Pathwalking 37
There is more than enough love, power, happiness and joy for everyone. These things are in abundance, even though they are all-too-often denied.
All of these are part of why one chooses Pathwalking. I know that I, personally, want more love, empowerment, happiness and joy in my life. And choosing my own path helps bring me that every day.
Of course it is not that simple, or that easy. In especial in a world where the messages are all about lack and limitation. In 40 years, fossil fuels will run out. There are insufficient jobs for everyone. I can’t pay you more because we lack the money. Only one person can lead us, and his ideas dominate our way. There is not enough. We’re running out.
We are constantly bombarded by these messages. We are constantly facing crisis of lack and limits. And those in power love to emphasize these in order to grasp MORE power, more control; whether in business, religion, politics…its hard not to see it, though they try to veil it in colorful disguises.
Seeing lack and limitation reduces choice. You cannot have ‘x’, you must accept ‘y’. The more we accept this, the more it becomes dominant in our lives.
Now I won’t deny that there ARE some things we can’t choose. But they are fewer and fewer than you might think. Many of these things are material. I don’t get paid enough money to vacation in Hawaii. I can’t buy that painting I love. I cannot drive that car because I can’t afford the insurance or car payments. I am not attractive enough for that person.
We often judge based on appearances, based on the material. We look at the clothes we wear, the jobs we hold, the cars we drive, the people we associate with, and we assess people on that. I don’t know if that is human nature, or a culturally learned behavior. What I do know is that we develop a false sense of what matters, and that in turn leads us down paths that may not be of our own choosing.
Pathwalking is about the things we CAN choose. We can choose to love, we can choose to empower ourselves, we can choose things that make us happy and joyful. And it is important to note that these things are in abundance, and can NEVER run out.
I believe that in choosing my own path, I can eventually find aspects of the material things I desire. I believe that if I am happy, if I am empowered and joyful and loving, I can draw the material through the immaterial. But this has several meanings, and is not to be taken literally.
As I explore Pathwalking and its meaning, I have come to see greater importance in these abundant things, and less in the material. Sure, I want the car, the home, the people of my choosing in my life. But am I happy with what I have now? Am I grateful for the things that are already part of my existence? Do I make that known?
Realizing the abundance of these immaterial things is important because they are things that make us grateful. And gratitude draws more things for us to be grateful for. Gratitude leads to abundance.
Yoda said, “Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering.” What is its opposite? How about this – Gratitude leads to happiness, happiness leads to love, love leads to abundance. Does that strike you as worthwhile as much as it strikes me?
Pathwalking is taking this literally, I think. If Pathwalking is about choice and empowerment, does that not lead us to gratitude, then happiness, then love, then abundance? If, as I postulate, this is so, then the reason I share this entire notion is because in being abundant, I can show this is right for everyone.
How we all walk the path will differ. We make different choices, we make different decisions, we place different emphasis on what empowerment means. But the goal, the real goal is the same – we want to be happy. We want to know that we have made choices that have brought us here. There is a satisfaction Pathwalking creates in the abundance it can open us up to.
I recognize this might come across as lofty and idealistic. Perhaps it even strikes you as hokey. I don’t ask anyone to think as I do, or to believe in all the things I believe in. All I DO ask is that we open ourselves to possibility. If more people do that, I believe, we will live better, happier, more abundant and productive lives.
I suppose, perhaps, NOT choosing your own Path, and living in ignorance could have a certain blissfulness to it. It often seems, when I read the news, that this is how many people live their lives. And if that is in fact what they choose, it is what it is. But I still have to wonder – if more people wore cognizant of their ability to make choices, would they take more empowerment and be more selfless?
Doesn’t everyone truly want happiness, love, and abundance for themselves?
This is the thirty-seventh 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. Thank you for joining me.
Follow me here!
