Freedom.

Do any of us really understand what freedom is, let alone what it would mean to us as we try to live our lives out on this planet?

Sure we all dream of it, or what we think it signifies, and many stories throughout history have idealised the freedom we could attain from having it. These people, rulers, kings, governments, dictators and freedom fighters alike have set our minds ablaze with ideas of independence and freedom from the rule of the many that went before. Yet I wonder if we really desire just what those realities of freedom would and could mean for everybody. 

 

Imagine a world with no rules no law, a freedom to do as we wished. It would likely end up in a worse state than it is presently with only limited freedoms, or total anarchy. Do you know why? OK well let's look at a few of the typical views of what freedom is, and let's see if we can find any answers. I am no more sure of any of this than anyone else, yet I would love to keep reviewing the subject to see if any new light may come and touch the hearts of the masses for a change that could bring lasting peace to the world.

Religious freedom. Political freedom. Freedom of choice. Freedom from death, and a freedom from suffering whilst we are here.

 

In the main it is the freedom to choose that is commonly being talked about when the word is used. To choose without pressure from others and their policies and or directions. But we must have concluded that this is neither completely possible nor suitable to achieve personal freedom. You see everything is interconnected, even if we have the ability to close our eyes to such a truth. In the realm of the absolute, the physical reality of our lives here on earth, everything is bound by the laws of cause and effect. A kind of law of duality. Up has down, right has left, in has out and more has less and so on. Add infinitum.....

If this weren't true then absolutely anything else would be possible. So it could be argued that if WE, want more freedom, that possibly means someone else has to have less of that type of freedom. If we choose to use for example, ten thousand tonnes of wood to make a bridge everyone needing to cross the river benefits, except the guys who used to make their living by ferrying people across. And the animals that had previously lived in the forest we have just ripped into. To say nothing of the loss of oxygen factories that trees are and, then all of the ecosystem attached to the environment we have decimated. OK in this example progress has been made, but at what cost? Cause has effect like I said before. We get the freedom to traverse the river easily, but much of the natural world has to pay a price for this. Someone wins, something loses.

So we want freedom to practice hatred and violence and imagine that no-one suffers from this choice. No of course we don't think this but many of our so called civilizations were created this way. Actually all of them so far. We the ruling party, organization, clan gang or religious body have all adopted this way of dominating and subduing the rest by our will. Enforcing our view of freedom without actually stopping to ask what that action might cause, has contributed to so many thousand years of suffering for everyone. And those that thought their way was going to bring a better world for their kind, achieved the exact opposite result. Just look at the war on terror for example. Cause and effect. They say that it was justified to protect the security of freedom. The evidence is that terrorism is on the increase not decrease, so their theorising has not proved true. Violence beg-gets more violence. There is actually less freedom of movement of personal safety than ever. If not true why do so many Americans carry or own lethal weapons? What security have the powers that be achieved since the war on terrorism began? I'm as disappointed as the next man that they even entertained the idea that their ideology was or is best for everyone on this planet. But they are just a tiny part of the misinformation about the idea of freedom as the next policy they all contrive to enforce.

Lets look now at what could be gained from religious freedom.

So people can chose which god they worship and how they worship that particular god. What would happen if that god told them that they had to kill other people who didn't agree with their view on god or how he wished to be worshiped. Oh yes of course this is the state of things up till now. Most of the blood shed throughout human history was decided this way and is still being enforced. Both Christian and Muslim and Judaic histories have been littered with this kind of righteous revenge, score settling and vendettas. Pity none of them had the courage to stand up and say enough is enough. Laying down their weapons and finding reasons to live in peace and harmony rather than to live in a constant fear of reprisals. They have not been prepared to earn any trust from their enemies, because their idealisms won't allow the thought that the other has any rights to his or her worship.

Freedom of worship would work if the people following them allowed the others to have their views also. And not be blinded by hatred for the choices of others, over their own misguided and hypocritical religious idealism. Come on people, who wins in a war were everyone is mortal??

What about political freedom?

Freedom to allow any political view to be tolerated is hardly likely, though this should be considered on its merits too. We have governments, senates, houses of Lords, congresses and so on, to show that we are inclusive. But we allow factions to administer pressure through fear to control the outcomes of this democracy, which in essence is more fascist. The rulers of communist states are faring no better than the democratic ones, mainly because of the corruption of people within those systems. (More human failings) A true democracy would surely allow the majority view to be the one everyone followed, whilst still allowing room for adaptations for individuals to choose separately, so long as their choice did not have a wholly negative affect on everyone else or go outside of the law of the land. There are millions of examples to describe this which we should discuss perhaps later on. Because this freedom of choice is the largest area of the ideas of freedom we shall take a larger look at what some of these choices could be and what the possible effects of those choices would be.

We are pretty sure that freedom from the laws of nature are not suitable to challenge too often. We can't jump out of buildings without gravity having an effect over us for example. We need to eat so have no freedom from the need to pass nutrients into our bodies to sustain it. And we are not bullet proof or stab proof, so should avoid use of dangerous weapons against ourselves and others.

But we can choose where to go for our holidays, and what foods we eat, and how we dress, where we live, what car we drive and many other things of such nature, without these things having a massive impact on other people, even if that freedom will affect others indirectly. Choice of religion is a deeply personal matter and could be respected as any other choice, provided that that choice did not apply negative connotations to everyone else. Freedom to choose which football team you support is a topical one, but fans need to accept that there are many other teams and that they all have an equal right to compete under the same rules of play as each other. The problem is the fans who believe there is a superiority of one team over another. Despite the facts that teams are made up of many players, who's line up changes over the years, therefore it is never actually the same team. They live on the memory of a game that happened in 'the good old days.' I mean if we still had the same players in the England squad that won the title in 1966 then maybe we would have retained the title many times over... who knows?

But choices have the element of failure as well as success, and for this reason total freedom can never be achieved, only a modification of the original idea would allow for the freedom of everybody.

Freedom from death.

It is said, 'there are nothing more certain than death and taxes.' no-one we know of or have ever met has been here forever. Therefore we all must die eventually. Freedom from this eventuality is non-existent. Unless we believe death to be a doorway, a moving into new areas of existence. Freedom from taxes however is possible for the rich.... according to all of the recent findings on the scamming of corporate and banking and governmental finances.... (Open your minds here)

Freedom from suffering.

That we could ever be free from suffering actual pain or disappointment or loss is difficult as a concept. But for some people who have managed to see suffering for what it really is, there is a hope of respite. Pain doesn't go away, but the suffering caused by it can. Suffering is all in the mind. Yes I know we all believe we suffer, but in reality what we are doing is allowing our minds to dictate the suffering. We could just as easily see the same events with a happiness if we trained ourselves to see it another way. So you think that I am talking nonsense, OK. Maybe I am, but I have seen and felt the truth of this many times and am now thoroughly convinced that it is our delusion at work, and the actual event doesn't change, but what we feel about it can. Like death before, we know it will eventually find us all, but if we accept that it is not an end but actually a beginning, fear has no hold over us whilst we are still alive. We would probably get more out of our present lives too if we could allow ourselves to realise this possibility.

  

There are many types of freedom I have not brought out here, and invite you the reader to mention them if you care to comment at all. I merely attempt here to raise the discussion of what freedom is to us and how and why it may benefit us or alternatively hinder us in our attempts to live a happy and fulfilled life here on planet earth.

Some views through out the ages that have shed a new light on what could be achieved, are recounted in many tales and fables and folklore from time immemorial. I am going to list a few of my favourites so as to share the ideas of what freedom could bring if peace and harmony were ever to be given a real chance to work.

Martin Luther King worked hard, even gave his life for the cause of civil rights and ethnic equality. He worked tirelessly to gain political representation for the minorities in a land that was already supposedly a 'land of the free', but just not sharing that ideal correctly.

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, fought political injustice and inequality for his entire adult life, also giving it up in the cause of attempting to lead by example, showing what could be done by simple people.

John Lennon, fought through his music and political activism to try to change some of the outdated thinking that has lead us all into greed and complacency. He also died whilst attempting to live out this truth daily.

Robert Nesta (Bob) Marley, spent his entire life working for the peace of mankind on earth, through his music and his behaviours and common touch, reaching the political spectrum whilst still remaining true to his integrity. He died of cancer, but also survived an assassination attempt in the course of his efforts to share a view of peace love and harmony with our world.

Jesus of Nazareth. A humble carpenter from the land flowing with milk and honey, who according to the Bible tried to bring peace and love into the world of simple ordinary people. He was happy to share it with anybody of course, yet it was the ordinary folk that took his message. The religious leaders and other hierarchical people of his day didn't seem to take well to his simple message of sharing love with one another. But then this has not changed much over many centuries has it. The poor nearly always seem keen for changes that will benefit them, but the rich don't want change. They fear it will mean they have to have less, and they enjoy their delusion of power over the poor. In fact they encourage this fear, why else do you think we have this fear when they claim to have the power to stop it?

Friends, brothers and sisters. We are all part of an earth wide family. We have a duty to each other and to ourselves to seek ways to live at peace with one another. The alternative is soon to be global suicide. Maybe not today, tomorrow or next week, but certainly in the near future. We as a race, a species on the surface of this earth are a parasite, a virus, a scourge. We destroy the very planet we have to live on instead of working in harmony with it. We kill and murder one another over pathetic ideals about land and resources, forgetting that they belong to everyone. We came with nothing and will leave exactly the same way. Why not try to make the experience here more enjoyable for each and everyone of us instead of just select groups?

Please for the love of peace and harmony give a thought to what can be done to bring real freedom to everyone. To what can share the most happiness and provide the real true and lasting security here on earth.

As BOB said. “let's get together and we'll feel alright. One love.”

Thank you for getting this far. I hope that you will let me know what your thoughts are on this subject. After all I may not be right about all of this, in fact I am sure that I am not. They are simply my present views which I wish to share with others for the matter of debating future advancements in not only our thinking, but also our behaviours towards one another.

Love and Light.

Peaceful Warrior.

I Am.

Recently I read a quote posted by a friend on twitter from a Dr Wayne Dyer. It says.

"Anytime you start a sentence with I AM, you are creating What you are and What you Want to Be."

(Thank you Dr Julissa Hernandez, for reminding me what a fascinating subject this whole creativity thing really is.)

Her blog:http://www.drjulissablog.com/

So when we say I AM what we are really saying is, THIS IS WHAT I AM GOING TO CREATE. Basically by our evoking of our will we are about to set out on the path of the creation of our reality. And what a great path that could be, or not, depending upon what it is that we wish to create. Please realise though that creation of any reality is laced with both positive and negative aspects. What we do is going to have an affect on others, even if it is indirect, even if we think they will be untouched. Depending on the thing we are about to do of course, the result will have a larger or smaller direct impact on other sentient beings, but it will carry some impact none the less. Our choice will also affect the future course of our lives unless we create further realities at another point. Bear in mind also that we might not do some of this consciously, our minds are very complex system of electro chemical stimuli in the brain along neural pathways, and our subconscious mind has a huge influence over things we do. But I AM talking mainly at first about the conscious thoughts we have and creation based on this element of our determining I AM.

Let's look at a few examples, so that we can rationally determine how saying I AM actually can have an affect over us and our realities. And so that we can determine what will be the results of how we think and act based upon what we say about what we think.

I AM SAD.

This is a reality said by many people in the world today, do you agree? Hopefully a larger proportion of people don't say this too often, but it certainly is something I hear a lot of the time. It may seem benign at first, we may not see a connection between saying this to ourselves and the reality that follows. Does saying I AM sad make us sad in reality you may ask? I think it does. Because of the subtle signals we are giving to our psyche. It hears that we are sad and tries to replicate this in a real way in our experiences and certainly in a continued way in which we feel and see the world about us. Of course something has normally happened, an actual event that we determine is the cause of our sadness. We lost a dear relative or friend in death, someone stole our car or another tragedy has befallen people we care about. Something inside us says we should react to this event, and as the event seems very negative we react with a sad aura. In a way this creates a sadness within us at that point and we determine to let that affect us, up until we find a way to rationalise the event with a more positive view. Our friend who died for example, now has no more suffering. We didn't really like driving the car we had as it was always leaking oil onto the driveway, and wouldn't slip into gear easily. And the neighbours dog was always barking at nights without apparent reason, so its being lost is a benefit to your ears and ability to sleep well....etc...

At this point we lose most of the sadness and get on with our lives again determining to be better able to deal with these events in the future. A part of our psyche has helped us to move away from sadness towards happiness. As you see, nothing actually changes at all with regards the original event, but what has changed, is our way of looking at it.

I AM WEALTHY.

Now this one takes a bit more faith and a lot more actual effort if we are to create this, but I argue that it is no less possible to create as a reality. One thing that will be a determining factor in this success is what we decided would be the level, the mark at which we would say we were actually wealthy and had reached our goal. For example, if we said that when we arrived at £1,000 pounds in the bank we would then consider ourselves wealthy, that would be much easier to achieve than £1,000,000 saved. It might be that when we reached our first million we then compared ourselves to new groups of people, and saw that we were not as wealthy as they. Would that be a failure? Not if we continued to compare ourselves against the general man on the street. You see it is all relative.

But if you realised that if you have food in your belly and a family who cares for and who loves you in return, then you are already wealthy in another aspect. Wealth really has nothing to do with amounts of cash, but how abundant you see your situation.

I personally am cash poor, but I certainly know I am rich in spirit and have many friends who would offer their lives to save mine should that ever become necessary. And every day I make new acquaintances whom will possibly become a part of that larger group. So I AM truly a wealthy man in this regard.

I AM LOVED.

To be loved I would say is one of the most important things to be content with. In it we have enormous power to create more abundant realities. When I was a child I felt unloved and that moved me to often behave in a selfish and naughty way so as to get confirmation from my parents and friends of how they loved me. This actually created a very negative aura most of the time, but I didn't know much about anything, I was a child. The truth is, my parents did love me and so did my friends. There may have been inability on their parts to see my real personal need to feel it more strongly, but they did actually have love for me, because they cared and provided for most of my needs. Now as an adult I can see that I was just not feeling it and had felt it was non existent, rather than it actually not being given or existing. Today I doubt less that those people loved me, and feel the love they give far more intensely than I had allowed myself to believe. Because I had felt unworthy of their love I tried to push it away and had caused the very circumstances of my believing it not to exist. Yes this is a complex issue, and one that has only recently been brought back to the table for full review, but I now realise the part I, or rather my thinking had played in these years of misdirection.

Today I AM loved. I can see it because I let it touch me. In ways beyond just my family and close friends, everyday another new person comes to prove to me that I AM loved, that I AM included in their thoughts and lives. Many of them make definite proof of their intention, and welcome me into their close quarters. I receive messages of well being and of sharing from all over the world. How can that NOT be an evidence of being loved? In return I love these people with copious amounts of my thoughts and time and energies. You see, this is how this creation works. To be loved, you have to love first. Love yourself, and then push that love outwards into the universe, where it touches others and transforms the ordinary into the beautiful. We are not created to be solitary beings. Our sentience is a display of our power to create unity and harmony. Human beings are an earth-wide family, who would do well to remember this and act with consideration towards all other sentient beings. We are connected to it all, and an integral part of everything. We do not exist outside of our connectedness. And I AM loved/being loved because I accept and understand this.

I have highlighted mainly the good points so far because I wanted to get us all on a high. From here we may be better able to see the positive energy in all things, even the negative. Ying and Yang so to speak.

We are also able as sentient beings to create an abundance of badness. For many reasons. Most pointedly though is because we fail to realise our connectedness. The greed that we as human beings are riddled with and that has been amidst us since time began has been gradually eroding the chances of us ever becoming more enlightened beings. The thing with greed is, it serves no-one in the long run. Short term it benefits the greedy of course. They have more, they have an abundance of things. But they will surely die as the rest of us, despite the amount of things they possess. We take oil from the planet for example, to make things to drive cars and to have fantastic lives of plenty. But what will happen when its all gone? It is a mathematical certainty. The amount of this product is finite. It may be well past our lifetime when this becomes a reality, but it will come. We think that our taking this from the earth is a clever use of our resources, at least the powers of the world think this, but what about after? And what damage is it actually doing to the planet we live on? You see our collective greed for things is not going to be as clear cut as we believe it will be. For us to have more, other beings suffer. For one human being to have millions, millions have to have less. That's the mathematics of it, of finite things.

And it does not just relate to physical things, to objects. Our creation of badness is caused by everyone who fails to look further than his or her own nose, their own environment and corner of the world. If someone creates a bad vibe, a negative aura about themselves then they are actually doing a lot of harm to everyone. Drugs barons, warlords, corrupt government leaders, terrorists, paedophiles any one in fact who doesn't think about the wider implications of their actions, and how negatively they will impact on others. Actions caused by their choice of I AM.

I AM BAD.

Now I very much doubt that anyone actually goes about saying this openly. (Except Michael Jackson, when singing his album, BAD) (Michael incidentally was a great warrior of goodness) The government leaders who believe their ideologies will make life better for the majority are not actually bad people. They have people that they love and whom love them too. But I ask this. Do their actions not bring about a huge dissatisfaction when the only real benefactors of their decisions are people who are already financially wealthy? You don't need to be a political theorist to see the evidence of banking greed and insider trading and corrupt lending policies, that have plunged our world into chaos and fear. Have the general public been benefited by huge payouts to failed bosses and to corporate giants who through greed, constructed a fragile shell of a world for us all to live on? No of course not. We are the ones they take from. How many of the worlds poor and working populations have received a dramatic change in their living conditions after any of these payouts?

You see, my point is very clear. It may well be declared misguided, but I wage not by the poor, nor the general man on the street.

The world is the way it is, because somebody once said I AM going to control it all. We may not know who that person is, but we sure as hell feel their grip controlling us every minute of every day. Unless we live in a very remote corner of the world where government does not exist, or unless we declare in response, I AM NOT BLIND TO IT. If we make this declaration, we are to some degree free from it/their control.

I whole heartedly agree that we do need governance of some kind. There would be utter chaos if we had not evolved enough in our thinking to accept a compromise of our choice and elected to be bound by adherence to some laws and guidelines. These are practical things that serve us. What does not serve us, is the greedy rich demanding more of the reserves of everything. We are all part of this greedy attitude, sadly it has become part of our nature to seek more than is enough. But we could make a huge shift in this consciousness if we chose to review our part in it. Take a little less next time and leave some for somebody else. Share more and look out for ways in which to create abundance for everyone. Say to yourselves as do I, I AM THE CHANGE I WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD. I AM THE CREATOR OF ABUNDANCE FOR ALL.

I hope this piece will be reviewed without haste. I hope that reason and intellect move us all to act with more attentiveness to what we could all do more of.

May the love of the universal energy permeate our souls with light to be warriors of change....

My humble thanks to both Julissa Hernandez and Wayne Dyer, for the input to this post.

Peaceful Warrior.

Selfishness.

I guess to understand this word we need to understand also what it is not. Commonly Self-less-ness is the antithesis of selfishness. Self is all about you the person questioning your-self. You see, it is difficult to talk about it without using the word self to describe itself. You or in this case ME as I am writing this and thinking about how it all relates to me, are/am the object of analysis for the purpose of determining what actions are good and wholesome and those that are negative and possibly even destructive, self destructive.

It is very true that I need to consider myself first. How else am I going to be or do what I indeed want to. But this is only true for me in certain senses though. If you don't consider your-self then how can you begin to think that you could do anything to help another. And why would they take any notice of you if you did offer advice or help, if they saw that it had no influence over your own person in the first instance. Who can believe that anyone would take notice of a person not putting their own words or beliefs into action personally?

But in what ways is it appropriate to consider yourself first without it being an act of selfishness? Thus being truly selfless, which I hope to discover as being the most worthy of goals and habits towards sharing.

Well firstly if I had no regard for my person, the body, not only would I be showing disrespect to the miracle of life, but to others who had to come into contact with me, my-self. Imagine the smell, the rank odour of my breath and the unkempt nature of my clothing, if I was even conscious enough of other peoples feelings to be wearing any. So of course, personal hygiene and manner of dress can have significant impact over whether people ignore us or interact with us. Yet it is more about our reason for this manner than the manner in and of itself. I don't recoil when I see punk rockers or tattooed people for example, but I might if they smelt awful. Or if I thought they were doing it because they had no respect for life or limb. I try to dress in a manner which is attractive to people so as to not offend, whilst still being true to my own personal tastes. And I wash regularly so as not to offend peoples nostrils with any offensive odours, out of pure decency. In a way this is an act of self for self, that is selfless in its outcomes. 

 

Another thing I tend to pay attention to, is what comes out of my mouth. It is wonderful to have views and opinions and they can be very interesting to some, but they may also have a negative affect over some people. I try to maintain a healthy balance of what to say and what not to, based on current circumstances and audience. It is not selfish to have views or opinions, but it might be considered selfish to air them to all and sundry, without considering their take on what those words and views express. I don't use the word 'nigger' for example as a matter of course because I understand that it is commonly viewed as derogatory towards some people and therefore can offend them. So my choice of dialogue shows my respect for others above my own feeling that any word used, in a non offensive manner can be a part of vocabulary. (I chose this particular word, not because I ever use it, but just to show what offence can mean. I love all people of all races and skin colours equally.)

 And so I see now that to be selfless I need to consider the feelings of others ahead of my own personal need to say something. Yet to be selfish I would chose any type of vocabulary and dialogue over the feelings and a deep sense of respect towards other sentient beings.

(If you are reading this then it is as a choice you make, and therefore anything my words imply can be monitored for your own sensibilities. Obviously if you don't like what I am discussing then you clearly don't have to read on.)

Are you still here?

Good, then lets continue.

I am understanding that selfishness comes form a deep seated view of self importance. How we got to be this way is anybody's guess, childhood traumas or bad parenting or peer pressure or plain old bad judgement making. But we have to start with where we are at now. I have been putting my mark on readjusting my thoughts for a very long time now, with the sole aim of becoming a better person. Better than before, not better than anyone else of course. Better because I realise that some of my past behaviours were very personally gratifying and self destructive and not good to man nor beast on many occasions. Therefore selfish and not selfless in essence. I have no desire to live that way now. I have lost out on many very precious things because of this behaviour. But I suppose being the product of my experience has taught me a valuable lesson, one that I hope to share if you care to read on.

SELFISHNESS IS STUPID.

Everyone suffers when someone is being selfish. Look at the plight of the hungry on this planet for example. The bloody wars over dirt, dust and rock and a few miles of 'Holy' land.

Closer to home, when someone has a bad attitude they suffer and those around them suffer equally. No-one escapes from selfishness, but everyone gains from selflessness. Just lets say this again, because I feel it captures the spirit of what I want to share here.

NO-ONE ESCAPES FROM SELFISHNESS, BUT EVERYONE GAINS FROM SELFLESSNESS.

Ah yes that seems to carry the truth of my belief.

Let me explain this a little more clearly for those of you that may wish to shake your heads at this. Lets pick a few examples to describe the workings of it. Bear in mind we all have other tangible explanations for things. We wouldn't be human otherwise, or have governments to lead us.

Scenario 1.

As a family we sit down to a meal. It has been prepared by mum and dad carves the meat and every ones mouth waters in anticipation of the glorious feast. We fill our plates and say our graces and give thanks for what we are about to receive. We eat heartily and the food is divine as it crosses our palate on its way to restoring our hunger. The food tastes wonderful (or not depending on your mothers skills in the kitchen) and then your joy is enhanced by the company of close family and friends, sharing the event, the food and everyone feels sustained for the food and maybe the company too. (If you get along with your siblings.) The time spent has given everyone much if not all of what they needed to go on living another day, in good health with a happy and contented outlook on life. You may not agree with this example for many reasons, I just use it to describe a typical ideal set of experiences.

Scenario 2.

Everyone sits down to eat as before. The food is brought out but there is hardly any to go round and be shared out, as it would appear that little Johnny (poor kid always gets it) has eaten most of it earlier. He explains, after much insistence from everyone else, that he couldn't wait and was so hungry that he began to tuck in whilst they were all sitting patiently in the other room and 'Mum' was called out on an errand. He got carried away as he ate and before he knew it was rushing off to the bathroom to be sick. He had eaten too much. At this point dad is called to restrain the other siblings from lynching Johnny. They all eat quickly, after all there is hardly any left, and leave the table with less thanks than scenario 1 and a stomach rumbling from part emptiness.

Scenario 3

As before everyone sits down to eat. They give thanks, but someone happens to mention that the family next door who's dad lost his job a month ago and who's mother is ill with worry, have not eaten for a week. Everyone agrees that they should go and invite the family over to eat, which they do. Extra places are set and once everyone is seated they all give a huge thank you to the powers that be for providing not only food, but company and a chance to prove that their humanity is at work. Everyone present becomes grateful in different ways and amounts, but everyone leaves that table with a joy in their hearts, even if a little hungry still. Tomorrow is another day and more food can be sourced.

Lets have a quick recap of who gained and suffered in these scenarios.

1. Everyone gained. Mum was glad that the children and husband were fed. Dad was happy that his family will survive another day. The children knew that their parents love them and went away fuelled for another bout of playing and growing.
2. Almost no-one gained not even Johnny for more than a few minutes. He lost respect from his family and is still hungry and ill.
3. Everyone gained. The family and the neighbours. Who could not be moved by someones gift of help and sharing? 
   
   
   
   
   
    

So I hope that this shows us all just how the art of selfishness can cause unnecessary suffering for others and ourselves too. The act of selflessness is something that everyone can benefit from. I try daily to look beyond my own needs and see what others needs and wants are and try to help in whatever way I can fulfil these and share humanity with them. Clearly there are many of you out there doing the exact same thing, so thank you for that. I am benefiting from that action even if not directly, as surely as the person you touch. And if you are wondering what more you can do to share and be selfless, all I say is this. Just keep your eyes and ears open and soon enough you will see or hear a way to do so. You will be rewarded by the knowledge that your actions have meant a difference to that person. They may not thank you or know that you have helped them, but that is not important. You will know. And of course I hope the reason for doing it is not to receive accolades, but if they come, accept them when offered. It is a part of the cycle of giving, sharing and receiving.

I pray that I go away from here charged to do more than I thought possible. If you are also helped to be more proactive then my mission is complete.

A huge hug for your efforts. (In advance, or retrospectively)

love and light...

Peaceful Warrior.