It is Still the Same Movie

I have been watching the series Liberty Kids with the boys recently - an animated description of America's Independence War against Britain. You cannot help but rooting for the American strive to be free, but in all that you also see so much injustice and violence an all sides of the conflict. Parts of the American population are rooting for the British, pretty much everyone fights a ruthless war against the Native Americans, there is famine and disease, and so much more. Actually, as we all know, this was just the beginning. The Civil War will be next, an even more depressing chapter of the American history.

We should consider ourselves blessed to live - mostly - in peaceful times today. Yet, are we really any happier? I believe no two people experience life in quite the same way. So in the same vein, could it be that we experienced the events of our more violent history differently? Some classic scholars argue that the Ancient Greek went to war happy, ready to give their lives for a noble cause and be remembered as heroes forever. Could it be that losing a limb or a life was as big a deal then as losing a job, a lover, or your social status in today's world?

My hunch is that with every century that goes by, our experience of violence, hatred, and separation becomes less real and more symbolic. Yet, we still experience pain, fear and negative energy just in the olden days. The trick though, our degrees of freedom to step out of all this stuff is going up all the time. Our lifespan is longer, we can be in relationships multiple times, we can change professions as often as we like to, we can go back to school or start our own business. Many of us these days are invited to join a spiritual path. Along the Way you become a creator of your own destiny.

Realize that you can step out of the movie plot at any time, and realize that "happiness" is purely of your own making. Love always surrounds you just as it was in the olden days. It is just that these days you can be more of a creator of a loving environment. You only have to gently brush aside a few monsters of your own making whereas in the olden days you had to fight wars to be free. It is still the same movie but it dawns on you that you are actor, director, producer and consumer of it at the same time. Make your life a love story with a Hollywood ending. The creative pen is in your hand.