Don’t take the sunshine for granted

“Nothing speeds us on the journey like happy acceptance of the journey; nothing slows us down like discontent with its progress.” 

– Allen Watson

I just finished reading a short book by Mr. Watson this week and he threw that line in there in the final chapter and it really struck me as a perfect summary of the book and the journey itself. The whole point is to ‘Be A Happy Learner.’ That’s it really. Be happy with learning and developing in Love, Acceptance and Forgiveness. Be happy in hearing that guiding voice speak to you more than that of the ego. Be happy with the day that you have to learn something new. Maybe today is the day that all the lights come on and everything is revealed to you. Maybe it isn’t. And if it isn’t; then so what?

One of the main points Watson made in this particular piece was that everyone who has made the decision to seek spiritual development/growth has already passed a major point on the road. Just by making the decision to go on this journey you’ve already made so much progress because it means that you realize that your current situation, the world as you see it, isn’t right. You realize that there is an ultimate destination of being one with God and one with all of creation and that through acceptance of love and giving of love that you will one day make it there. What Watson points out is that now (after starting the journey) you stand at a fork in the road. One path leads you to oneness with God. The other path is the one you were already on; the ego’s path. That one will ultimately bring you right back to this same spot on the road; it just depends on how long you want to suffer the journey again. One path is to reside with God’s voice, the other the Ego’s.

This is the second major decision that you have to make. First, choose to start the journey; second which path do you decide to take? If you choose the ego’s then nothing lost nothing gained, you just continue on as things have always been. Your life will continue in suffering and eventually you will be lead to this decision again. But, if you choose the path of Love, the one that is lit by the voice of God and ends with Him, then your journey will be long; but rewarding.

However, just because it is long and sometimes frustrating, does not mean that it is not a happy journey. The frustration is just the ego’s last attempts to slow your progress. The happiness is in being surrounded by love and freeing yourself from the bonds of guilt through forgiveness. Every now and then you just have to stop and see the light around you in those that you meet every day and realize that it has been there all along. This light serves as lamp posts on the road you travel and every new lesson brightens the path in front of you.

One other point that I’d like to mention in this post dear reader is on the topic of certainty. I am certain where this journey ends and that is all that I really need. And, if you are certain of the end of the journey; then there is no point in getting frustrated with the delays on the road.

That one simple lesson has removed tons of weight from my mind. Just knowing that the frustration is not needed. It’s as if I’m waiting in line at the grocery store and the old lady and her checkbook are at the front and then there’s a man with fifty coupons and then me. I could get frustrated. But, in the end I know that I will have to wait and in the end I know that I will get to the front and do my checkout. I can get frustrated and build anger and stress or I can… what? Read a magazine, text a friend, whatever. The point is dear reader, while we are traveling down this road there are going to be delays. There are going to be hard lessons, there are going to be distractions, but there is no reason to let them frustrate us because we are certain of the end of the journey. If that’s not enough to make you happy, I don’t know what is.

Every frustration, every doubt, every delay is just another lesson to be learned. Letting hold ups produce doubt is fuel for the ego and not allowing the guiding voice of the spirit show us the lesson to be learned. In the end God will make the final step for us. Until then we all just need to be happy students free of frustrations and happily accepting the journey as it comes.

Until next time dear reader.