The Answer Lies With You

     Ok, I'm going to get a little existential on y'all today.  I have been doing a great deal of introspection, attempting to make sense of my life thus far in this human form.  It has been painful; but there have been many times of joy as well.  I am discovering that the painful moments, although they are lessons, seem to come solely from my expectations and perceptions of other humans.  Therefore, the pain is self-induced, if you will.  The behaviors of others belong to them.  If I allow those behaviors to cause me pain, I am not yet evolved past the ego-self.  As a spiritual being in this human experience, it is difficult to divorce ego from these things.  But take a different perspective.

     By realizing that we are all on our own separate and individual pasths, it is a bit easier to see that no one's actions towards you are really personal.  Seriously.  This will be one of the hardest lessons for me to stick to.  I have lived most of my life tap-dancing furiously to show others how much I care and the majority of them don't even hear my music.  Does this mean I shut myself off from humanity?  No, indeed.  It means I need to remember that my soul is here as an observer.  Live and let live, as long as no one is attempting to do me harm.  One should always have a certain level of unbreachable boundary.

     I could spend days/weeks/months wallowing in what I feel is lack of respect by others, if I choose to be miserable.  Or, I can realize that not one other human thinks exactly the way I do.  I can rejoice that my soul has achieved a certain level of enlightenment and is constantly striving for higher.  I can share my message with those who want to listen and reserve it from those who wish not to. 

     In short:  your happiness lies within you.  You are the only one responsible for it and the only one who will take care of it.  Do not give someone else the keys to your kingdom and expect them to honor it as you would.