The hero in me honors the hero in you

As a society, we honor and revere people who do extra-ordinary things. Life saving, death defying, super human things. We put these people, these skilled and amazing beings, up on pedestals and we sometimes allow ourselves to feel small because we are not stronger than a speeding bullet or richer than Neptune.

But the thing is, these heroes, these amazing beings, aren't any more awesome than you or me. They are simply being themselves to the best of their ability. They are really good at what they've chosen to do - yes, totally. And they work very hard at what they do. But still, the things we consider heroic or awesome are merely byproducts of them being themselves 100%.

I am not saying this to denigrate the accomplishments of our heroes, corporeal and fictional. I am saying this to expand our awareness of ourselves.

We are all heroes.

Every day, we get out of bed. Every day we live. Every day, we go about our business. And we smile at our friends, and we help strangers, and we toil and we think and we talk and we connect or we don't as we feel able. Every day we spend time and thought and effort. Every day, we each are ourselves to the best of our ability.

Every day, we are heroes. Not "Ordinary heroes". Not "super heroes". Just heroes. Because sweeping the sidewalk with care is just as important as pulling puppies from burning buildings. And helping a customer find a book is as life-altering as building a school in a war torn country.

Because when we are ourselves, and we do the best we can, we become shiny. We become confident. We walk with knowledge of power. And we inspire that powerful walk in others. We awaken the confidence. We spark the shiny. We validate the hero in each other.

Every day, we change the lives of every one we connect with. Every day! We smile where there wasn't a smile before, or we cry where there were no tears.

Every day, we move and act and choose and believe or not, and we change the world.

Every day we are heroes.

Every day, you are a hero. Just by being you. And the more you you are, the more you do what you do and be what you be, the more heroic you become.

And so do I.

The hero in me honors the hero in you. Thank you, for choosing to save the world today!

-Lila

Enlightenment is Awesome - Give it up!

I have come to the conclusion that human beings are naturally hoarders. We live to possess - things, experiences, people. We judge ourselves by the accumulation of skills, friends, money, and objects.

Memories.

Choices.

Mistakes.

Dramas.

We hoard our dramas. We collect negative outcomes and brood over oppressive scenarios. We linger lovingly over the ills and sorrows and downswings.

And further, we throw down these experiences like cards in a poker game. I see your sprained ankle and I raise you a compound fracture. We revel in our collections of broken dreams.

And then we go home and we sit up into the dark of the night and we wonder why our lives suck. And we fret about more future problems. And we console ourselves that at least our collection does not include dictators, or abuse, or homelessness, or whatever condition is actually worse than our own. And we convince ourselves that we are happy with our collection of experiences, because we are better off than someone else.

Now, we know, most of us, because many successful people have said it, that the real key to happiness, to a non-sucky life, is to let go of this collection. To free ourselves of the dragging weight of past patterns; to revel in the awesomeness of the moment; to eradicate the grim possibilities of the future based on current difficult circumstances. To BELIEVE.

But how does one let go? Let be? Release?

Is it even possible, for most humans? Because our natural inclination is to gather. To claim. To possess. To use.

These are not bad traits. These traits are what have allowed us, as a species, to thrive.We use what is around us. We gather and create. We claim, and by claiming something, we connect with it, we care about it. We love it. And that love drives us. So we come to love, to connect with anything we consider ours. Including debt, hate, fear, pain, and future tragedies.

And just letting them go, no matter how painful they are, seems wasteful. Or even harmful to others. Because we know those possibilities exist - so if we just let them fly into the wind, will they land on someone else, some innocent? Better to just keep them, and deal with them.

Well, I believe there is another way.

I believe, actually, that this is where the connection with something more expansive than ourselves is important.

Because if you believe in a God, Goddess, Spirit, the Universe, the Divine, or a pantheon or reality or collective that is expansive enough to encompass the whole of the world, omnipotent enough to be aware of every falling dove, connected enough to be constantly present, strong enough to accept each and every one of us - if you believe in a Greatness, then you have a way to get rid of your hoard of pain.

You can give it up. Hand it over. Place it into the care of the Great Awareness.

Obviously, this immense Being (who is Omnipotent and Omnipresent, and has been around since the beginning of our collective thoughts) is capable of handling anything. Has experienced all of it already. In fact, cannot be surprised by any possibility. And cannot be eradicated by it either.

Obviously, this is no young innocent, wandering blithely through the world. This is the Universe! Obviously, having already experienced all of the atrocities and joys in the entire world, this Awareness can handle any of the crap we have gone through, or fear to go through.

And with all of the horrors, the Spirit has experienced ALL of the joys to balance.

And if you believe, as I do, that we are part of the Divine, that means whatever we experience, fear, love, feel and be and do is felt and done by the Divine as well.

So really, we're just giving to God what She already has.

So give it up. Hand it over. Let the Universe carry the burdens. It is big and strong. It has survived everything. It still creates beauty. The sun still rises. The rainbows still come out and the birds still sing.

And we can always take it back - the pain, the horror, the past, the future - if we really want.

But I can tell you from experience, when you give it up, you realize how little you needed it in the first place. Because when you GIVE, you have room for new things to come into play. You have room to breathe and expand and allow.

You have room to RECEIVE.

Give up the fear. And see what flows gently, softly, quietly in to take it's place.

I hope you have a great day!
-Lila