“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
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