The truth of the matter is that the
overwhelming majority of people are neutral/ benign towards us. This is a fact.
I am 46 years old. This means I have been on this planet for about 17000 days.
I have encountered hundreds of thousands of people from 4 different continents
over the course of this time. The fact that I am alive and thriving, is
testament to the fact that by far the overwhelming majority of people I have
encountered have been neutral/ benign towards me. It would have taken no more
than a handful of them to overpower me and take my life. But it hasn't happened.
This is not accidental. The Design that supports life in my body and on earth
is the same Design that accounts for this experience.
Not only that -- everything from the air I breathe to the food I eat, to the
clothes and shoes I wear, the house I live in, the transport I use to get
around -- almost every single thing comes from other than me. My nourishment
comes from the earth. All manufactured things and artifacts are made by other
than me to serve me. I don't grow my own food and bring it to market. I dont
grow the cotton, weave it or sew it to wear. I have not constructed the house I
live in or made the car I am driven around in. Without the totality of the
other (which includes other people), I cannot exist.
I am
because you are. How can you be hostile to or in opposition to me?
In terms of personal trauma and bad experiences -- first of all, if we're alive
that means that there was more affirmation than negation. Just factually.
Secondly, over time (not immediately) it becomes possible to see how that which
appeared initially to be a catastrophe has helped us grow. This is the work we
have to do deliberately so we see that even in the apparent curse, there has
been and there is blessing.
This doesn't mean that we take stupid risks with ourselves. If I put my hand in
the fire, it will burn. If I jump off a cliff, I'll break my bones. This
doesn't mean existence is malevolent.
We do the work to apprehend existence correctly.
And why should we do this work?
Because living a life of fear and anxiety makes us miserable and alienated.
image with gratitude via Ozcan Erturn on facebook
