
I’m reminded of an “enlightened” woman who taught school in one of the more affluent public schools. Her husband was in politics, and my husband and I went to a fundraiser. At the time, Andy was a part of taking junior high kids to D.C. once a year, and the kids raised the money to cover the expense of the travel by selling donuts, drinking cups, and various other fundraising items.
Now, mind you, this school was in one of the most impoverished areas of the city. Every year I asked Andy how many kids were going to D.C. and how many kids were not.
Every year my heart broke for the kids who wanted to go but could not raise funds. And I did not have the money to give.
When I told the politician’s wife how I felt, she said without hesitation, “They have an opportunity to raise the money; they chose not to by not knocking on doors, calling friends and family members.”
To which I said, what if your neighbors have no money? What if your family and friends have no money? She scoffed; the kids had the opportunity.
Now, some of you reading this would assume the politician’s wife was from a “rich” man’s political party, but you would be wrong.
I hope that the kids who could not raise funds remembered that experience and could take something positive from the experience. Something like my goal is to make money in life so I can visit D.C. on my own.
What am I saying here?
It doesn’t take a “Guru,” as Andy said to me years ago after watching me read positive motivation books one after another. “You’ve read all those books; when are you going to start using what you’ve learned?”
There are elementary steps to moving forward.
- Eliminate the NOISE in the world; that doesn’t mean stick your head in the sand.
- Recognize who is for you and who is against you.
- Put in your mind what feeds your mind, not what deprives your mind.
- Turn off the movies, tv programs, or games that kill, have no morals, constant conflict, with characters who lead complicated lives.
Why would someone make movies about killing, deceit, how to break up a family? We can turn on the news and watch it or read about it; why allow decay of the mind for entertainment?
What kind of people make this crap? Money-hungry people who don’t care how your life or family turns out. They know this “@#$%” sells.
Turn on Comedy, Turn on Inspiration, Turn on Happy Music, Turn on what will make your life filled with Peace, Love, and Understanding.
The Back Story
You might have noticed I love music. I love Elvis Costello. This song comes from 1979. There is a lot of negativity out there. There was a lot of negativity in 1975 when I graduated from high school.
Because of all communication forms today, we can quickly become overwhelmed with “information aka commentary.” Some of us who have lived a few years know how hard it was to put a barrier up to the negativity in our younger years.
Too quickly, we can become “followers” and not question the “leadership,” aka the “controller.”
Question everything.
When the controller does not allow you to ask more questions, be Vigilant.
What to Write About? Writing Prompts
What you learned from ___________ and how you are using their message to Move Forward.
How you learned that your favorite “Guru” is a human with the same issues as everyone else
How ______________ book helped change your life
What it took to get where you are today
What you want out of life
What it took to become who you are today
Stories to encourage you to write for Personal Growth, Ignoring the Noise to Move Forward. Life Writing and Storytelling for Growth Motivation.
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