Tonight she contemplated jumping off the 18th floor. She stood out on the foggy night and stared down the misty floors leading to nothingness.
A chill ran up her spine.
She remembered the image of the man on TV who stood on the ledge while someone stuck his head out of the window and talked. Something that man said made the suicidal man change his mind and walk towards the window.
How she wished she could be rescued tonight.
She walked indoors.
The man she loved was not ready for marriage and had blocked her on social media, her heart was now broken into an unrecognisable mess. Her mobile phone was her salvation. She scrolled mindlessly, seeking connection, a reason to live.
After many calls to many cold and bland souls, she heard a voice tell her “child you are no less than the trees and the stars, you have a right to be here.“
The fog lifted. Someone cared. The tears of gratitude eased the pain, healing her.
“They had felt so much hurt that hostility was their only defense against being crushed again” – Melody Beattie
There will always be hostile people in our life who seem to find fault with everything and everyone. Perpetually angry and critical they will pick fights and drive people away from them with their confrontational and combative atitude. It’s taken me many years to understand that the battle they fight is within themselves. And I have the choice to engage in their energy or walk away. We cannot help them, we cannot heal them, but we can understand why they’ve become so hostile but if they’re not willing to see how their behaviour affects others, there is nothing anyone can do for them except pray they heal from their traumas and pray they see a little beauty and love in this world.
The mind is a clever thing it gently nudges us back to the past and we dwell in the experiencs. Or it pushes us headlong into the future, thinking about what we will do when something happens and then what if someone does something and we find ourselves in the midst of unease. That’s when a simple reminder by the Zen cards jolts us out of our time travel into this very moment. The right here, right now which is perfect and peaceful. And we learn to appreciate the present is a culmination of the past and the launch pad for the future. What we do, feel, think, say right now is all that matters, all there is.
There was this
greedy CEO of a major Corporation who received a huge salary and bonuses
based on how much the Corporation made in profit that year; the more
the Corporation made, the bigger his bonus. Over the past years he did
all he could to maximize profit, increase his bonus. He started paying
workers lower wages while laying off many of the longtime employees; he
closed local plants while opening plants in other countries where he
could pay workers even less; he cut the quality of the product while
increasing productivity requirements on those who were left; he used
every tax loophole he could to save money while moving profits overseas
and hiding assets. He thought to himself, ‘If I only had more money, I
could do so many things I have always wanted to do; I’d be so much
happier If I only had more. How can I increase the profits to the
Corporation so I can make a huge bonus at the end of this year?’ After
spending all day, into the evening, thinking of ways, it hit him –
Inversion. He would re-incorporate the company overseas in order to cut
the tax burden on Corporate profits. This would allow the Corporation to
save hundreds of millions in tax liabilities and pad his pocket with a
multi-million-dollar bonus, and the Stockholders would be happy with a
large dividend; everyone would be happy, except the workers.’ He looked
into the mirror and smiled, ‘I will have so much more money and live the
life I always wanted without all this pressure.’ He was excited,
because he would finally live a better life.”
“It was late, and
he was tired. Before going to bed he emailed several people to get the
ball rolling. As he started to fall asleep he heard the voice of the
Divine, ‘You’re such a jerk, tonight is your last night on earth. Now,
ask yourself who will get that fat bonus check?’
This is what
happens when you live your life for greed; you’re always pushing for
more things, thinking things will make happy. But all it does is make
you miss out on living, on helping others. You keep saying to yourself,
‘Only if I just had a little more I would be happier.’ Never once
realizing that a simple life is better. When you fill your life with
things, you have no room for the Divine. Dump the things and make room
for the Divine.”
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