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1.05
The more difficult the task, the sweeter the victory.
It’s a cliché in a thousand different languages, on a hundred different planets. But no less true.
It’s also a good thing to remember—and to repeat as often as necessary—when frustrations pile up, when our best efforts fail, when defeat follows us like a plague.
We should be thankful there are no medals given for mediocrity. No one deserves cheers for doing “the minimum required,” or for taking “the easiest route.” Difficulty is necessary for excellence. And for a bigger payoff.
Then again, sometimes the payoff isn’t what we think. Sometimes the real victory is one more hurdle away.
Which is why so many of the rewards of all our hard work turn out to be so unsatisfying. Our trophies and certificates of merit only end up gathering dust. Even the long-awaited benefits of “the good life” can turn sour.
Because the sweeter victories come from the difficult work we do within. Like overcoming our own anger and negativity. Like learning how to be a friend. Like knowing that what you did was the right thing to do, even if it wasn’t the most popular. Or like discovering that there’s goodness and meaning in everything that happens to us.
Even in the events we once considered “defeat.”
I neither seek difficulty nor shrink from it. The choice is not whether the task is difficult, or how big the reward, but whether it is right.
1.06
One can begin to reshape the landscape with a single flower.
— SPOCK. UNIFICATION, PART II. 45245.8
As the ancient holy books say, Creation will always remain unfinished—if only because sentient beings like ourselves are essential to the “finishing” process.
But when we look around at what’s yet to be done, we can easily lose heart: Poverty, ignorance and destruction still exist on a large scale, despite education and technological “progress.” Physical and spiritual wastelands still occupy much of the galaxy, as well as the recesses of our own hearts. What difference can one person make?
(Which is exactly the excuse reeled out by those who prefer to avoid any responsibility.)
Fortunately, the ancient holy books also say that we’re not required to finish our various tasks, only to contribute to their completion. Or sometimes, if The Universe so honors us, to begin a new task and thereby inspire others to contribute to its completion.
A single flower, symbolically speaking, can be enough. In fact, planting and nurturing that one tender shoot may be far more important in the scheme of things than the wholesale transformation of the landscape. Overcoming inertia, going ahead regardless of the odds—these are the hallmarks of redemption, not the final outcome.
I refuse to let the magnitude of the task prevent me from getting started. If I am sincere, and the goal worthy, The Universe will provide help.
1.07
Sometimes you have to go in blind. That’s the exciting part.
Naturally, we’re more comfortable if we know what to expect. We feel more confident, more “in control.” But sometimes we can’t know what to expect; we don’t have enough data. Or any data. Yet we’re forced to act.
At times like this we must remember that we’re never really “blind.” We may use that term to describe how we feel at the moment. We may call ourselves “blind” because we’re not conscious of the resources that might help us. But that doesn’t mean we have no resources.
In fact the resources that often help us most are the very ones we are not conscious of, that work below the level of our awareness. For example, in critical situations where lightning-fast decisions must be made, it’s often better to trust our instincts, and not try to think things through logically. If we’re meditating regularly, if we’ve begun linking ourselves to others and to The Universe in our daily thoughts and actions—those “instincts” will come from our spiritual network, not just us.
And the “exciting part” is simply the anticipation of finding out that we weren’t blind after all; that a higher Power was seeing for us; and that sometimes it’s not a matter of knowing what to expect, but simply expecting to know when the time comes.
The Inner Voyage opens me to the inflowing of Universal Wisdom. Guidance comes as I ask for it.
1.08
The things I do for money!
Most of us have expressed the same surprise—or even horror—at what we sometimes give in trade for our standard of living.
Actually, our surprise is a healthy sign. It shows that we not only have a standard of living, but standards for making a living. And every now and then we find ourselves bumping up against them.
We shouldn’t pass off these occasions too lightly. They are opportunities to further refine our standards, to ask ourselves what we would—and what we wouldn’t—do for money. The answer can help us define Who We Are and what we believe.
Our beliefs, after all, are not mere theological “speculations.” They’re what we do. They’re the priorities we establish, the values we demonstrate by our willingness to sacrifice our time and possessions on some things, less so for others.
What often surprises us is how easily we sacrifice what are presumably “higher” values—honesty, friendship, peace of mind—in pursuit of money. Which means we value money more, we “believe” in money more. We end up “serving” money in ways not unlike many ancient cultures served their idols.
But what happened to them need not happen to us.
My first priority is to learn and do what The Universe calls me to do. The money will follow.
1.09
Confidence is faith in oneself. It can’t easily be given by another.
Most of us have less than we’d like. A few of us operate on very little. And all of us, sooner or later, will face that terrifying moment where our personal supply of it seems to have evaporated entirely.
We often talk about “confidence” in this way—as if it’s some kind of commodity we can measure and use and sometimes “run out of” like the fuel in the combustion-powered vehicles of past centuries. And yet most of us also recognize that confidence is an inner quality. A faith.
The problem is, faith in oneself doesn’t come out of the blue. We usually “earn” it by attempting new things and generally succeeding at them. And if, instead, we experience mostly failure in those attempts, then maybe it’s just as well we’re not confident since, that way, we’re less likely to go out and fail again.
On the other hand, maybe the problem is our mistaken assumption that “faith in oneself” means relying solely on one’s own resources. Or on needing to succeed.
Genuine confidence flows from our sense of being connected to resources beyond our own—or beyond anyone else’s. It’s the realization that the power which created the universe lies within us… that it nurtures us still, even when we “fail.” And sometimes because we do.
My strength lies in being aware of my connected-ness to The Universe—and through it, to others.
1.10
The real secret is, turn disadvantage into advantage.
It’s nice to be handed things on a silver platter. To have our accomplishments come easily. To enjoy the benefits that are given by birth or position. Or plain, dumb luck.
But it’s a far greater “gift” to have earned those benefits through planning and hard work; through successfully overcoming the interior and exterior obstacles that hold us back; through turning what seemed like a disadvantage into the very thing that leads to our salvation.
Of course, how to do that is one of life’s enduring questions. Because the answer is different for everybody. But everyone who succeeds does begin in the same place.
The starting point is a change in attitude. It is our decision to stop calling the world “unfair” if it doesn’t lay its riches at our feet (as it seems to do for many other people). It’s the recognition that the obstacles in our lives are really the urgings of a loving Universe to learn something essential to our spiritual progress, to win our fight against the flaws and weaknesses that impede us. It’s our realization that the person we can become after we’ve fought that battle will be far wiser, far stronger, and far more fulfilled than we could ever be without having fought it.
I accept my “disadvantages” as opportunities for growth. I recognize the obstacles in my Path as the secret gateways to a higher, stronger Self.
1.11
I prefer to confront mortality rather than hide from it.
It’s a psychological cliché to say that physicians like Dr. Bashir often seek out that profession as a way of confronting their own mortality. It’s also no less true.
Because in their daily battles against pain and injury, physicians must come to grips with just how fragile our bodies are. And how resilient. In the inevitable circumstances where a patient’s life is lost, they can’t help but face their own inevitable death.
But these are events we too should face—if not daily (or as directly), then in such a way that we stop hiding from the issue. After all, to recognize our body’s threshold for pain and injury is only prudent planning. To realize the possibility—and eventual certainty—of death is to begin deciding what we want from life.
Which often results in a radical reorganizing of priorities. Not that we should start living as if tomorrow we’ll die. It simply means living as if we have specific goals to reach for, regardless of how much time we have left.
What goal would we like to achieve if we did have only one more day? What could we hope to achieve if all we had was a week? A month? A year? Fifty years? What can wait? And what can’t we afford to put off any longer?
How precious is each remaining day in my life! How grateful I am for each new opportunity to grow, to love, to receive, and to give back even more.
The above meditations were taken from Going Boldly on Your Inner Voyage © 1999-2006, IF Books.
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