Indeed.
Blessed Mother Teresa was a shining example of that, and she'll be made a saint soon which is very well deserved. Remember that having a good heart, being kind, honest, generous, etc are all beautiful traits that you can't put a price on-to buy or sell. They make you worth more than the richest man on eart, because richness isn't based on wealth- you'll only die and leave others to fight over it.
That mere fact is an indication of how important good attributes are. We are often distracted by the superficial which leads us to neglect out hearts. Man-made concepts to do with ego, money, status, wealth and power are all pretty toxic things to follow in my opinion. This is because it takes you away from your true self, but we are told it's worth it because what they're chasing is tangible like a big bank balance or a new car. That's silly though, because the things worth having are those which you feel instead of see, and a truly honest person cannot be bought. All superficial things do is lead people into a false sense of security and happiness. They sell lust instead of love, insecurities instead of self-worth, fear instead of freedom, etc and negative things are like a rabbit hole wherein the deeper you go the darker it gets.
Whatever you do in life, do it in love. Always remember your integrity, and your heart. When something doesn't involve your ego it always comes out best. People often seek perfection, instead of just being the best that they can be. This is a huge error simply because perfection is subjective... It's as broad and limitless as numbers and money so the search for it is very limited and restricting. Something done with passion is far better than something that was done to be perfect. If you feel your way through life and see where that takes you, you'll realise that the biggest obstacle you face is yourself and your ego. Like I always try and remind people there is no glass celing, other than that which you create for yourself. If you do the best that you can with no goal other than just doing what feels right, and what moves you in positive ways then you can be proud regardless of the outcome. For example, if I kept getting D's in a test and I thought 'Okay Dalanda, pull yourself together! I'm going to work really hard to get at least a B next time', that's limiting. It makes more sense to work the best way that you can and give it your all, because your best could actually be an A, but you've limited yourself by only aiming for a B. The aim isn't to be the best in life, or be perfect but it is to just do your best and not put pressure on yourself. Every individual is unique and does things in their own way to their own standards, comparison and self-depreciation is super toxic because we all have different skills and attributes to offer.
Often we fear our own power, our own strength and our own brilliance which that leads us to consciously or unconsciously sabotage ourselves. It's a silly thing to do really, because life is all about the here and now. The present moment is the only thing that's promised to us, so we should always do our best in the moments we have- by doing that you have already secured your future.
In life there is no finish line or end goal, except for death. Even then, if you've done the right things you leave a positive legacy that can inspire people even after you're gone like Blessed Mother Teresa.
It's good to have goals in life, but not when they are centred on the ego because you'll limit yourself substantially. I feel it's best to move away from the idea of being great in the physical, material realm and move that to our minds and our character. The pursuit of material success leads to people doing some awful things- lying, cheating,stealing, etc. We've become such slaves to money that we can't even truly enjoy because we neglect ourselves and maybe even important things in our lives to feed our ego, but when you feed the ego you starve the soul and that will rob you of happiness.
There are far more important things to worry about. In life one of the only things we have always had and always will have is our fellow man. We are all one human race and when we don't look out for each other, and we ignore our humanity it leads us to a primal state. People end up behaving in primal ways as though we are in the wild, and we have to rely on our survival instincts. We aren't meant to be against each other like that. We are here to help each other grow, learn, discover and be happy. That's why I have this blog!
I have these ideas, but I look around me and see many humans with no humanity and it makes me sad. It makes living in this planet really difficult because it's unnatural to behave in the way that the ego wants you to and that's why so many people are so empty inside. Things like selfishness, greed and dishonesty are learned behaviours- it's our real instincts to help. That's why when a nursing mother hears a crying child, or her own child is crying at home and she is out she'll begin to produce milk. You can't pay for that connection, you're born with it and it's more real than the ideas of wealth and success that we have been sold. It's all illusion, don't be fooled and don't allow yourself to be out of touch and blinded by the lights, sparkle and glamour they show you. It's all fake and constructed to keep us thinking in limited ways, and it's the light inside of you that matters most and is strongest. If people knew their own power and what was really important, it would put a lot of very rich cooperations that make money from our misfortunes, insecurities (that they created) and ignorance out of business.
Treat yourself but not at the expense of yourself and/or others because as I preciously stated, the only real and tangible things we have in life are our relationships with people and ourselves. Be who you would like to meet, regardless of how life has treated you because you can't heal contempt with more contempt- only love can heal and it's the most powerful force in the universe. If someone doesn't realise that then you should demonstrate it to them and be the better person. I'm often told I am too nice but I genuinely don't think so, I think that the world is too cruel and sceptical, and too many people add to the problem instead of trying to remedy the situation. Also I find that when people are horrible to you, it says more about them... Being wronged hurts- especially when you don't deserve it but it's not an excuse to be horrible back, just show people the right path with your actions. The old saying is very true, actions will always speak louder than words. Words to me are insufficient because they're incredibly limited. In giving something a name, you take the power of calling it anything else away which is good to an extent, but not everything is the same, and not everyone feels things in the same way. My experience of happiness or sadness and life in general is completely different to the next person's because I'm seeing it from my eyes; and no two people have ever seen the same thing. That's why a major part of communication comes from tone, body language and eye contact... It will always tell you far more than what is coming out of someone's mouth.
I don't think I've mentioned this before because or not but I'm dyslexic- visually and with words but it wasn't discovered until I was 18 even though I couldn't write very well until I was about 17. I still find it difficult, as my reading speed if I want to concentrate on something is a lot slower than average, and I can't read serif fonts properly- which happens to be the fonts they use in textbooks *RAGE*. This is why words carry a lot less meaning to me and I think about them in the way that I do. Often I find if I focus on the words someone tells me I get confused unless they're saying exactly what they mean- that's the only reason why I get irritated about grammar- poor grammar can change the meaning of things in some cases, and when it does and I misunderstand I either look stupid or like I'm trying to be a smart-arse. However I know what someone means by their tone, body language and few words I pick up on. I hear sounds before I hear words, and it's just how my brain processes it. My verbal reasoning was scored at genius level and so I am quite good at analysing, looking at things in different ways, and making weird links because my mind has always had to be stretched further in that aspect. But I am going off on a tangent again which is one of the downsides of it... That, and I don't believe it's right to classify different degrees of intelligence which is why I don't really talk about it, but seeing as it has a label even though I don't agree with it, I accept it.
Back to the point...Life is all about energies and vibes which is why gestures of kindness and good faith are universal. For example no matter where you go, if you help someone- even through an easy gesture like opening a door, or helping them carry something it will always be seen as kind.
Mother Teresa was Albanian but she went to India and although she did learn some Indian languages, she spoke mainly in the universal language of love which was accepted, admired and appreciated by all. No one can say she wasn't kind, she didn't do the right things when she could, or she wasn't a good person. She recognised that we should be kind to one another which is a huge Christan value.
If you actually read the bible, you'll see that Jesus came along to reform Judaism because people were being exploited and the Torah (Old Testament) wasn't being followed in the right way. If you open the bible to the greatest commandment New testament, I like Mark's Gospel's (I'm on my iPad so I don't want to exit this to find the exact thing because this device is temperamental, and I don't want to lose this post) Jesus says that you should forget everything you've heard before because the greatest commandment is 'love thy neighbour'. Think about that... It's all encompassing and it covers everything. If you love someone you won't lie, steal, cheat, etc etc. He befriended non-believers and outcasts, so when people use the bible to preach hatred, intolerance and ostracism, it really annoys me. If you are going to pick and chose or disregard anything in the bible, it would be the Old Testament because the New Testament exists because the old ways weren't working or being followed properly. People were using religion and the people's ignorance to exploit the masses. That's why I distance myself from religion- it has headed in the same direction, but I appreciate the community aspect, praise and music aspect because those are universal too. Consumerism has become the new religion of our society since the split of the state and the church, and one form of oppression has been replaced by another. Tragic.
So do yourself a favour and don't forget what is truly real in life. Don't set goals that satisfy your ego and starve your soul. Try to enjoy life and all its little moments because you'll never be you in this body, at this time ever again even if your soul stays the same. That's why we are all connected despite being physically different... We are souls with a body and not bodies with a soul.
Look after what is really important, instead of what you are told should be important to you- you'll be happier and not live in a constant state of wanting more and not quite making it, or being good enough.
Mother Teresa wasn't rich, she didn't want anything other than to help people and look at what came from that. I'm not saying we should all up sticks, and become missionaries (unless you feel called to do so) but we should do the right things and spread good wherever we can because it never pays to be selfish.
I'll leave this here because it's long and I'm procrastinating at the moment, but this is an important message to share. Society will have you feeling worthless unless you understand what is truly important. We come into this world alone, but we come from a mother, another human being and she looks after us, or someone does... This shows an aspect of community is always meant to be in our lives or we would be asexual creatures that produce on our own. So don't forget that and don't forget to be grateful for the people you have in your life. If you could buy happiness, the richest people in the world wouldn't look so miserable, or smug and arrogant instead of nice, friendly or approachable. Their smiles aren't as sincere as that of Mother Teresa's.
"In the end, it's not the years in your life that count, but the life in your years" - Abraham Lincoln.
So go out and make a life instead of a living- it's never too late or early to start living again. Everyone deserves and has a right to be happy no matter what, because mistakes are only bad if you don't learn from them, grow and move past it.
Have a great week and as per my usual advice, don't be an arsehole!
Love,
-Dalanda
xoxo
