Years ago, I read a story in a Reader’s Digest about a young woman who had been hiking in the wilderness and gotten lost. It was wintertime and darkness fell. She was exhausted, without enough clothes to stay warm or strength to build a shelter. No longer able to continue, she finally sank into the snow.
She was certain she would perish during the night as she lay cold and shivering in the darkness. Suddenly, a large shape appeared next to her. It dropped down and settled into the snow. Leaning right up against her, emanating great heat. Gradually its warmth permeated her as well. She nestled into its bulk and fell asleep, protected by the rising and falling of its breath and animal warmth.
When morning dawned, she awoke with the animal still there as it grew light. She realized it was a large elk. With her stirring, the elk heaved its enormous body up and slowly walked away, disappearing into the forest. Now rested, the woman was able to get up and ultimately find her way back home.
That story struck a deep chord in me.
No matter how far we may wander, how dire our circumstances, how tragic our situations, we are never truly lost or alone. There is a greater safety net or story or purpose behind everything we experience – even when it doesn’t seem to turn out that well from the worldly viewpoint.
We won’t always have an elk lie down beside us. But beyond the surface experiences and outer progression of our lives, there is something profound and lasting.
There is something that our worldly-focused minds cannot really grasp although quantum physics and cutting edge science have clued us into vast dimensions of beingness and creative possibility.
We seem to be a part of a human life in such a curious, ironic journey. Out of the infinite pool of creative energy, a “me” begins to emerge. A “me” whose initiation to earthly life is spent growing within a human body, encoded by and marinating within two different strains of human history.
And then we are born through the perilous journey from inner to outer, from fusion to separation. We are emerging while still completely helpless, immature and unprepared for external life. We must learn as quickly as possible how to adapt. Who teaches us? Those still in the early stages of their own hero’s journey, who have not yet fully understood, let alone mastered the challenges set out for them.
The teachings we absorb without question become our life’s foundation, built upon a reality others believed in, and that we in turn go on to accept as truth. And so off we go thinking we know how life works and what we need to do within it.
How’s that been working out? Sometimes good, sometimes bad, sometimes terrible. Yet it is through the not so good or even terrible pitfalls, the moments of hurt or misunderstanding that an elk can suddenly appear by our side that can lead us to finding a right even within a seemingly great wrong. And that will reveal how and where we have been fueling our suffering, so we can finally start directing ourselves toward the kind of reality we are so worthy of.
Our own origins are the seeds for individual transformation, for our singular hero’s journey. When we understand our amazing bodies, brains, and energy systems and use them deliberately, we harness our power to transform narrow, alienating limitations absorbed from the past. No other species on this planet seems to embody such possibility for change.
When we decide we have had enough of blaming others, of holding them accountable for our own faults or disappointments;
When we decide we have had enough of disliking ourselves, feeling unworthy, incapable, unlovable, or any number of things we may have mistakenly believed;
When we decide we alone are responsible for the perceptions and experiences of our lives;
We can deliberately decide to cultivate a different attitude. We can practice withdrawing our energy from what we know and begin to project it into new territory. We can enter into the pursuit of personal mastery.
If only we decided to project kindness to ourselves and others, how would that change our experience, our reality? How would that change the reality of each and every person of each and every other inhabitant on our earth, whether human, animal, vegetable or mineral. It is a great question to ask. Could it be that the energetic blueprint we humans possess contains the means for not just our survival, but a new potential for humanity?
Could it be that through the conscious utilization of our brains and bodies, capacities, we could set in motion a new paradigm for life and the planet? What would the human experience be like if enough of us were so kind, so loving, that we could not do anything other than respect and be kind to each other? We seem to be on a precipice in the world history.
If we continue to move in the same pattern of energetic frequencies that we have been regurgitating these last millions of years, the conclusion for the future is questionable. We cannot blame those from whom we come. That’s just the state they were in. But now we know a different possibility exists. The key to unfolding a new future lies right inside of us.
We can reach to create new neural pathways, new beliefs about our goodness, our connectedness. It takes courage and radical love to do this. But if we truly take up the task, we can become the change we already see. We know how. We just have to remember to remember. To elevate.
Can you love yourself enough to remember and elevate your life?
To envision and empower peace with everything in both your present and your past?
To lovingly release what no longer serves you?
To question the beliefs that make you unhappy or angry or resentful or guilty or afraid?
Through us life does emerge. It happens through one small intention after another. We are so much more than we have known.
We are all potential masters.