I allow myself to have and keep
a buoyant mood and a serene outlook,
regardless of my circumstances.
Could this personal declaration be the most ridiculous statement of intent you have ever read or … could it be the most ridiculously powerful statement of intent that you have ever read?
More to the point, are you actually willing to be this ridiculously powerful?
After reading these questions, you might well wonder: what kind of heaven would I have to enjoy and what kind of hell would I have to endure before I could lay claim to this much power?
Afoot and light-hearted, I take to the open road,
Healthy, free, the world before me,
The long brown path before me, leading wherever I choose.
Henceforth I ask not good-fortune – I myself am good fortune;
Henceforth I whimper no more, postpone no more, need nothing.
Strong and content, I travel the open road.…
Walt Whitman (1819-1892), Song of the Open Road
Consider this: if I were to remain intent on having and keeping a buoyant mood, would I not attract its opposite (a despondent mood), and if I were to remain intent on having and keeping a serene (calm, clear, fine) outlook, would I also not attract its opposite (troubled, worried, agitated)?
Certainly, broadcasting a positive vibe can bring many good things, but what happens when this vibe is challenged by those whose vibe is less than positive? What sort of wizardry is involved in negotiating with despondent souls, in navigating through troubled, worried, agitated vibrations?
Especially when these vibrations show up continuously and relentlessly inside the purview of your reality?
Suppose for a moment that you carry a buoyant mood and a serene outlook wherever you go, with the intention of serving as a beacon of love and light for those whose mood is less than buoyant and for those whose outlook is less than serene. In what capacity would you serve? As a holder of light, as a shower of light, or as a bringer of light? Conversely, in what capacity would you not serve as a beacon?
I can hear the followers of the pathless path rejoin thus:
I am perfectly content
to serve
wherever, whenever, and however
I am called to serve.
Note the vibe of positive egocentric abandonment …
I can hear those who blaze paths of purpose rejoin thus:
I aim to serve profoundly,
effectively and decisively,
according to a purpose in life,
in harmony with who I am.
Note well the vibe of positive egocentric entitlement …
Here, we have two very different versions and visions of service. Thankfully, we presently live in a world where we have the freedom to serve on one or the other of these two seemingly disparate paths, but the question remains: how much longer do we have to enjoy this freedom?
How much longer before humanity is absorbed by its technology? How much longer before humanity transcends its biology? Or, could it be that the vision of humanity given to Howard Storm portends, in no uncertain terms, the very end of technology in the future course of humanity?
Again, I invite you to consume …
I allow myself to have and keep
a buoyant mood and a serene outlook,
regardless of my circumstances.
In contemplating the possibilities of eating and chewing and swallowing and digesting these provocative words, one would do well to ask: which of the two aforementioned paths to ultimate fulfillment do I have in mind and which vision of the future for humanity do I dare keep in mind?
Keep in mind, too, that change can be difficult, especially where changing core beliefs and expectations are concerned, which can be held so tightly that we no longer realize how tight their hold.
We would rather be ruined than changed.
We would rather die in our dread than climb
the cross of the moment and let our illusions die.~ Wystan Hugh Auden (1907-1973)
In collective ignorance (and collective arrogance, if truth be told), many remain at risk of being locked in darkness as willing (and willful) prisoners to their own devices, in spite of themselves and in spite of their best intentions, thereby sealing their collective fate.
To believe in something not yet proved and to underwrite it with our lives:
it is the only way we can leave the future open. Man, surrounded by facts,
permitting himself no surmise, no intuitive flash, no great hypothesis, no risk,
is in a locked cell. Ignorance cannot seal the mind and imagination more surely.~ Lillian Eugenia Smith (1897-1966)
Fortunately, the current transition on Earth from third density to fourth density is not a challenge to those who remain open to receive, reflect, and respond with presence, peace, and promise, respectively – perhaps the power of purpose and passion are now best viewed in this light.
And so, I conclude with this question: is my life best viewed as a playful pathless path full of presence and promise without purpose … or … as a game of purpose full of promise, power, and passion?
In receiving this complex question, in reflecting on this question, in responding to this question, I invite you once again to keep this declaration in mind, even as you consider taking it to heart:
I allow myself to have and keep
a buoyant mood and a serene outlook,
regardless of my circumstances.
Maybe, just maybe, a playful pathless path without purpose can find common ground and common cause with those whose purpose is inspired by pure passion to be as prosperous as it is possible.
This post has been filed under Context in the Ultimate Outline.
Note: my evolving outline on approaching a realization of the ultimate in personal fulfillment can be found here, accessible from the nav menu under the page “Be Here Now”.
Note: this ever growing perspective began here: Ultimate Perspective