Do You Blame The Rock?
Hi there, It’s Yoshie.
Welcome to the spirit inspired life podcast.
I want to start this podcast by sharing with you
One of my favorite stories that I have ever read …..and the story about a man who was walking down the road and tripped over a rock.
He was obviously not paying attention to where he was going but he got very mad and blamed his fall solely on the rock.
As the result of the fall, he scraped his knees and chin and both of his knees and chin were bleeding.
The very next day, as he was walking down the same road, he tripped over the same rock and scraped his knees and chin again.
He became furious and blamed the rock for being there mounted to the ground.
He also concluded that he was a very unlucky person to have the same experience twice.
On the third day, the exact same thing happened.
He was fumed with rage and kicked the rock, which hurt his toes badly.
On the fourth day, he tripped once again at the exact same location.
But this time, it was a bit different.
He didn’t blame everything, his fall and pain on the rock, but instead, he started to think about the reason why the same thing happened again and again.
He then realized it wasn’t the rock’s fault after all and that he needed to pay more attention to where he was going.
On the fifth day, he went down the same road being more cautious, but unfortunately he got distracted, tripped over the same rock again, and scraped one of his knees, only one knee this time.
On the sixth day, he went down the same road, and again, he tripped over the rock, but he didn’t get hurt at all!
He somehow learned to fall in a way that prevented his body from getting hurt!
With this he experienced a great sense of satisfaction and success.
He was in awe, for he never knew that he could learn to do the self-defense roll.
On the seventh day, he went down the same road and this time he was fully present.
He simply stopped right in front of the rock, looking at it deeply.
Strangely, he felt a great sense of appreciation toward the rock, for it taught him to live in the moment and to help acquire a skill of self-defense.
He walked around the rock, and then bowed deeply, and left the scene smiling.
What happened to this man after that?
His newly found skill ignited a strong interest in martial art which eventually led him to become an excellent Aikido teacher where he taught his students his special rolling move.
When people experience bumps in the road, tough experiences in their lives, people tend to get discouraged and choose to conclude quickly that they are either unlucky, losers, or failures.
Other times, people simply choose to blame others for their misfortune.
Some people pick themselves up again and try but fall down again.
And they eventually give up because they cannot stand making mistakes again and again.
Through those few mistakes, they somehow convince themselves strongly that “I am a loser.”
“I cannot possibly do this.”
“I am not good enough.”
“I’m not talented.”
“It’s not meant to be…”
“It’s not for me…”
We tend to be very creative and come up with numerous ideas as to why we cannot achieve what we set out to achieve and many eventually succeed in convincing themselves that we lack talent.
What about you?
Many people tend to use so much of their creative power in coming up with excuses as to why they are not able to achieve their goals and dreams.
Some choose to blame their lack of education; others blame their partner.
Some blame their financial situation; others blame their health.
Some say they don’t have enough qualifications; others blame their past lives or karma.
Many people have amazing goals and dreams such as having a harmonious relationship with their partner, perfect health, financial freedom, and perfect spiritual outlook in life.
But many people choose to give up so easily and say, “it’s not for me”…”it wasn’t meant to be…”
They quickly give up their dreams…their precious dreams that were given to their spirit.
Many want to be healthy…
I’m sure you know that there are major health concerns in the US and many easily give in to prescription drugs or surgery instead of choosing to resort to healthy diets, believing that the drugs will patch up their physical ailments when it’s widely known that 100,000 people get killed by prescriptions drugs each year in the US which figure doesn’t even include the side effects and unreported deaths caused by them.
Many quickly choose to conclude that “I meant to be sick.” and “I am unlucky and cannot do anything about it.”
How many people you know are settled with status quo when they are experiencing great difficulties on every level of their life and still saying that “it’s meant to be this way…. “
Is it really?
Is it really meant to be that we stay sick, poor, or depressed?
There are those who were born or raised in a challenging environment or circumstance.
And yet these people never gave up or gave into difficulties.
They kept their curiosity, courage, and determination to rise above their perceived limitations.
They were able to better proportionate the size of their challenges, using adversity as a motivator force and turning challenges into advantage rather than disadvantage.
One of the most courageous, inspiring individuals most of us know is Oprah Winfrey.
Her mother was 13 years old when she gave birth to Oprah. Oprah lived in extreme poverty and she raised by her grandmother and was sexually abused multiple times by the time she was 13 years old.
Even worse, she became pregnant at the age of 13 and she gave birth to a baby… but the baby was stillborn.
She was terribly devastated to the point she had to be sent to a mental institution, but luckily they didn't have enough bed for her to stay so after few days she got kicked out.
A long story short…you know the rest.
She never gave up…
Another great inspiring individual, but in the past, was Abraham Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln was one of America’s greatest leaders in the past, especially known for ending slavery in the US.
Lincoln was raised in a poor family and mostly self-educated.
He didn’t blame his parents for being poor nor did he blame his parents’ inability to send him to school.
Instead, he saw much potential within himself and took initiatives to educate himself.
He had a strong ambition to make a difference in the world despite his disadvantaged upbringing and he certainly did make a great difference in this world.
Lincoln is also known for losing eight elections before he became the sixteenth president of the United Sates and held the country together during the bloodshed of the Civil War.
Despite those defeats, losing eight elections, he never gave up.
Albert Einstein once said, “You never fail until you stop trying.”
These people, normal people just like you and I, failed over and over again and had to deal with many challenging situations.
They must have experienced countless emotional as well as physical pains …an obstacle after obstacle … just like all of us have … but they never gave up.
They chose to use their failures and mistakes as their opportunities to grow stronger.
They chose to use their failures and mistakes as motivational force.
They saw their mistakes as stepping-stones to success and mastery.
They simply trusted the power that is within themselves, the power that is much larger than themselves.
They consciously made the effort to connect with the higher power.
These incredible people strengthened their commitment and determination to express their greatness even more than before and allowed their light of God to flow and speak through them.
Some people perceive or associate ambition with power or wanting to gain power over others and that they are trying to prove to others that they are extraordinary.
Or, they may give a label “egotistical” to those who are courageous, ambitious, driven.
Mark Twain once said “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
Many great spiritual teachers and philosophers have said over and over that we are a part and one with God/All-That-Is/The One/Great Mind/ Great Spirit…
When we courageously explore and understand this concept or truth of oneness with the One…, it would be very difficult for us to say we are not extraordinary.
We are extraordinary.
You are extraordinary.
What is God? God is the Divine Creative Energy, The Eternal Source of all life, All That Is, the Supreme Mind, The Directive Intelligence behind the universe, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-pervading, the perfect embodiment of love, light, joy, knowledge, wisdom, justice, truth, and power, dwelling in everything and everyone, forever seeking expression in infinite ways.
We are all at one with our Creator and with each other and that we can never be separated.
We must then ask ourselves, ‘Who am I?’
Who are we?
Who are you?
Do you realize you have so much power within you?
You have the power to create.
You have the power to create peace.
You have the power to create total health.
You have the power to be love.
You have the power to create a sense of oneness within any community.
You have the power to create a loving environment where all our brothers and sisters can prosper…
We each have so much power within us but many of us haven’t yet realized this simple truth or are unconsciously using the power to work against us.
If we have so much power, then why so many people are sick, broke, and unhappy?
We have to understand energy.
Everything is energy and energy has its attraction force.
Our thoughts are energies. Your emotion is energy whether you can see it or not.
Just like radio waves…they are there even though we are unable to see them with our physical eyes.
We also have a brilliant ability to focus.
With our focus, using our thoughts and emotions, we attract certain people and create events in our life.
Just like an apple attracted to the ground when you let it go…we cannot see the force in between but it’s there.
Every tangible and intangible object has energy and frequency.
Like attracts like.
What you focus on with your energy will come into your life.
Some people say “I don’t have enough …” As you continue to hold on to the story, then that’s what you will continue to see and create.
We have to go back to the definition of God.
Is God poor?
Is God lack, jealousy, or limited?
When you accept God as abundant, unlimited source of prosperity, and begin to place our trust and mind there, you start moving in a different direction that will bring joy and prosperity into your life.
But so many of us are told “it’s just the way it is….” Or “Money is evil”.
But money is just energy…it’s a medium of exchange.
This energy can be used to feed and serve our family.
This energy can be used to feed many hungry children.
This energy can be used to educate many children and others.
Is there any evil in wanting financial prosperity so that you can share it with others in need?
When you keep saying that money is evil or rich people are greedy, you naturally cut the flow of financial prosperity because your energy is on disapproval, jealousy, and condemnation rather than God which is abundant and prosperous.
We are meant to be prosperous.
You are meant to be prosperous.
You are meant to be successful.
You are mean to be joyous.
And they are within you all along.
They have always been there for you…inside you.
But the limiting beliefs that we have inherited from others are blocking the truth from penetrating into our conscious awareness.
Is God poor and sick?
Does God give up easily?
Is God limited in any way?
No.
And we are children of God.
Every day we have many choices.
We can choose to be prosperous or we can choose to be jealous or hateful.
You can choose to nurture the energy of hate or jealousy.
Or, you can choose to be joyous and peaceful.
You are responsible not only for your actions but your thoughts and emotions.
Your thoughts and emotions affect your actions and your actions affect your environment.
Do we choose to entertain hateful energy in our mind or do we choose to think a thought of peace, love, prosperity, and harmony?
A choice that we make in every moment pre-paves our future path.
We must ask ourselves, ‘do I want to have joyous experiences in the future?’
If the answer is yes, then we must choose joyous thoughts now and feel joyous now because how we are feeling and thinking at this moment determine your future creation and it has to start NOW!
You can take one step at a time, a small positive step to change your life and your world.
As quickly as you shift your mind from lack, doubts, and fears, to the energy of Great Creative Mind, Great Spirit, God, the One, or All-That-Is, which is harmony, peace, prosperity and love, we cannot fail.
When our mind is placed upon All-That Is…when our mind is focused on the Great Creative Mind, naturally our thoughts and actions are influenced by its power, and naturally our creation is affected by its energy in a profoundly positive way.
And this focus, ambition, the link with the Great Spirit, the great creative power, you can turn one kind of ego “Edging God Out” into the other kind of ego “Execute God’s Order” and bring more love, joy, prosperity, and light into the world.
