“Not a single person is born in the world who has not a certain capacity which will make him proud, who is not pregnant with something to produce, to give birth to, something new and beautiful to make the existence richer. There is not a single person who has come into the world empty.” OSHO
Yesterday I had occassion to visit a great aunt who will be turning 85 years on the first of January. Still of sharp mind and body (she was busy doing the laundry) she recounted how she was kept out of school for three years as a teenager so that she could herd the cattle and help out on the family farm.
At some point, her father wanted to leave her the family farm and they travelled to the big city to enquire at the courts how to go about it.
He was told that this was not possible as that would be tantamount to giving it away to her future husband and it must instead go to her younger brothers.
She did continue with her schooling later on and went on to live a full life, including many years overseas.
What I took away from that visit was a sense of urgency and the importance of living a life with purpose.
The New Year is just a few days away and “resolutions” will be the buzz word for the next couple of weeks.
It’s a good idea to take advantage of the momentum and get going on the very first day of January, so to prepare for that I will share some nuggets from philosopher, OSHO.
Firstly, in planning for 2012, we need to start “questioning our answers”. There are so many things we tell ourselves about life which are simply not true and these often hold us back from realising our dreams.
Behind all this is the “fear of flying” or in other words the fear of success.
This fear is not often talked about because it is so contradictory.
How can anyone be afraid of success — we talk about goals and wealth creation all the time, surely we all want these things?
But how many times has self-sabotage reared its ugly head to undo all the hard work we have done to reach our goals?
For example, deciding to register for a course and then doing nothing until the last date for registration has come and gone; seeing a pair of shoes that we absolutely have to buy just when the savings plan was getting off the ground; going to a party hungry knowing that this will trigger an all out binge and the healthy eating plan is abandoned.
The list is endless but the point is to be aware of the underlying belief that needs changing — everyone is worthy enough to experience an abundant life.
Secondly, in deciding which new ventures to embark on, OSHO warns of the dangers of doing something we don’t love because of the desire for recognition and acceptance.
Think about it, we all know someone who is in a job they don’t enjoy or are about to embark on a degree programme which they are not passionate about all because of the perceived status that they currently enjoy or think they will in the future.
There is nothing wrong with being recognised and accepted — human beings thrive on it but the point is these should come as a byproduct of doing something we are passionate about and not the other way round.
It may seem worth it until the time comes when unhappiness outweighs any recognition and this often results in a mid-life crisis, which I think is a good thing.
It’s a signal that we need to change something, however painful that process may be.
The key is to seek “psychological freedom” by making decisions that are in line with our inner most desires and not what we think is acceptable to society.
So here is to new beginnings and as OSHO rightly says: “There is no fate or destiny. You are just trying to dump your responsibility on something that does not exist. And because it does not exist, it cannot resist you; it cannot say, “Please don’t dump your responsibility on me.” afrikarizma@gmail.com
