Pathwalking 149
How do you remain optimistic and focused on the path in the face of injustice?
When you see that the world seems to be going mad, and the bliss of ignorance seems to be reigning supreme, how do you keep at it?
The short answer is – you simply do. You have a path. You have made a choice. Keep at it.
The longer answer is – some days it feels as though nothing you do will matter. You watch the struggles of friends and families and even perfect strangers across the world, and you can easily begin to feel defeated and overwhelmed.
The important thing is to remember that Pathwalking is about only you. This is about your choices and your decisions, and the life you are working on creating for yourself.
I created this notion for me, but I am sharing it because I believe it is larger than I am. This idea that we can live our lives and be in control, rather than letting life live us and having no choices is not new by any stretch of the imagination. Others have shared this idea in different packaging, often much slicker than mine and sold at a premium. However you view it, one of the hardest things to keep in mind is that you cannot do anything about anyone else’s path.
We are dominated by largely disturbing news. Our so-called leaders are much more fond of ruling through fear, more often overblown concepts of only slightly problematic issues, than effective problem-solving governance. Our leaders prefer us ignorant and afraid because it makes us better followers.
Pathwalking is about the individual struggle to control my own destiny. I do not want some smarmy politician or some fanatical religious zealot or anyone else for that matter to be choosing my life for me. I also believe that I can have a pretty amazing life full of wonder and excitement when I do this. My ideas made manifest through my thoughts, my feelings and my actions.
This past week or so has been a reminder of how influential outside forces can be. I have been witness to situations that have caused me to be disappointed in people, both as individuals and as a society, on a personal and a philosophical level.
I have to remind myself that while I share Pathwalking with the world, I cannot expect anything more than for people to join me on this journey, and take their own path. As much as I talk about the dangers of outside influences I want to BE one. Even though that would, I believe, be a positive influence, I am still striving for something that I can’t actually have any control over, and that is dangerous.
Part my chosen path is to share this idea, to help you to see paths and make decisions about choosing them. I struggle with this, as I share regularly, but persevere. I have had many compliments about the work I am doing, and the ideas I share. And yet part of what I want to accomplish is to be someone people look to in order to lead. The issue this causes is that I get disappointed and forget the importance of not taking things personally when I read the news and see the backlash against free thinking and it gets to me.
I am one man. I cannot influence anyone else, I cannot choose another’s path. I have to live MY life, for myself, and I can only control my own thoughts, emotions and actions. I cannot do more than share the concepts and ideas with you, I cannot make you take them into your life and share them with others and thus spread the concept further.
I have to remember that Pathwalking is an idea that everyone everywhere can use. I can share the sense of empowerment it enables, I can show how manifestation is possible and that we can make our lives better. I can only control how I feel, and as such I need to do a better job.
I am letting negative outside influences effect my emotions. I am allowing my feelings of disappointment overwhelm my ability to focus on positive feelings, and that is in turn making me feel even more frustrated. I have to take a step back, take a breath, and take back control.
My path is not yours. Your path is not mine. I alone have the power to choose for me, nobody else can do that. When I began to take this journey I found that I am a more well-adjusted, overall happier and more mentally fit person when I choose my own way. I have to remember that, and I have to take a deep breath, and alter my focus.
I cannot ignore what is happening outside of me. Nor, frankly, should I. But I can choose how much or how little I can let things influence my day, influence my thinking, and I can choose how this makes me feel. Breathe deep, slow down, think it through, and while still acknowledging the things that make me feel bad, do not absorb them into myself.
Easier said than done. But it is up to me to decide, and up to me to choose how I let the world outside of myself influence my own life. I would rather take control of my emotions than let the world harden, upset, and defeat me. I am making the choices.
Do you control your feelings, or do your feelings control you?
This is the one-hundred forty ninth entry in my series. These weekly posts are specifically about walking along the path of life, and my desire to make a difference in this world along the way. Feel free to re-blog and share. Thank you for joining me.
The first fifty-two weeks (Year One) of installments of Pathwalking is available in print and for your Kindle.
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