The Life You Were Born To Live:
A Guide To Finding Your Life Purpose

Life arises out of Mystery:
Moments unfold, things happen.
Our mind then creates meanings,
about what happens.

We see things not as they are, but as we are.
Viewing the world through windows
of interpretation and expectation,
our mind creates a drama, a comedy,
a tragedy, a romance, or a soap opera
out of what simply arises.

Thus, our mind creates our dreams and dramas;
and stress appears as the mind resists what is.
To attain freedom, make peace with Mystery;
to reinvent your world, shift your expectations.
Reality is not what we think.

Q: I am trying to accept the pain and suffering in the world without feeling bitter about humanity. How can different spiritual leaders say everything is as it should be? How can they view the world as perfect while people experiment on terrified animals, while wars and injustice and greed run rampant?

A: Our world contains both beauty and ugliness, kindness and cruelty. The question is, where shall we fix our attention? As an anonymous poet once wrote, "Two men looked out of prison bars; one saw mud and the other saw stars.” Even as you empathize with humanity’s growing pains, let the beauty, hope, and humor in this world soothe the wounds of your sensitive heart. If we view the world only through the filter of our ideals, it will never measure up. Consider the influence of expectations on perception in the following anecdote: “A farmer was missing an ax from his tool shed. He suspected his neighbor’s young son. The boy looked like a thief, acted like a thief, and spoke like a thief. When the man eventually found his misplaced ax, his neighbor’s son looked, acted, and spoke like any other young boy.”

The fact that shadows exist, in the world and in ourselves, should not blind us to the light. So find hope in this understanding: It wasn’t easy for us to grow through adolescence into adulthood; neither is it easy for humanity to mature. As much as we might wish it otherwise, the world unfolds as it will. All we can do is raise our vision to find purpose in our growing pains. Meanwhile, take heart from what heroism and compassion you may find, and let these examples sustain you amidst the news of atrocities, war, and human folly. The trouble and pain we inflict and suffer are perfect not in the sense of being “okay,” but as an erupting volcano or exploding star is perfect — because such things happen in God’s universe. Are we so arrogant to think we know how the world should or will evolve?

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone. Here is Dan Millamn's website address... http://www.danmillman.com/index.html