A River's Wisdom

“Life is like a river, never ceasing as it flows” – Garth Brooks

Many of you have probably seen a river hundreds if not thousands of times in your life and never thought twice about the wisdom that an ongoing body of water can possess… I say this because for the longest time I didn’t take a closer look at its value either.

Recently I had to spend quite a while near the seven bends of the Shenandoah River, one of America’s most iconic bodies of water. This area of America is often referred to as “God’s Country.” That title has always made me laugh because it’s labeling one area of the world more sacred and more essential than another, which to me couldn’t be any farther from the truth. Every inch of space on this planet is as important to the life forms inhabiting it as every other inch; but that’s another topic for another day.

For the purpose of this blog I’m more concerned with relaying the importance of looking at the wisdom and underlying truth that a river presents all those who choose to take notice.

A river is made by other, smaller bodies of water (tributaries) flowing downstream into a larger body of water, a river. Then this body of water carries itself towards its inevitable end never ceasing as it flows. A river represents much of what life is about, and carries with its waters secrets for living a fuller life as old as the river itself.

Life is like a river whose waters continually flow along both banks of existence that makes up the barriers for its life. Effortlessly the water moves onward towards a predetermined goal yet unknown to the water as it flows. One bank represents all of the things we as people deem good and just in life and all of life’s potential. The opposite bank represents exactly the opposite, life’s negatives. In no point of the river’s journey does its body of water not touch both sides, simultaneously, all the while remaining unaffected by the twists and turns of its present course. The river continues towards its goal with renewing energy at every new bend.

So you see, at a closer examination a river serves as a tool for wisdom, a voice for knowledge, and an outlet for energy. The river can serve as a means for transportation, as a source of life-giving nutrients and a joy for recreation. The river is multi-faceted and multi-dimensional, similar to the characteristics that make up a human.

Learn from the river and understand the knowledge it possesses and your life in return will take on a whole new meaning and a lesser degree of difficulty. Stay your course and remain focused on being unaffected by the twists and turns on the road of life ahead of you. Like a river, in the end, we just wind our way into a new, larger body, that’s yet still consistent with what we were made of the whole time the journey was taking place.

Peace and love,
Mason

Give to Receive

“Who we choose to be in the darkness makes all the difference in the world to who we can be in the light.”

I was reminded recently about a key fact about life that I seem to have overlooked lately: Love is giving to others what we desire for our self.

Today was one of those days when nothing seemed to fit. We all have those days, or weeks, or months where we feel nothing goes our way. When we go through these tough times we often look to others with hidden expectations for them to say or do something to bring us out of this funk. We forget that true love means not expecting something burdensome from someone else, but instead pouring ourselves and our resources out and into someone else. True love doesn’t look to others for some form of completeness. We shouldn’t look to gain from someone; instead we should try to love that person by giving them all we have to offer. Never look to prosper from another, look instead to give, for the act of giving means we had that which we desired to gain from another the entire time.

If you love someone or something, look not to receive but decide to give unconditionally.

Society teaches us that the “I” is better than the “We”- but the truth is, if there wasn’t a “We”, the “I” wouldn’t be possible. The stronger the “we” the stronger the “I” can be.

Everyone is connected in beautiful and mystical ways; we’re also connected at a very cellular level as well. We may all appear to be singular in form but it’s in our uncommonness we find that common ground is all we really share.

Try not to be a victim of comfort or self-indulgence, because in looking only to one’s self for the gain we miss that true personal growth can only be found in helping others to grow.

A universal truth that everyone should think about is this: for us to have what we want and for us to be a complete being, we must strive to give others the ability to be complete.

This is a tough dichotomy that takes some meditation to grasp, but once you’re able to wrap your mind around it you’ll never be the same again.

Together we are the drum that makes collective heartbeat sound, our purpose is to evolve as a culture and to spread a progressive, all inclusive love.

The old mindset that individuality is the most important thing needs to be replaced with the knowledge that together, people give the opportunity for the singular person to have the individuality they crave. The “I” is contingent and eternally connected to the “We”.

We live in a very “me” based society, but true growth as a person or the advancement of a culture only has the space for headroom when people come together as a collective unit and share a collective mindset towards a common goal. You can only be the best “me” when we choose to give others, through shared and loving experience, the power and ability to choose for themselves who they want to be.

Advancement is only done by asking one’s self one question, in every situation: Am I helping this person by building into them or am I looking to gain something from them in return. The very act of giving of yourself shows the universe that yes in fact, you already have what it is you think you need. Completeness and individuality are essential if we hope to live up to our potential, but our potential stays out of reach until we realize it’s only by helping others be who they want to be that we truly realize we were the person we wanted to be the whole time.

A very wise person who happened to live about 2000 years ago said “give and you shall receive, knock and the door shall be opened.” If we hope to receive what’s behind the door it only stands to reason that the act of giving leads our hands to first knock at the door.

Truth Compels US

“The highest truth in life is that which compels you”

Throughout life we are met with a wide variety of other people’s views and opinions as to what we should believe or to the extent of how we should live our lives.

As a young person I grew up in an atmosphere that accentuated the necessity for church and the salvation that it promised. As a teenager I attended and all boys, Southern Baptist style military school where our attendance to the three chapel services a week were mandatory. Needless to say, religion was pushed on me from an early age and reinforced throughout my adolescence. Then I got to college and I suddenly had the unmistakable gift of freedom, the freedom to choose where I go, what I do, and for how long.

It wasn’t until my junior year of college that I decided to take a long look at what I believed and why I believed it. Over the course of the next two years I allowed myself to be open to any number of possibilities for our existence and the purpose for our life. I allowed myself to question the validity of everything; I dedicated my life to the pursuit of finding the TRUTH about life and the meaning for our being part of it.

I learned much about myself in the process: I learned I had a habit of judging other people based solely on the grounds of archaic expectations that I had due to a life of listening to other people’s view of the world. I learned it wasn’t as important to know all the answers as it was to be asking all of the questions. I learned there’s only one ultimate truth in reality- LOVE is all there is and yet even love is dependent upon its opposite for definition. I learned that there’s more than one way to connect with God and find meaning for our life. I came to the realization that everyone, everywhere, is connected and not only to one another but to their surroundings as well. Most importantly I discovered that in order to be the person you want to be in life and to be able to have the impact you desire, you had to first understand deep-down in your core what you believed and why. The second part of that discovery came in the form of not only knowing who I am and what I believe but understanding from that, that everyone has their own path to walk and it’s not my place to interfere with the steps they take. My life can only be an example for others to follow and my words can only be a catalyst for other people’s self-discovery.

The truth is…. There’s not just one correct way for everyone to connect with the creator or to connect with the meaning for their life; instead, there’s only one way for each person individually to come to these understandings.

It’s up to every one of us to find our own, individual truth, to find that which compels us into action. Don’t be scared, if what you find that makes sense to you differs from your past assumptions and beliefs. We are all beings of the inevitable pull of evolution, what worked for your life at one point in time may carry little weight for you at another.

What compels YOU to be the best person you know you can be? What drives YOU to be a benefit to man-kind? What brings YOU into unison with your potential and your purpose for life? These questions should serve as the only waypoints on your road to fulfillment.

What causes YOU to act?

WE are who we choose to be, based on who WE believe we can be; when you connect with this truth life suddenly becomes simple.

All the spiritual leaders spread throughout time posed a very similar question for humanity: Who are WE? The answer is up to us to define, first as individuals and then as a race of people.

We cannot see the change we wish to see in the world until WE know as individuals who we are, what we stand for, and what compels us.

Shalom,
Mason

Train For Success

Success or failure cannot be quantified by how many wins or losses your life's record book shows. Instead, I believe the measure of a man or woman's success should be dictated by how many times you showed up to play and how prepared you were going into each challenge.

In the February, 2009 edition of Men's Health, Ryan Reynolds, was quoted as saying "I don't expect success, I train for it."

His words should serve as a wake-up call to all those in the world who take life for granted and who believe we are victims of our circumstances, not victors over our circumstances.

No matter the state of life we find our self in, barring the exceptions of permanent handicaps due to someone else's negligence, we are the practitioners of our own current predicaments.

Everything we've endured, everything we're experiencing now, whether it is heartache or complete joy and freedom, has come directly from choices we made prior to our current situation.

We have a choice in every matter: to come or go, to stay or leave, to prosper or flounder, etc... And within every choice we make lies one common denominator- will I choose to walk in LOVE and prosperity or FEAR and despondency.

Everything we as humans do, every decision we make concerning anything under the sun, has at its root these common questions: Am I going to walk in LOVE or hide in FEAR? Am I going to choose to bask in greatness or blend in in mediocrity? Will I believe in my creative potential to be exceptional or listen to other's criticism of my ability to be nothing more than I am?

Some have referred to this common denominator of making decisions based out of love or fear as our "sponsoring thoughts" or our "first and unrecognizable choice"

LOVE or FEAR...

Fear comes in many forms: fear of failure, fear of success, fear of vulnerability, fear of the unknown, fear of death, fear of the "what ifs", and my personal favorite... fear of someone’s disapproval.

But for every choice made out of fear there's the opposite that's also possible, that opposite is a choice made out of love: love for success, love for the attempt, love for changing other people's minds, love of making the unknown what we want it to be, the love of living, the love for "what if I didn't do it?" and the love for personal approval and the satisfaction that comes along with being true to one's self.

Life is a lot like boxing. Punches are always being thrown your way, your back can be pinned in the corner, and sometimes you can even be outmatched. But, like any great fighter, we can choose how to train, how to prepare, how to block, and then how we want to counter to take back control of the round. The best boxers are never beaten, only knocked down for a short while; in their heart they know they're going to get back up and finish the round on their terms.

Success happens when proper training and preparation come toe-to-toe with opportunity.

Let LOVE guide your training, let positivity be the root of your preparation and trust in your God-given ability to prosper, so when the fight-night comes you're prepared, hopeful, and ready to deliver the knockout blow!

Lastly, If you find yourself taking more punches from life than you're giving, it only stands to reason that you should change how you train.

As always, let LOVE guide your steps...
Mason