We may have all the things that we wanted, yet life can still be a struggle. We may think that we have achieved them all, yet there is always - and there would be, that little something that remains never enough. We may think that our beliefs or ideals have insured us happiness, but when we look at the realities of life, this is but an illusion.
We keep going round and round in the circles. We keep getting the feeling, that something is, still amiss. Even when we try to dismiss any thoughts of any of those missed opportunities, we cannot escape the feelings of despair that can ravage us. The way to all possibilities goes winding, flowing with the wind and the whole passage seems endless.
It is a terrible cycle. Going from one thing to another, just fighting and struggling to keep going. How much does a person need to go through life to sacrifice?
Working with ideas is a struggle in its own right. Even while we remain firmly grounded, our struggles cannot be divorced from the real world, from the world of practice. From all the people struggling to change and from the masses of people in all the different endeavours and in each of their spheres of life.
It is made worse when we add with our own struggles that we cannot identify within our soul and the thousand thoughts and their quizzical and magical patterns; our desires and our wants. At any time, when all seems well, we often are back to deal with yet another cycle.
We may seek meditation, or yoga or just walking quietly in the garden, to quieten our thoughts and to bring harmony that we hope to achieve. We may be able to find peace, in our awareness, for a time. We can distract ourselves for hours on end, but our struggles always come back. All of a sudden, seemingly out of the blue, we sit up, take stock and realize our actual situation in life.
Our minds are often so complex that we will never be able to grasp the pattern of our thoughts. That we will never fully accept the way of the Universe in providing us. Perhaps, we are never wise enough to comprehend the synchronicity of events that prevails right in front of our eyes. The process that supposedly simple yet the mind twisted it into a mental trickery . Our minds will always remain unfulfilled internally no matter how huge the magnitude of our outward accomplishments.
We can, forever, go on to fool ourselves. We can go on to think that when we have achieved something and that we are done. Thing is, we are not. One event leads to another and we let ourselves to engage another complexity to it and make it not right to our feeling. All our accomplishments can be everything and then they can all mean nothing. Our mind triggers yet another thing and we shall remain unhappy - and struggles start all over again, in our relentless pursuit of something else.
Are we doomed to suffer, and live a life in a tunnel of greyness, since our attempt towards fulfillment puts us in this endless cycle. Life becomes a struggle with endless conflicts. It happens all the time. It affects anyone day to day. Ironically, in our pursuit to resolve something, we manipulate something else so that the end results satisfy us.
I have had walked that path countless times. Picking myself up on every falls. Celebrating the joy in every achievements. Tears that accompany me in every sorrow and in every joy. The river of life that cleanses and yet bringing another story. I had my deepest fears and so did I have a wonderful bliss of God consciousness. Through them all, I wonder where would I go from there.
Few weeks back, I made an honest heart-to-heart confession to a friend. I am glad that I did it. A friend whom I hold with high respect; someone whom I know will throw light as well as to motivate me. That will show me a practical and spiritual road map, to be filled with uplifting anecdotes for my soul to recognize on the meaning of life. For me to sync with the language of the universe. I am so thankful for her brief visit.
She made me to let go of my limiting beliefs and to conquer my fears. She made me to discover a deeper sense of my missing true identity and how to translate my inner self into the reality of leading the life that I were meant to live. She came at the right time when I felt my energy had just plateaued.
Abraham Maslow said it best about struggles. He stated that when our basic survival needs are met, it's imperative that we move to our higher, or meta-needs, to "self-actualize." He warned about what could happen when we ignore these needs: "If the essential core of the person is denied or suppressed, he gets sick sometimes in obvious ways, sometimes in subtle ways, sometimes immediately, sometimes later."
We long for a change and perpectually finding chances to re-think and re-design our lives. It is only natural as we set new goals every time. Guess, that is how the word Re-Member comes into play here. There is another realm of depth and sensitivity available in life that, somehow, we are just not seeing it. We feel insulated from all the experiences by some sort of sensory cotton. We are not really touching life. Without us knowing, our mind gives us that vague awareness and, often, we think that we are back to the same old reality. The world looks like the usual foul place.
How we choose to structure our life varies according to our distinct needs and desires. When we make the choices, we have to measure both the inner and outer demands. We need to be honest with our self and be imaginative, yet assertive and truthful, in working out ways to have what we want. We need to yearn for the heights and to remember to forget that we shall not spend a lot of our time down at the bottom of the ramp.
I want to remember to forget. However, remembering to forget requires a deep sense of faith. It calls us to live with our higher self. It needs more than a gumption to accept in the power of struggle as the drive way for our freedom.
As a human, I still have the tendency in forgetting to remember that I have discovered and pursued my callings thus far. I keep forgetting to remember that there are no universal answers or formulas for the good life. And, there are also no universal answers or formulas for the not-so-good life. What is good for another person may not be good for me. To remember that an authentic, passionate life is something that must be discovered and uncovered within me and by me alone.
I am forgetting to remember that I have choices in this life. In all my lifetime. I have the the right to what I feel that I deserve.
Life is, in its nothingness, full of ups and downs, joys and sorrows, tragedies and triumphs. The truth is, it is all in the book called Life. We just need to be able to be present with what is here and to recognize that we have a choice in how to respond.
Another friend told me that first love and the last love is self love. I want to remember to forget all those that do not bring higher purpose when connecting to authenticate my true self. Life is about making peace within; the letting go of daily struggles. Expectations can be fraught with problems.
I want to remember not to forget to tune into my thoughts, my feelings and my emotions. To take notice of them and then to accept "This is it!". I guess what I want to remember to forget is that all life's struggles are not about pain, nor loss, but embarking onto a journey of exploration for a better life. Of a higher quality.
In the language of the Universe, as I am letting my thought flows here, I stumble into these:
(These are excerpts from the TV Series, Heroes)
Where does it come from? This quest... this need to solve life's mysteries for the simplest of questions can never be answered. Why are we here? What is the soul? Why do we dream? Perhaps we would be better off not looking at all. Not delving, not yearning. That's not human nature, not the human heart. That is not why we are here.
This quest... this need to solve life's mysteries. In the end what does it matter when the human heart can only find meaning in the smallest of moments? They're here... among us... in the shadows, in the light, everywhere. Do they even know yet?
We all imagine ourselves the agents of our destiny. Capable of determining our own fate. But have we truly any choice in when we rise... or when we fall... or does a force larger than ourselves bid us our direction? Is it evolution that takes us by the hand... does science point our way... or is it God who intervenes... keeping us safe?
For all his bluster, it is the sad province of Man that he cannot choose his triumph. He can only choose how he will stand when the call of destiny comes... hoping that he'll have the courage to answer.
When evolution selects its agents it does so at a cost. It makes demands in exchange for singularity and you may be asked to do something against your very nature. Suddenly the change in your life that should've been wonderful comes as a betrayal. It may seem cruel, but the goal is nothing short of self-preservation... survival.
This force, evolution, is not sentimental. Like the Earth itself, it knows only the hard facts of life's struggle with death. All you can do is hope and trust that when you've served its needs faithfully... there may still remain some glimmer... of the life you once knew.
Sometimes questions are more powerful than answers. How is this happening? What are they? Why them and not others? Why now? What does it all mean?
When a change comes, some species feel the urge to migrate, they call it "zugunruhe", a pull of the soul to a far off place. Following a scent in the wind, a star in the sky. The ancient message comes calling the kindred to take flight, and gather together. Only then can they hope to survive the cruel season to come.
I always believe that the Universe does not abandon us. It will always stay beside us to bring us up yet to another level. We just need to understand and we need to learn the lessons first. We need to remember and we need to forget.
We need to let go, for love to come.
We need to forgive, for love to come.
We need to accept, for love to come.
We need to struggle, for love to come.
We need to love, for love to come.
Everyday, we will not be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. It is the architect of life towards learning our lessons. It has been designed that way; an engineering for us to ignore all the good things happening around us to focus on something that we cannot even touch yet.
The good news is, we will eventually succeed. We will, eventually, be able to handle the emotional roller coaster. We need to remember to forget that we live in a culture, and ideology, that is crazy. We need to caste away our seek for standardization, our revere for precision and our aspiration for control.
No, I am not here to tell myself, nor to anyone, that I can tell heaven from hell nor blue skies from pain. But still, there has to be a better way for me to find it out without second guessing. I need to remember to forget the limitations to my present belief system - that I see what I want to see but I should not believe what I see.
It is said that perception is just a projection and not fact. Do I want to be right or do I want to be happy? Do I want to see that I am very capable and responsible, or would I rather suffer as a victim of Universe? I need to remember to forget to engage with life defencelessly but to wake up to the Self I really am.
I need to remember to experience a state of mind that I have almost forgotten. Our inner knowing does not announce itself nor does it insist. Our mind does not know what is the right way nor what is the best thing. But when I can accept the fact that intellect can never really know, I should be aware of an inner movement within me. Not knowing is always a good way that brings with it an incredible freedom and peace of mind.
I need to remember to forget the agony of the need to control. When I let go of my need to control, I am free to receive. Control is resistance.
I cannot ever get everything that I want, all at once. Perhaps, not in a lifetime. It is just impossible. But the Universe does give me another option. That I can learn to control my mind, to step outside of this endless cycle of desire and aversion. I can learn to not want what I want, to recognize desires but not be controlled by them.
I must remember not to forget that I can continue to live a very normal life but to live it from a whole new view point. I can do the things that any person must do, but I am free from that obsessive, compulsive driveness of my own desires. I can continue to want something but I don't need to chase after it.
I must remember not to forget that life can bring the soul to a state of tranquility and awareness, a state of concentration and insight. I need to remember that civilization changes man on the outside. I need to forget all the negativities related to struggle but to remember that 'Struggle' is a great teacher. It is the crucible fire that works slowly through understanding. The greater the understanding, life becomes a world with a deep and uncritical love.
There is only one way we will ever know if Remembering To Forget is worth the effort. We just have to learn to do it right, and do it. And, to see it for ourselves.