Wrapping up the month of October, here’s a quick screen shot review of the month’s news. Let me know which ones you like the most. Thanks for your input, -David M Masters
Month: October 2016
Modern-day Witch Burning
Back in the day the paranoia of our forefathers included legal restriction, punishment and even killing people who practiced therapeutic modalities which were not understood by either the masses or professional communities of the day. In some cases these individuals were burned, drowned or hanged to death following accusations of practicing witchcraft throughout the 1500s to 1800 or so.
While not killed for their abilities to heal and treat disease, witches’ accusers would create falsified accounts as the result of their investigations to conclude the witches had used their powers with ill intent, like using spells or potions not recognized by the professional community that ultimately caused harm to others.
They were accused of everything from causing the death of others by undiagnosed and untreated disease as well as other bizarre accusations everything from causing erectile dysfunction to having intimate relations with the devil.
Prior to the proliferation of medical schools in the 1200s, anyone could practice the healing arts. Early on, if you practiced (especially if your family had a history of practicing) a particular healing model for a particular disease or specialty, you could simply place a sign outside your door indicating such expertise. Your success or failure in disseminating your particular healing practice was based on your results. If people visited you and were healed, your business thrived, if not it failed.
Medical schools changed the entire landscape of healing throughout the world. The cost of attending medical schools relegated practicing the official healing arts to the elite who could afford to obtain their degrees entitling them to practice medicine, regardless of their ability to actually heal.
It is rumored that the organized medical community was a proponent of accusing unauthorized, unqualified and unorthodox fringe medical practitioners of witchcraft (regardless of their actual ability to heal). The medical community did turn a blind eye to religious healers and recruited the church to ally with them in persecuting witches who practiced the healing arts claiming the witches’ allegiance with the devil.
In the mid-1800s the creation of the American Medical Association was formed and was able to establish a unified list of requirements that would qualify an individual to practice in the healing arts leading to the licensure of medical practitioners.
This eliminated the need to further burn witches because they could simply be prosecuted in criminal courts for practicing medicine without a license and prevented from the unauthorized practice of medicine by any means legally available.
Modern-day Witch Burning
Today medical universities are funded by the pharmaceutical companies who supply their practitioners with the latest patented fashion medications which are disseminated to patients throughout the United States. Still, even with increasing regulations and legal restrictions as bio-tech companies lobby for even tighter control, there is an underground movement promoting natural healing modalities.
This underground movement of natural healing has begun to expose the medical community from immense profit garnered from the prolonging of sickness and disease in patients. Other truths brought to light are factual accounts of prescription medications based on chemical recreations of natural ingredients, which can be patented and sold to the masses. As well as a myriad of other subversive and potentially lethal treatment modalities and laws enacted (even mandated) to support their use.
Doctors within the medical community are beginning to take notice and to tell the truth, turning their back on the recognized medical community and embracing more natural approaches to treatment of disease and healthcare without all the negative side effects of conventional medicine.
While not having to fear being accused of witchcraft or being burned at the stake, the doctors who have decided to jump ship and educate others of the dark truths of the American medical system are silenced by other methods. They unexpectedly “die of natural causes” or mysteriously disappear without a sign.
It appears not much has changed, though the tactics may have become more sinister.
Or not.
Demons Among Us
As we approach Halloween, we see people dressed up as ghosts, goblins, witches and alternatively celebrities and super heroes. Donning their individual costumes running the gamut or possibilities, it only requires the most rudimentary observation skills to identify the character they represent.
If only we could so easily identify the people we interact with on a daily basis who do not adequately represent their true characteristics. Yet, all of us, in one way or another, use some method of cloaking or disguise to effectively integrate with others with whom we share a variety of circumstances.
Among the spectrum of social representations (or methods and motivation for disguise) on one end are those who do so for the benevolent benefit of mankind and on the other end of the spectrum are those who are motivated by ultimate power, domination and control of others.
Without judgment but for simplicity’s sake, let’s refer to these extremes as “good” and “evil.” Interestingly, those who are on the “evil” end of the spectrum often (narcissistically) think of themselves as being on the other end of the spectrum, as being beneficial to the advancement of others or in extreme, the world.
With the good and evil idea, on one end of the spectrum we might find Mother Teresa (on the right side of the spectrum), on the other, Adolph Hitler (on the left). While on opposite ends of the spectrum, they do share common characteristics, which one could write an entire book about, if someone so dared.
Discussing the extremes might be interesting, but for all intents and purposes, the middle-ground is the area we must deal with in terms of ourselves and our interactions with others.
So how can we fault someone using the same methods of representation that we also employ to safely and sanely navigate our way through our life’s journey? And trust me when I say, those on the evil end of the spectrum will use this in their defense.
You probably have an idea where you are at on the spectrum. You know what your key motivators and intentions are. You know when you will, “compromise,” deny the person you really are for the benefit of someone else. You also know when you are likely to, “assert,” exercise a level of intensity to stand your ground or move yourself forward.
Only a few degrees to the left of you on the spectrum is someone who will assert their intentions over you, and the further they are on the spectrum from where you are, the more likely they are to use more covert tactics, more provocative methods of disguise to achieve the results they desire.
For the sake of this installment – and just for fun – I will refer to them as demons among us. If you can spot the following characteristics, you may be able to more quickly identify them and take measures to protect yourself from their plans for you or others you might care about.
Demons are likely to disguise themselves as your best friend, only to draw out information about your weaknesses or insecurities. Then, when they feel the time is right, they will confront you and put you down in an effort to make them appear to be superior, or they will use it in a public forum to humiliate you to promote themselves.
Demons will use a bait-and-switch tactic by accusing you of feeling something, having thoughts or opinions they harbor within themselves, accuse and confuse you with their persuasive tactics until you begin to question your own intentions, and they will use this against you to further their agenda if they feel doing so is necessary.
Demons will exaggerate factual data, extrapolating a wildly intricate and complicated scenario that is empirically false but resonates as credible due to the inclusion of recognizably accepted facts.
Demons are kings and queens of separation. They separate themselves from others and separate others by strict categorizations. Everything is “us against them” or emphasizing differences between groups of people and promotes their separateness or depicts them at conflict or war with each other.
Demons have a certain degree of skill in persuasion that enables them to manipulate the thoughts and/or actions of other people.
Demons will use interpretations of specific words and phrases and spin them to their benefit, isolate you to make you feel as though something is wrong and build you up just to tear you down.
Demons create thought constructs and riddles based on imagination, morality, legalities or other belief systems that confuse you and left to themselves can create an inability to rationalize a solution, or may completely immobilize you.
Demons have an uncanny ability to navigate multiple paths simultaneously in stealth mode, concealed by a virtual cloak of invisibility while they collect data and plant data to be cultivated at a later date.
Paying attention to these attributes could be your early warning sign that you are within close proximity of a demon.
Keep in mind that although I have used a reference of good vs. evil and used the label “demon” in this presentation, it is in no way judging anyone and was only used for simplicity’s sake with a degree of entertainment value.
When the Going Gets Tough
The Tough Get Going
What does, “When the going gets tough the tough get going,” mean?
Does it mean that when things become difficult that were supposed to push through and do whatever is necessary to stay on this single, focused track?
Or, does it mean
To grab your stuff and find another direction to go in?
If you ask me, the answer is both.
It comes down to a matter of what you really, really want.
When things get tough, at the very least, it’s an attention-grabber enabling you to pull back and reassess your situation. This applies to any time the going gets rough.
As a conscious traveler, this is your opportunity to take time to re-evaluate, so stop, take a break and look around. What do you see? What do you feel?
How does your current circumstance fit within your idea of the path leading to your highest and best?
Consider this: If you are inspired, moving on the right path, in the right direction and gaining momentum from where you were to where you want to be, then the journey should basically be resistant-free.
Resistance (or when the going gets tough) is an indication of the need to change.
Now, you can push-through and make yourself and everyone else in your car stay on the track you’re so determined to maintain (which is not a bad thing) or you can be looking for alternative opportunities.
In most cases, when you are faced with a great deal of resistance, there is a divine door waiting for you to explore, leading to a path that is a more effective route to the destination you to arrive at.
You can stay on the path you are currently on, or you can consider taking the doorway to another path that could be far better for you.
This is not to say that if you are on the right track, that you will never encounter difficulty, but consider this: If things are difficult, it is likely an indicator that you could be doing something different, something better.
And it doesn’t necessarily mean a drastic change, it could be only the slightest adjustment that could make all the difference.
For instance, if you’re in Seattle and you’re flying across the country in a straight line, you would end up in New York, by changing your flight path by just a few degrees (not much at all, really) you would end up in Miami.
Sure, you could still get to Miami (assuming that is where you wanted to be) by going to New York first, then travelling from New York to Miami, but when the going gets tough, it could be an indication there is a better way.
So, when the going gets tough, realize that you are making your travel plans and paying for them. Wouldn’t it be prudent to take the time to review all your options before you commit to your travel arrangements?
Plus (I don’t know if you noticed that most bookings are non-refundable these days). I recently booked a flight for two and my traveling companion couldn’t make the trip. So I thought, “great, I’ll have extra leg room and twice as much overhead space.”
To my surprise, I discovered that the airline sells that seat, so even though I paid for it, they resold it again. (Although, I could have paid a fee in excess of what I paid for the ticket to receive a refund.) What?
Live Love and Shine Your Light
Live, love and do good
In this life, there is little more meaningful and everlasting than living a love-filled life and leaving something good behind.
Ever wonder what you will be known for after you have completed this life’s journey? At the very least, I would like to think, if within the scope of my life I was able to help one person grasp the idea of living a better life and sharing that idea with others that even if in this small way, I have helped to make the world a better place.
Just one person who shares the idea with one other person, that’s all it takes. Of course, my intention is to affect more than one person but one person would be enough to justify give my life meaning and value.
Plus, that’s all we can really hope for, if not one person, then maybe one at a time, on the best of days possibly many people might be able to be influenced to embrace their gifts and become a light in a world so dimly lit.
Let your light shine brightly
Let the light of love and truth shine from within and send a powerful beacon of hope to others around you.
Do not be dissuaded by circumstance, feeling as though you are not worthy or due to any lack of support from others because you, your message, your gifts are the light you were given to shine on the world around you.
It is reasonable to think that you are only one person, feeling as though you are a small, singular or inconsequential light all alone. But you are not alone.
The world is filled with other lights, just like you. Even if you feel as though you are alone, you are not. Other lights, similar to yours have been strategically placed throughout the planet. While individually, each light may not be brilliant but when all the lights shine brightly in unison, the resulting light will appear to burn more brightly than the sun.
And in that moment the world transforms into a planet filled with peace and love, for in the light darkness has no power.
Do so without expectation or pride
It’s important to keep your heart and the light which emanates from it as possible. Even if times get rough and it appears as if no one can see your light, the important thing is to keep it lit. Sometimes you might feel as you are the only one who sees it, or might feel like it has gone out but it hasn’t.
While your heart yet beats, it emits a light frequency that permeates the environment which surrounds you. It is felt – though may not be acknowledged – by all life within your proximity. All life and matter responds to your heart’s light of life frequency.
The more you share your love and gifts with others in humility, the more brightly it shines if you expect nothing in return. Share your message, sing your song, exercise your special abilities and do so without expecting thanks, recognition, applause or remuneration and your efforts will be multiplied.
In the end your gifts will be acknowledged
This is the beauty of being able to embrace the idea, “if only in some small way…”
While you may feel as though all your efforts are not recognized or even in vain, keep in mind that you are not the only one. The shining of your light will have contributed to answering the call of a planet yearning for enlightenment’s evolution.
Sharing and shining represent your calling and are key components of your legacy.
If your intentions are pure, your light is combined with all the other lights in the world. While one candle may seem insignificant, while as part of a grouping of 1 million candles can have a profound effect, much like a lighthouse lamp.
You are the light
Shine and shine
Even if only in some small way
And make the world a better place
Are We All in One Big Video Game?
Are we all just game pieces in the virtual reality game called “Life on Planet Earth?”
How fascinating would it be, if you and I could get together, create a galaxy (or hundreds of them), cause a planet to be formed and place a fake moon in it’s orbit? What if we designed and manufacture the planet by experimentation and introducing different elements and components to generate an Eco-system capable of sustaining life?
How interesting would that be?
Next up we experiment by introducing different types of flora and fauna to see what can survive and thrive in the Eco-system which we have developed.
After a while we’ve developed a palette, a background and underlying system to sustain life. This is where the fun begins.
First we drop some animated beings on the planet and see how they fare. They seem to adapt fairly well, but they don’t have much going on. Now that we have a basic structure to work with, we can take them into the lab and create a hybrid that is far more interesting by mixing in a bit of our own DNA, maybe some other components of other types of life that we may have access to for flavor.
What do we come up with? Our own unique design of a person.
Wow! I never had so much fun!
You and I have been so clever in developing these beings, that we’ve built-in all kinds of features, like the ability for them to multiply on their own, and for us to be able to access the life of any of these beings in the first person to share their experiences.
How much fun is that?
And it gets even better…
As this system is both physical and virtual, our sense of time is very different from that of the big video game construct. For instance, a lifetime for them (which lasts approximately 100 years) takes only about 10 minutes in our time, but if we’re playing the game in the first person our sense of time matches theirs. In this way, we can play out 100 years in the game, but have only actually expended about five to ten minutes of real time.
Sure, we had fun when we first started the game, but it was a little boring when it was just you and I playing in the game, but as they multiplied and word got out, we attracted all kinds of folks from all over the place who wanted to play the game.
Of course, we let them log-in and play.
While it has become wildly fun, it has become somewhat problematic, too. Some of the other players are not happy with just playing the game, they want to control it, manipulate it, even cheat, while others (who were not invited or had previously been banned) proceed to hack into the game.
Now what started off as one big video game, that could have been the best video game of all time, has become quite complex and it’s taking a great deal of attention and effort just to try to keep it under control.
All the while, there is an evolutionary process taking place from within the game; the game pieces are becoming more aware.
Certainly, we cannot allow them to see us – or themselves – as we really are, so we must keep them distracted by any means not to consider such a scenario.
There is no doubt, this is becoming the most exciting game ever created.
What happens next?
Elon Musk claims to be one of the awakened, aware game pieces, and he’s not embarrassed about shouting his truth from the rooftops about us all being players in one big video game for the amusement of some other superior race.
Are you an awakening game piece?
Talk to Yourself
Okay, at first blush you’re probably thinking, “Talk to yourself? If I start talking to myself, next thing you know, they’re coming to take me away, ho ho hee hee ha haaa.”
Nothing could be more untrue, notice I said talk to yourself, not with yourself. You need to talk to yourself to reprogram data routines that undermine getting the things that you want in this life. In the coaching business, we refer to this as reciting affirmations, in the religious business, we call this positive prayer.
The key is in properly constructing the affirmation or positive prayer. Certainly, it must be positive. When you tell yourself (or pray about) something negative you are indicating to both your mind and your higher power that you have more lessons to learn. So, you attract more negative circumstances in answer to your words, in an effort to give you enough negative circumstance to realize that negative begets negative and positive begets positive.
If you want your life to move in a more positive direction, you must fuel the engine of your life with all the positive energy you can, and your higher power rewards your positive effort with even more momentum, the more positive you are.
When you’re structuring an affirmation, it should be positive, even if it is rooted in negativity.
For example, let’s say I think life sucks, am annoyed experiencing a low income level and am unable to make ends meet. I might be feeling helpless and hopeless and if I’m of a religious persuasion, I might pray a prayer, like
“Dear God, Why would you let me suffer like this? I’m broke, I’m tired, nothing ever seems to work out for me; it’s like everyone’s out to get me. I don’t see any hope of recovery and I feel so awful because I let down my family and people who believed in me and depended on me. I’m feeling worthless and alone, so very desperate, please save me.”
That is a prayer placing an order with God for an intense degree of frustration and difficulty ahead, which I’m sure you would rather avoid. Plus, the more you pray a negatively-charged prayer, like that, the worse it gets.
When in contrast, if you were to reframe your prayer to be more positive, it might look something, like this
“Dear God. Thank you for all the wonderful things in life that you have given me and the best things that are coming to me now. I am a successful and financially secure person with an unlimited supply of energy and resources thanks to you. Everything always works out for my highest and best and everyone and everything supports me in all that I do. I am wealthy in all things including finances as well as the love and support of family and friends. I am so blessed to have these people in my life. I am worthy leader, powerful and mighty. I have the ability and wherewithal to do whatever is necessary to allow even more prosperity in my life, and give you the glory. Thank you, I love you.”
Don’t just pray that positive prayer once and forget it. If you’re serious about it and serious about seeing the results, do it at least three times a day out loud.
If you’re uncomfortable with the religious references in the aforementioned example, no problem, there is still hope for you. All you have to do is to re-shape your life by using the same process without the religious jargon. So if you’re thinking
“Why do I have to suffer like this? I’m broke, I’m tired, nothing ever seems to work out for me; it’s like everyone’s out to get me. I don’t see any hope of recovery and I feel so awful because I let down my family and people who believed in me and depended on me. I’m feeling worthless and alone, so very desperate.”
Then your reprogramming positive affirmation would look like this
“The best things are coming to me now. I am a successful and financially secure person with an unlimited supply of energy and resources. Everything always works out for my highest and best and everyone and everything supports me in all that I do. I am wealthy in all things including finances as well as the love and support of family and friends. I love having these people in my life. I am worthy leader, powerful and mighty. I have the ability and wherewithal to do whatever is necessary to allow even more prosperity in my life.”
This positive re-framing, is a clear indication that you are nearing the end of this chapter in your life and as it prepares for positive resolution, you are ready to embark on a new journey, moving onto the next level of your life, as you leave these issues behind you.
I’ve seen religious folks have an easier time with embracing the idea of the power of positive prayer because these people are used to hearing stories of how prayers, like this, achieve miraculous results. Yet, non-religious individuals achieve the same results, without the benefit of acknowledging, recognizing or worshiping a deity at all.
It’s as if this concept is universal and available to all who engage in it.
To review the process would be to write down your concerns in their negative format on one piece of paper. On the other piece of paper, write out your positive script.
When posi-scripting keep everything in the first person. Let everything reflect your situation as you desire to be as if it were already so (in the present tense).
Read or recite your positive prayer or affirmation aloud at least three times a day. The more excited and animated your spoken delivery with a happy expression and enthusiasm, the more powerful it becomes. Start looking for things to change in our favor, and they will begin to appear.
Keep refining your affirmations or positive prayers and make way for a new style of living a better life, your best life.
Music and Your Health
You know the effects music has on your emotional state. A particular song can immediately take you back in time, back to a time when life was easier, or worse, depending on the song. Music is a powerful mood enhancer. It has the power to make you happy, sad, moody, depressed, all in a moment.
So the question is,
What kind of music do you listen to?
Did you know the music you listen to not only affects your mental status but also your physical status?
Music is a powerful medium sending waves of energy that not only tantalizes the ears and brain but permeates every cell of the human body. In this regard, music can be used as a potent therapeutic modality, as effective as any drug.
As we know, drugs can soothe, potentially heal or breakdown individual physiological systems. They can enhance ones biological state or cause the end of life altogether.
If you are experiencing a sense of not being well, depressed, lethargic, experiencing physiological pain or bio mechanical deterioration, you might consider looking at the kind of music you are in the habit of listening to.
Be aware that changing the type or style of music you are listening to may not be easy as your body may have a connection to the music which maintains its level of deterioration so much that your physiology is actually dependent on it for survival. It is not unlike being addicted to any other type of powerful drug.
Don’t be surprised to find that you are addicted to particular songs or music, and if you’re contemplating a change, it can be as uncomfortable (or even painful) to embrace a new, more healthy, supportive and healing style of music that can actually create improved and sustained health, wellness and happiness.
Changing the music that you listen to temporarily can have a healing effect on both the mind and body, but just as in other treatment models, once you return to our old habits, eating, lack of exercise, improper nourishment or revert to use of certain drugs, the mind and body begin to their previous state of deterioration.
It’s the old GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out) conundrum. You, all your systems including your body, your mind and that part of you which is outside of your comprehension, often referred to as spirit or soul, everything combined can only reflect that which you put into it for nourishment.
If you are feeding yourself with continual helpings of depressing media, it is no surprise that depression begins to permeate your mind sending signals of degeneration throughout the cells of your body, causing inner physiological structures to breakdown or fail.
The same can be said for other states of mind that are experienced by heavy doses of particular types and styles of music.
And this phenomenon is not only limited to music, as it applies to the other media we expose ourselves to, also. The books and periodicals we read, the television programming and movies that we watch, etc…
Now, don’t get me wrong. I am not passing judgment or expecting to say that anything is better for you than any other thing. This is entirely up to you, it is an individual consideration. I am not condemning any type or style of media, only suggesting that you might consider pondering the idea that the media to which you expose yourself to may be reflected by your psychological and physiological state of being, particularly if you are not feeling well.
There is an awakening taking place among people who are starting to understand how our bodies reflect what we put in them. We are taking note of the types of foods that we eat, becoming more particular about ingredients and developing a preference for non-GMO-type food substances. We are developing a knowingness that certain foods are not good for us and other more natural nutrients and supplements are good for us and enhance our state of being.
I would not berate someone for eating a hot dog. In fact, I would defend your right to eat a hot dog, or live on nothing more than hot dogs, if you like.
Yes, I was in line behind the hot-dog-man at the supermarket with a basket full of 56 packs of hot dogs that were on sale. When the cashier asked if he was having a big barbeque party, he went on to discuss how it’s all that he eats for breakfast, lunch, dinner and for snacks. While it did not seem appealing to me, he was exercising his choice. Bravo (Ugh).
I believe it will not be long, and we – as a global community – will begin to develop a particular taste for a new genre of music that will enhance our state of being, promoting a state of wellbeing, happiness, good health and longevity.
Or not.
What are your thoughts?
Give What You Want
If you really desire something to be ever present in our life, then give it away.
There are many ways to get stuff, as in most areas in life, obtaining physical possession or emotional states includes a wide spectrum of possibilities but basically are obtained either by hoarding or giving.
Hoarding is fear-based promoting lack, and giving is gracious benevolence that promotes abundance.
Which sounds more appealing to you?
Fear or Gratitude
Fear
In a fear-based state of mind, the person who is acquiring any given thing, circumstance, state of mind or feeling is doing so from an energetic position of survival, and in a more aggressive campaign for any given thing, survival of the fittest. The extreme is likened to an act of war, where the goal is to conquer the enemy to obtain that which is sought.
In the battlefield of acquisition morality may be compromised in an effort to get what you want. Not unlike war-time. We raise our children not to kill. Later in life, they may find themselves in occupations where they are taught that killing is not only acceptable in certain circumstances, but if they are in a war-time occupation it becomes their job, to kill for their country.
The same is true for fear-based accumulation. To varying degrees (based on the individual) all bets are off. They are likely to do or say anything in an effort to obtain that which they seek. The more desperately they want it, the more desperate the measures they will take to get it.
You might think that this fear-based acquisition might represent only low income individuals. If so, be prepared to wrap your head around the idea that this style of acquisition permeates all income levels from the lowest to the wealthiest people on our planet.
In the fear-based system, the acquisition of that which is sought is not satisfying to the person who obtained it in this manner. While some satisfaction is obtained by getting what they wanted, it doesn’t last long, and they long for something else to get.
I am not offering any judgment on how someone acquires the stuff they want. It’s not good or bad, right or wrong, it just is what it is.
Gratitude
Then there are the people who are thankful for anything they receive and give freely with no expectations and they get everything they want in an abundant fashion, while the rest of us look on in utter amazement wondering, “How do they do it?”
They don’t work hard for anything, do not obsess over its absence, just believe they will have it and whatever it is they’re wanting finds its way to them.
They tend to be extremely generous, helping others, giving of themselves in a variety of ways to offer energetic assistance, contribute to the evolution of peace and/or a better world in some way.
Whether they are aware of it or not, they are participating in what we currently refer to as the Law of Attraction. Some people just do it naturally and the rest of us can learn how to live a life like this, although it will take some effort on our part if we are to move from fear-based acquisition to gracious abundance.
Reduced to its simplest form, I see the fear-based acquisition and gracious abundance not as good and bad, but more like the hard way or the easy way. To me it is easier to freely give, love and promote peace, kindness and a better world and enjoying all the things that come my way, than to fuss and fret about not having what I want, scrimping, saving or manipulating people or circumstances (including finances and financing) to get what I want.
If you are in the fear-based mindset, the scrimping, saving, financing sounds much more practical and easier than letting go enough to find joy in allowing what you want to come to you at the perfect time. To you, the concept of giving-and-allowing sounds impractical or ridiculous at first blush.
Think about it
This applies to all things, material things as well as emotional states.
In this respect it is true: you cannot buy love or happiness. Oh, you can achieve that state for a while via any means possible, but it does not satisfy as much as when that which you seek is obtained by giving of it freely, and receiving it in return.
What do you think?
Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People?
Ever wonder why do bad things happen to good people?
It seems like the people who would otherwise deserve to have only the best things in life, because if anyone was deserving of it, these people would be, they’re courteous, kind, loving, giving, even self-sacrificing, always more concerned about the greater good.
Yet, sure enough, when the cards of life are dealt, they appear to suffer injustices in spades. Why does it appear like that?
A common response is, “God only gives us what we can handle,” with an underlying supposition, something to the effect of, “So, God must think I am,” (or some other good person is), “stronger than Superman!” As if the hardest of times visits the most powerful and superior candidates.
In the search for truth, one might ask, “Do bad things happen to good people?”
The answer is, “Yes. Bad things happen to good people.” Therefore, it is true, bad things do happen to good people, but as much as this is true, other antithetical truths also prevail. Just as “What goes up must come down,” and, “The quickest route between two point is a straight line,” are both truth, other truths exist that are contrary to those truths also.
That being said, here are some alternative truths to consider in regards to bad things happening to good people:
- Bad things happen to all people
- Random things happen, at random times, involving random people
- Some people attract circumstances unconsciously on purpose
- Some (bad) things must occur to further a grander purpose, or lead to evolution
- Bad things are not bad
Bad things happen to all people
Negative circumstances are not respecters of persons. It doesn’t matter what kind of person you are, if you were on the maiden voyage of the Titanic, you dealt with the same circumstance as everyone else on that trip, whether you were a good person or a bad person. This includes random accidents, acts of violence and natural disasters.
Random things happen, at random times, involving random people
The common colloquialism is simply, “Shit Happens.” And indeed it does. Random things happen, that may well be part of some kind of domino or butterfly effect. Nonetheless, where such things intersect with a particular human being, could be a coincidence.
Some people attract circumstances unconsciously on purpose
According to the Law of Attraction, that which you focus on increases. That means, if you intensely focus on being wronged, you are likely to attract more being wronged. In this scenario, good people could (unbeknownst to themselves) attract more bad circumstances by focusing on their being the victim of an injustice.
Some (bad) things must occur to further a grander purpose, or lead to evolution
Sometimes in life, bad things happen to good people who can use their unfortunate experience to have empathy and offer support to others who have suffered a similar wrongness, change a paradigm (either from within themselves or even the community at large), leading to transformation or evolution and making the world a better place.
Bad things are not bad
Then there is the less popular truism, “There are no bad things.” This is the idea that all things – even if their intention was bad or to cause harm – was actually just the opposite. This is where I like to hang my hat because based on my experience all of the things I have experienced that were less than my best, wrong, full of bad intentions or meant for evil (even with the highst degree of malice and forethought) have all actually been the best things in my life.
These were the moments that forced me to change direction radically, which was painful at the time, but has always led me in another direction or furthered my personal revelation or enlightenment.