I don’t suppose I really know if every person faces at least one point in time when just dealing with everyday life feels so very heavy, they wonder if they can keep going. I know I have faced many of those times myself. I have wondered if life for me was meant to be something different than it was for other people. Maybe, for some unknown cosmic reason, I was meant to face one apparent crises after another. Maybe I couldn’t even hope for a time when my dues would be paid, and I could move into a more “normal” life; a life like what I thought most other people had.
But the more people I have gotten to know over the years, I have realized that so many others have had their own truly tough crosses to bare too. Interestingly, knowing what crazy situations so many of us have had to deal with has left me somewhat in awe. I mean really… what brave souls we are to come here and do this human life thing at all! That perspective in itself has renewed my strength and given me hope.
Yes, the majority of pain we go through seems to be self-inflicted on some level. Not necessarily by our own individual selves, but perhaps by our collective human shortcomings. On the whole we seem to be so full of fear that we instinctively brace ourselves against the rest of the world, believe ourselves to be separate from it, then cope with our apparent aloneness in whatever way we can -even if the very thing we turn to for comfort ends up wearing even further at our strength and creates even greater distance between ourselves and those who love us.
We are like toddlers in a way, curious enough to explore the world, just strong enough to do so, yet having no real idea how to navigate life. Fellow explorers are at times our friends, yet how quickly we feel threatened, grab our toy and push them away. But from our adult perspective, how beloved are toddlers? As adults we can see how they are learning and growing, on their way to their own unique potential, and becoming who they will eventually be in the world. Although they are a bit troublesome at times, we truly delight in their awkward but innocent exploration. We long to guide them along their way, and comfort them when their limited understanding leaves them so very distraught.
I wonder, is it possible that this is how we appear to the more spiritually advanced beings in the universe? Our we beloved toddlers in the eyes of the angels? Could we possibly begin to see ourselves in this light? What if we understood the dichotomy of the human condition from this perspective; the great love we are capable of sharing when our hearts our open, as well as our apparent cruelty and indifference when we are expressing our fears? We just might be inclined to feel compassion towards ourselves and others when we fall short of our best selves. We just might be moved to show kindness when it is needed the most. We just might be gifted with an even clearer vision of ourselves, becoming brighter lights in the world, capable of helping each other grow beyond our terrible two’s.
To a toddler, a parent going to work or having to share their toys with someone else can seem like the end of the world as they know it. A fall and a bump on the head hurts so bad and is so scary they can’t see how they could ever be alright again. But maybe we can can manage to summon our courage, and to offer comfort and encouragement to each other along the way. If we can see ourselves as beloved toddlers, exploring, falling down, then having the tenacity to get back up again, maybe, just maybe, we will be alright.
The nature of us 