Deathbed regrets

To live your life through programming and recycling the drama; and maybe if you’re really lucky, on your deathbed, you’ll wake-up. On your deathbed, you look at it and say, “Boy, if only I hadn’t let this person, or this career, or these obligations, or this disease, or this lifestyle, or you fill in the blank. If only I hadn’t let them rule my life.

This process that I’m talking about does take courage. It really does. It takes heroics in some cases. But the interesting thing is, is that you have courage. You have heroics in you. We all do. And ordinary people, when they’re faced with the big trial, the big challenges, the big losses, the big moral dilemmas, they find out what kind of courage they have. And it’s often through crisis and only through tragedy that we get to find that out. What I’m talking about is to realize that consciously, and drawing on it consciously. And, it does take that kind of courage. Do you know what else it takes? It takes suffering too.

The interesting thing about suffering is that it doesn’t hurt. It’s like God said in Romans 8:18, “For I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”  Sure life may include suffering, but knowing this, we can dance through it. That’s the interesting thing about suffering—when you really turn and look at it, suffering doesn’t hurt. It doesn’t even hurt.

I think great line by Herman Hesse, “…love your suffering. Do not resist it, do not flee from it. It is your aversion that hurts, nothing else.” And again, what the alternative to suffering? More drama, recycling, more screwing it up and fixing it, and more neurosis.

I think of another great line from Carl Jung--Neurosis is always a substitute for legitimate suffering. How’s that! That’s what they are. Legitimate suffering takes you somewhere. Suffering is pain with movement, pain with meaning and neurosis is a substitute for that. That’s why a lot of us are neurotic. But, it’s worth it.

I talk a lot about pain and suffering. I get a little tired of it myself, if you want to know the truth. And, what the other part of that is, is that there’s a lot of joy out there. You know, it can be a really great life.

When you’re moving in the direction of who you are, you realize that. You’re alive, you’re not tired, you’re not muddle-headed in the day. You don’t need a cup of coffee in the morning to wake up. In fact, you’re blown away by the amount of energy you have. You work is easier and you are blown away at how good at it you are. And, as you are unfolding yourself, you’re connecting with various parts of yourself; you’re blown away at who you are! You’re really great. What a wonderful revelation that is.