THE TROUBLE WITH BEING HUMAN

THE TROUBLE WITH BEING HUMAN

The trouble with being human is that we are human, and we all often fail to accept this about ourselves and others. We expect others to be more than what we are, to be better than what we are, and when they fail we judge them as inferior, because they were human. Yet, we fail to realise that the same way we view others, they view us. And even with this article, and what I feel driven to say, I am still being human and judgmental, and placing my understanding above others, and elevating myself to a level higher than others.

This is the truth as I know it: People must do what they must at any given moment. We often fail to understand that based on the information you have, and who you are, you can only do what you must in any given situation. And the truth is that this doesn’t always suit others, and in fact may be harmful to them. If we all came from this understanding the world would not be as it is.

This is the truth as I know it: People are basically greedy. That is why we are always striving for more – more love, more happiness, more material wealth, more health. We can never have enough. And the truth is, in this earnest endeavour that is part of the trouble with being human we often disadvantage others and rob them of their God-given birth-rights. In this endeavour we are blinded by narcissism and step on whomever we have to to get what we want. Why? People must do what they must at any given moment. Often we fail to check this greed, or acknowledge it enough to be able to manage it, leading to great unhappiness. Unchecked greed is marauding and self-serving, and is the destruction of any society. Yet, greed is part of the trouble with being human, and it is completely un-acknowledged.

This is the truth as I know it: People are basically selfish. We think only of ourselves at any given moment, in any given situation – we have to, it is in our make-up. What I know for sure is that if you have no conception of who you are and what you are meant to do with your life in order to progress on to the next stage of re-membering, your selfishness will disadvantage those around you. Only when one is being truly selfish, can one please others. Think about it, when you know who you are, what you need to do to be happy, it is easier to be honest with others, treat them better, and do better because your goal is clear. Uncertainty is poison, because you vacillate between decisions, making others uncomfortable and miserable as they do not know where they stand with you, or what you mean, or what you intend, therefore uncertainty drives misery. But, when you acknowledge that you are here for your own selfish reasons – i.e. to re-member that you are God; it is easy to be giving, to be accepting, to be discerning, to be clear in intent, action and word leading to happiness around you because those around you know where they stand.

This is the truth as I know it: People are basically good. It doesn’t matter what label you place on another, this is the truth. Even if someone hates you, wants to destroy you, makes your life a living misery, this person is good to the ones that they love and hang out with. Even the most evil person is good to someone. Therefore people are basically good when it serves them, Why? Because people are basically selfish.

So, given these truths, the question then becomes: Why then is the world in the shape that it is in? Well, all these basic facts about humanity are completely unacknowledged and so run amuck, unchecked. I believe that denial is the biggest sin of all, in fact if the word existed I would say un-acknowledgement is the biggest sin of all. So, these truths as I know them are un-acknowledged and become a destructive force because they are not controlled and managed. Control and in fact self-control is the biggest virtue, it is Godly to be controlled, to control yourself – your selfishness and your greed, so that when you must do what you must, you take into account the greater good and then live up to that within you that is God. When you acknowledge that you are basically greedy it means you go out seeking the material, physical, emotional, spiritual abundance that is your birthright as God’s child. And in seeking, realise that you may require these in abundance, but check your selfishness by realising that there is enough, and therefore endeavouring to share with others by taking only what is yours.

Greed is the manifestation of a lack of belief that God can provide for us all, exactly what each individual really needs. And so often we go out seeking something that isn’t what we really need, but what we have been told is what we really need, or what we saw that others really need, and because it is not what we really need, we take more than our fair share in that it isn’t even our share at all, but someone else’s, and are then exposed as greedy. This is why it is important to know who you are and what you need to do to fulfil the requirements of your life, so that when you go out to fulfil your selfish interests you are able to be good, because you are acting in sync with what your soul needs to re-member.

So, let us acknowledge ourselves, and see each other through God’s eyes and acknowledge that we must do what we must – be selfish, be greedy; so that we can be good and so begin to re-member that we are God.

What i know for sure.

1. We all have choices. These choices are often the opportunity we are given to change our lives. It is important to know what the choices on offer are, to consider the outcomes that they bring, to consider the outcome you want, and to make the choice that best suites your plan. Our lives are what they are because we chose that they will be that way. Don't be the victim of a life lived through choices you refused to partcipate in, be an active participant in your life - make a choice. Be aware of the life you live, so that you may live the life you want.
2. There is good in all of us. We all have good in us, but some of us just refuse to allow it to be the trait about ourselves that others experience first. Others of us believe that we are evil and there is no hope for redemption. But, being good is an active human trait, it must be chosen and it must be practiced. You choose to be good and you choose what this means, and you act it out through the way you behave to others and to yourself. We choose who we are, so if you are evil it because you choose; if you are good it is because you choose.
3. There is greatness in all of us. Unfortunately some of us are so busy looking at the 'other' - our friend, or sister, or brother, colleague etc - that we fail to see what greatness is ours. We are not the same, we are not gifted the same, we are not gifted to achieve the same thing, in the same field, in the same way. Self-exploration and self-knowledge is important, because this introspection allows you to understand where your gifts lie, to explore and grow them and realise them in the physical plain. So, stop looking at others and look at yourself, and focus on what you can do for you, through your gifts.
4. We are here to re-member who we really are. We are here to remember that we are God, that is the whole purpose of life. Think back to the times when you experienced ecstatic happiness and what this was about, it was probably when you felt loved and appreciated and part of a bigger whole than who you are. This my friend is God; for he is more than who we are, is true love – i.e. unjudgmental, accepting, encouraging, joyful.
5. It's all you. You create the reality you wish by accepting it as truth. So, choose only the outcome you seek, accept only the outcome you seek, see only the outcome you seek.

Words I live by

In life, one must have shock absorbers. Because the path of life is filled with pot-holes, and without shock-absorbers an unexpected pot-hole is likely to destroy your vehicle and take one off your chosen path. Therefore, be sure to save a little room for disappointment: hope for the best but expect the worst, it is this philosophy that becomes your shock absorbers; allowing you to bounce right over and through any unexpected and unpleasant events.
M.D. Mothoagae

Take a little time to sit quietly and think about your life, who you are, what you want, and what impact you want to leave on the world. Think and decide who you are and what you are about and act according to that. Without careful consideration we are little more than animals.
S. H. Mothoagae

People must do what they must at any given moment. What other’s fail to understand is that based on the information you have, and who you are, you can only do what you must. And the truth is that this doesn’t always suit others, and in fact may be harmful to them.
Mokopi Shale

Try to know what you know and know it well, lest you forget what is important to you, what must be done, what needs to be done, and what you want to do.
Mokopi Shale

Do not take being flavour of the month seriously because fads always pass. Always be yourself and never allow yourself to be overtaken by popularity, admiration or fawning. Surround yourself with good friends, but have the good sense to know who your friends really are.
Gabonewe Mothoagae

On Judgment

They say “Judge not, lest ye be judged.” What is judgment really? Judgment is arrogance, narcissism of the highest order, it is a belief that you are more than what others could ever become, so much more that you allow yourself to make pronouncements about who they are. Judgment is a lack of empathy for the human condition, and a belief that the human condition has no impact on who you are.

What we fail to realise is that judgment is a clarion call to God, an insult on his greatness and a challenge to God’s universe to assert it’s power on your life. judge not lest ye be judged is a warning to us all, to be careful of how we view life and the people who live it.

The theory I have come to subscribe to is the Hindu belief in re-incarnation, but with additional contention provided by Linda Shaw and Neal Donald Walsh that we choose the experiences we want to have. The amalgamation of these beliefs says that we are born again and again until we learn the lesson that we are supposed to learn, and that we are forced to experience a certain set of experiences until we have learned the lesson that we are supposed to learn. The amalgamation says that before you are born you are tasked with studying the lives that you have lived and the lessons that you still need to learn, and that from this you have to study all of humanity you choose which souls can help you learn the lesson, you agree on how they will come into your life, what they will do, and therefore how you will be forced to learn a lesson. It is an amalgamation that contends that it is easy to overcome your karma if you are aware when karmic price is exerting itself in your life.

It is judgment that makes the overcoming of karmic price difficult, it is judgment that keeps us tethered to life, and it is judgment that robs us of enlightenment, and it is judgment that robs us of our humanity.

Judge not lest ye be judged means do not add more karma on your head, accept that we all have our paths and must walk it as we must, and that we cannot experience who we really are in the same way. We all have our own individual ways in which we learn our lessons, in which we absorb them and allow them to alter the way we live our lives. We cannot force others to be like us. We do not know why people stay in abusive relationships, are abusers, are thieves, murderers, adulterers, evil or good, we do not know what lesson they are grappling with in their lives and why they have chosen the set of circumstances that they have. We do not know why they cling to these circumstances and will not listen to us and take our advice.

The warning however is for you to be wary of calling them less than what they are as they grapple with this lesson, because in judging them you display your lack of knowledge and sympathy and are throwing a gauntlet down to God and his universe to show you why it is hard to be that person, and why they do what they do in the way that they do it. You will be forced to live the life that you have judged, and if you are one who is spiritually aware you will find yourself looking at your life and seeing elements of those whom you have judged before.

So, judge not lest ye be judged – i.e. be empathetic, be sympathetic, be humble in the face of life and acknowledge that life is God, and that we are in the process of re-membering that we are God, and that judgment is a sure path away from God.