When
we can celebrate people and their accomplishments without putting them on a
pedestal, or ourselves in a pit, what a beautiful, empowered, and joyful place
this is.
It's
always been easy to see famous people, or people with a certain authority,
title, or position as greater than myself. Things might go through my mind such
as, 'they can do that because they are great, and I will never be able to do
that,' or, 'they were in the right place at the right time,' or, 'they got all
the breaks and went to Harvard, and I didn't have any such luck,' and so on.
It's easy to put people on a pedestal and it is also easy and somewhat typical
for us to see ourselves as so much less than that, thereby putting ourselves so
far below in a pit.
We're
happy to praise them, lift them up, but when it is at the expense of our own
self-worth or worthiness, it is damaging to both parties because we are not
giving them the true joy we feel, but some odd sort of worship, and we are
feeling less than them, or lacking at the same time. Yet, that is often how I
felt about all those many people who were cooler, more popular, seemed to
succeed without trying, and more. Fortunately, I've learned how to let most all
that go and am feeling so much more alive as a result.
Now
when I see someone doing so well, I am in awe of their skill and ability without
taking anything from myself in the process. Because of that, I find that my joy
for them is far exceeding what it ever was in the past. At the same time, I am
uplifted in myself because deep down, we are all connected and I've come to
realize that I am actually part of the whole instead of being outside looking
in.
In
this, I have risen above my ego so to speak. Another way to say it is that I
follow my bliss. It seems to me I've heard that somewhere. . . and it is so
applicable (thanks Joseph Campbell). As I focus on that, I find more and more
bliss. Whereas in the past I thought there was a limited storehouse, I have now
found a truly unlimited supply.
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