The Hunger for Being Special

Specialness is the great dictator of the wrong decisions.
A Course in Miracles.

Could it be that many of the people who lead a very "successful" life could be struggling instead? This is the ego at work. It whispers in your ear that if only you are a cut above everyone else you will be happy. As they say, "be careful what you wish for", the moment when others look up to you may come, but you will still not be happy. As a matter of fact, it is quite likely that you will be miserable instead. You find that you have everything that you ever wished for, but you find the same restlessness inside of you and you don't know where to turn any more. All the wrong decisions that got you here have created a lot of poison inside of you. Let go of your craving for specialness, look in a new direction and see how peace, love and joy return back to your life.

Yes, you can have it all. There is different kind of success which the Tao invites you to embrace.  You still go after your notion of success and you accept that you can't change your cravings and desires. However, as you observe the cues of the Tao you start falling in love with everyone who comes your way. As you meet your challenges, as you understand the trade-offs that you are forced to make, the bigger picture starts becoming clear to you. You are not in charge, the Tao is. You learn to open yourself up to the Tao and you become Her instrument. Along the Tao you also realize that you have no enemies; foes and friends all merge into one. Everything just is.

Monitor the workings of the Tao for a while and observe for yourself that whenever you try to stand out from your brother, you are sure to suffer. Yet, by discovering the mission the Tao has in store for you, you observe how special you in fact already are. You learn that everything is perfect as is. You recognize your specialness as you learn to look out for others and help them succeed. Everyone has a niche - we are all one - we are all equal. When we treat people with love and respect, the same love and respect flows right back to us; when we treat people with disgust and disrespect, the same force comes back to us too. Everyone is special. Let the Tao show you the love along the Way and all your cravings will fad into nothingness.

By Christian and Su Zhen