"You have brought to this life all the knowledge and wisdom your soul has gathered since it's inception. Do not limit self with life's perceptions. Know whatever your inner voice tells you, you can do. Also know there will always be the means to do it. Seek and you shall find. Ask, and it shall be yours" Robin Taylor, Soul In My Shoes
I found the quote above at Fi's blog, Inspiration to Dream. When I read it yesterday I thought, 'oh yes. This is exactly what I needed to be reminded of today -- Do not limit self with life's perceptions.'
My friend Dave shared a quote from a psychologist he knew, "There is no such thing as love, only proof of love." He'd originally shared this with me months ago, but it wasn't until Saturday when we met for a coffee and he shared it again that it's meaning truly resonated.
I think the same could be said of anger, hatred, joy; of all emotions. There is not such thing as..., only proof of....
The emotions themselves are not 'tangible things', they are feelings, expressions of our feelings, physical manifestations of something inside seeking release.
What I do, what I say, how I am with you or her or him or them are expressions of 'my love', they are proof I care. Which doesn't mean, I don't love you, when I'm being grumpy and growly, it simply means, I'm not expressing the proof of my love, but rather the proof of my emotion in the moment.
It's like God. The only proof I have that God exists is the miracle of life all around me -- in all its myriad beautiful, shocking and sometimes heartbreaking expressions. I believe God exists -- and therefore, He exists.
Which is why, on those mornings when I awaken with a gloomy disposition of the world, it is vital I not limit my experience of life through my perceptions of what colour the sky is, or isn't that day in my head. Because, the only proof I have that I am in a 'foul' mood, is in my perceptions of life.
Okay, so I'm not sure this one is working for me -- but I'm letting myself sit with it. As I said to my friend Dave the other day, sometimes, there's a thought, an 'AHA!' lurking, creeping through the ether that just hasn't yet come into clear view yet. No matter how I push and prod at it, its light is just beyond the horizon of my thinking. My job is to take my attention off of 'making' the thought clear. My job is to keep my attention on clear thinking. To not let my perceptions of 'what is' be limited by my experience of 'what is'.
3 comments:
Interesting concept and certainly thought-provoking.
Perception, often being wrong and frequently hurtful, is not necessarily "proof" of anything except a person's view or perspective of things, which may be that person's reality but not yours or mine or anyone else's. Proof wants facts, demonstrations of truthfulness, usually hard to come by where emotions are concerned.
It's hard for me to wrap my head around too. I agree that thoughts and feelings are intangible and since they come and go, I don't want to base my understanding of the world on them. So often how I feel one day is different from the next, and nothing in essentials has changed!
How often I misperceive another person's attitude toward me, based on their facial expression or subtle behavior, when it is my own filters that are projecting it, not their own thoughts or feelings at all.
I'm stunned by the profound wisdom here. It all serves as testimony to the truth of Jesus' words, "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." I'm SO grateful to catch this post.
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