Tuesday, February 20, 2007

I'm Not Skeptical About My Destiny!


I was rather amused by the commotion that was caused by my messenger this weekend. I did just happen to tune into the Oprah Winfrey Show (as I often do) last Friday, while holding a check for the rest of my separation benefit (that’s right, there was more), and about to have an anxiety attack due to the overwhelming feeling that I would be made to pay some day soon. Her guests were talking about The Secret by Jack Canfield. I don’t really recall exactly what it was they were saying at that moment, but it brought me back from the depths.

God, or the Universe, or whatever powers that may be, truly want us to live our lives authentically, and those powers will make available any and all means to get us there. Life isn’t supposed to be about beating your head against walls, or enduring endless pain and disappointment. Life is supposed to be meaningful. Instead of pain, we are meant to know joy.

Dr. Wayne W. Dyer calls it The Power of Intention. He’s a guy who does a program for PBS during their pledge-a-thon in March who gives a similar spiel. It goes something like this: If you want something in your life, just ask for it, expect it, believe you are intended for it, and it will come to you. The biggest part of it is to know you have a right to be your authentic self. If you are willing to send the energy of yourself out into the universe, your desires will be met.

The authors of The Secret also believe that we just need to ask. But before we ask, we need to know what is truly in our hearts. They say one way to figure that out is to write down what we know we don’t want in our lives, then, ask for the opposite. That does seem a little too superficial to me, however, because, the hardest thing to do is to learn who you are authentically meant to be.

I still have to finish the Self Matters work I started (if anyone was keeping track). I have a feeling Dr. Phil gets you close to understanding your authentic self. Before you can tune into who you really are, you have to be quiet enough to listen. The answers are all there. Even for those skeptics who like to chide people who believe in something that cannot be scientifically proven.

Of course, the best way to find your authenticity is to ask. As long as you are moving toward your destiny, and believing that you actually have a destiny, you will find yourself.

Another way to see it is like this:


“Think of this: a car driving through the night, the headlights only go a
hundred to two hundred feet forward. And you can make it all the way from
California to New York driving through the dark 'cause all you have to see is
the next two hundred feet. That's how life tends to unfold before us. If we just
trust that the next 200 feet will unfold after that and the next 200 feet will
...your life will keep unfolding and it will eventually get you to the
destination.” -Jack Canfield (The Secret)

Now I can understand how someone who calls themself skeptical might hear this and think it is all hogwash. I realize that it can be interpreted to mean that all you have to do is sit around and wait. It isn’t hard to see how someone can make the leap to the idea that it is the key to hopeful laziness.

I understand it a little differently. When I heard it, I immediately understood how I don’t have to see the end. I only have to see those 200 feet. I only have to live in this moment. As long as I am traveling down my path of intention, I will meet my authentic goals. We tend to move toward what we are looking at. If you look to the left, your body will veer to the left. Look to the right, and once again, you are off track. Look toward your goal, and you will reach it.

It’s a long life, and a long distance to travel. Taking a wrong exit now and then is inevitable. With faith, it isn’t hard to get back on track. Sometimes a detour breaks the monotony. It isn’t always bad to stop for a rest.

Why am I so sure this is real? When Zach and I were in Oregon, we drove to Portland. It was night, and we didn’t have a plan. We just wanted to see the big city. We never left the freeway system, and it was a Friday night, so things were hopping. I would take which ever path seemed interesting or maybe less threatening to me.

As you can imagine, it wasn’t long until I realized I was lost. I had no idea where I was or where I was heading. I just kept driving. I took three separate exits based on nothing more than intuition. I just kept driving. I just kept believing I would find my way. I saw an exit coming up, and nearly took it, but at the last minute I decided not to. Two miles later there was a road sign that said we were actually on the road back to Mt. Hood!

My life is like that. I don’t really get lost. Sometimes I look so far to one side that I actually go backwards, but I always get turned back in the right direction.

I believe. I believe that I am moving toward authenticity. I believe that someday, I will achieve my goal to make a difference. What a journey it’s been so far. I expect nothing less from the future. As a matter of fact, I expect so much more from my future, because I know I can.

No, I don’t need a scientific study to know it’s real.

4 comments:

  1. "What we believe to be the truth is more important than the truth itself." -D.M. Hockman

    I am a skeptic, Cheri, not to mention a bit of a cynic. But, I know for a fact that just keeping my focus on my goal and my concern on the tasks directly ahead of me is the only way I can make it through life. Granted, sometimes I still get focused on the wrong things, but all I can do is what today brings me. When the day is done, it's done. Tomorrow, I'll have to deal with tomorrow's "stuff". One day at a time, and I can make it through a lifetime.

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  2. When I have mentioned skeptics in my blogs, I have typically been referring to a group of atheistic professor/scientists who are all members of the skeptics circle (a blogging group). I'm afraid to link to them because they're mean. So I hope you haven't lumped yourself in with those folks when I've mentioned them in the past.

    As for one day at a time, that is all we have for certain. The one moment we exist in is the only thing that is real. But I like the idea of being able to direct my journey toward a meaniful goal.

    Unlike THOSE skeptics, I do feel life must have a special meaning. I do believe that too many "coincedences" must be evidence of a greater purpose. Science can explain everything, scientists cannot.

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  3. Nope, not familiar with those folks at all. I meant skeptic in the oldest sense of "I don't believe everything I hear or read" and "if it's too good to be true, it probably is".

    I'm not entirely sure that science, in its current form, can explain everything. I don't think science will ever explain the mysteries of the human heart, poetry or why moonpies taste so darn good when they're made from such individually vile things. But, that's okay with me. I don't need all the answers. And, sometimes, the question itself is the answer. (Oh, I should write that down, it sounded rather good, didn't it?)

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  4. I had to look up moonpies to see what they were. It says they are graham crackers filled with marshmallow filling, dipped in chocolate. Which of those things are vile?

    Yes, you should write it down. I might too!

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