Meditations on God

The Human Decision

Making the right decision is easy when you are motivated by the right things.

Doing good is not necessarily a natural instinct.

Our natural instinct is to do what most immediately benefits us.

We are naturally selfish and short-sighted.

This is our animal nature.

To be human, to be humane, is to behave differently than an animal would.

It is to think of others, to think about the big picture, and to think long term.

To be human is to consider the future, to consider how our decisions affect others, and to do what is best, not just for our personal, immediate survival, but also for our community.

These types of decisions are not easy exactly because they are not natural.

In fact, if they were easy, there would be no need for a decision.

It is for this reason that morality must be taught and why it must be practiced, so that when a decision needs to be made, we are able to do so decisively and without hesitation or regret.

And, we are able to do this even when, perhaps especially when, the decision we have to make does not clearly and obviously benefit us because we can see past ourselves, our needs, and our desires.

Morality always accounts for others because, without others, there is no need for morality at all anyway.

We must be careful, however, to not think ourselves special for doing the right thing.

The right thing is the right thing whether we do it or not.

Our participation in morality simply means that we are not animals scraping and clawing at each other for survival.

There is nothing special in that.

It is merely the choice to be human.

February 19, 2021

choices, decisions, morality

Failing Perfectly

No matter how hard we try and how well we plan and prepare, something will inevitably go wrong at some point along the way.

This is part of the process.

We cannot account for every variable and every contingency.

And, we especially cannot wait to take action until after every variable and every contingency is accounted for.

We may want to achieve perfection, but, if we hope to make any progress at all, we have to be willing to settle for perfect enough.

Not only will perfect never actually happen, but while we wait for it, we will quite likely miss our opportunity to be successful in whatever endeavor we have chosen to attempt.

Success does not wait for perfection.

In fact, success does not wait.

Success favors the attempt itself.

Obviously, a more perfect attempt will lead to a more perfect result, but waiting for perfection before our attempt will cause us to never make an attempt at all.

Success is achieved through failure not in the avoidance of it.

We must do our best and we must also accept that our best may not be good enough, yet.

When our best is not good enough, it is up to us to adapt, to adjust, and to pivot in the face of whatever resistance we encounter.

Resistance should be seen merely as more information on our way to where we are going.

Resistance is educational.

We must, therefore, embrace the difficulties we face as that which will make us better tomorrow.

For, it is on the other side of difficulty that perfection is actually found.

February 18, 2021

failure, perfection, procrastination, success

The Life Of An Idea

What if the most beautiful, most impactful, and most life altering contribution you made to this world was made entirely by accident?

Would it matter to you that it was an accident, that it was not really your idea, and that you just happened to be in the right place at the right time with the right amount of effort for this positive change in the world to take place through you?

Would you feel better or worse about it that the result was not your intention?

Would you still be proud of what you have accomplished?

Would you still look at your achievement with a smile of appreciation for a job well done?

Or, would you be disappointed and frustrated that it was not exactly your idea, it was not your vision, and that what you set out to do did not work out the way that you originally planned?

We all tell ourselves stories about our ideas, about what they mean to us and the world we hope to change with them.

We tell ourselves that, because they are our ideas, they somehow belong to us and they must become what we wanted or envisioned them to be.

But, once our ideas are in the world, they no longer belong exclusively to us.

Once our ideas are shared, what they grow into is largely out of our hands.

Of course, we must tend to them, nurture them, and guide them along the way, but we are no longer solely responsible for their outcome because we are no longer the only force acting on them.

Our influence may be the primary one, but, inevitably, it will not be the only one.

The question we must ask ourselves is whether our ideas are better off thriving in the world, living a life we did not imagine for them, or whether we would prefer to keep them to ourselves where they will never see the light of day, but will remain perfectly safe and intact.

Sharing our ideas is inherently risky, not simply because they may be stolen from us, but because we may find out that our ideas were not what the world actually needed or wanted.

We should consider ourselves lucky, however, that we ever had any ideas that were worth having at all, that inspired any kind of change at all.

This, alone, is cause for gratitude and celebration.

February 17, 2021

change, desires, goals, ideas, impact, plans

Choosing To Learn

There comes a point in our lives wherein we must take responsibility for our own learning.

Learning is different from education.

Education is often given to us or even imposed upon us.

Learning, on the other hand, requires our participation.

No matter what types of lessons are being offered to us, we cannot and we will not learn from them unless we actively participate in the process.

No one can make us do this.

It has to be our decision and it will require our effort.

We have to set the intention to learn.

Even with this, however, there is no guarantee that the knowledge we wish to acquire will actually take, at least not at first.

Like anything worth doing, learning is a process and, if what we are attempting to learn has actual life-changing value, it will not come to us easily.

It will be a slow process with many starts, stops, obstacles, and detours along the way.

Our dedication to this process is what proves our sincerity.

Or, our lack of dedication to this process will prove the opposite.

Either way, we are responsible for our choices, for our actions, or lack thereof.

February 16, 2021

choice, dedication, education, intention, learning, sincerity

Practicing Consistency

A big part of having a practice, whether it be creative, martial, spiritual, what have you, is accepting the fact that it will not always be easy.

It will not always be convenient.

We will not always feel like we are making progress.

There will be many days where we will feel stuck, frustrated, or even like we are moving backwards.

It is important to keep in mind that this is part of having a practice.

In fact, this is why it is called a practice.

We are practicing.

And, we must continue to practice, especially when it is not easy, especially when it is not convenient, and especially when it feels like we are not making progress.

The goal of a practice is to be consistent, to keep showing up, and to put in effort day in and day out even when we do not feel like it, especially when we do not feel like it.

Over time, if we do not give up, we will notice that something has changed.

We will have changed.

This, after all, is the point of having a practice.

We begin in search of change.

If we want consistent change, that is, if we want the change to stick, we have to continue practicing.

And, if our practice is worthwhile, this process will go on for a lifetime.

February 15, 2021

change, consistency, persistence, practice

The Human Decision

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Failing Perfectly

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The Life Of An Idea

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Choosing To Learn

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Practicing Consistency

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