For many, for too many perhaps, life is a tough road, to put it mildly. It’s hard dealing with problems with no ready solution or support; it’s hard working to make ends meet when time itself is in short supply.
There is one saving grace to all of this, though, but it’s one that requires a consistent, persistent effort ~ not on the outside, in the world “out there,” but on the inside, in the world that is found within.
Let me put it this way: ultimately, life isn’t about how many people we oversee or how much money we control; it’s really about how well we activate and regulate our thoughts in service to others.
Believe it or not, there’s a bare-bones, dirt-simple formula that can help you to do this and do it well. I call it “the formula of C in service to E,” and it can be expressed quite eloquently, as follows:
C > E
Here, C stands for Cause and E stands for Effect.
In other words, not only does the Cause of our actions comes before the Effect of our actions, the Cause of our actions is also more potent, effective, and influential than the Effect of our actions.
By this way of thinking, we either get to live on the side of C or on the side of E. We are either conscious creators who are at cause or … we are unconscious manifestors where things just happen.
To be fair, sometimes, through no fault of our own, and depending on the interaction or situation in which we find ourselves, we are compelled to live on one side, and sometimes, we are compelled to live on the other. The point here is simply to remember the choice to be at Cause.
When we hear someone whining and complaining or blaming and shaming like there’s no tomorrow, then what we are hearing is someone who is caught by default with living on the side of E, the Effect. You know what I’m talking about here; we’ve all been there. Or at least I have.
On the other hand, when we see someone taking action to stay in harmony with a situation, what we are seeing is someone taking ownership of it by choosing to live on the side of C, the Cause, because they know deep down that they had a hand in causing it or bringing it about.
So, what does it mean to own a situation, to be an owner of a situation?
It means being proactive ~ creative and responsive rather than reactive.
It means living consistently and persistently on the side of C, the Cause, by aiming to assume as much response-ability as possible for what has happened – or for what is happening here and now.
It means knowing ourselves well enough that even when a situation or an interaction gets out of control, we still have a choice about how to respond – if at all, which is also a choice in and of itself.
Living on the side of C, the Cause, does not mean feeling unworthy about what we have or have not yet created or manifested in our lives so far. It simply means being willing to take ownership of our lives, knowing that every instance of blaming or shaming indulged weakens us.
Conversely, every supreme and glorious act of ownership strengthens resolve, reinforcing the assurance and confidence that we need to be whoever we need to be and to do whatever you need to do.
I hereby invite myself to uphold daily the C in relation to E: to stay as crystal clear as I can about who and where I am through every moment of now and to rely on myself to be and do and go where I feel I must be and do and go as I playfully persist in navigating every moment of now.
As and when I swallow and digest the habit of causing things to happen, of causing myself to reflect and respond in ways and by means that benefit me whenever the crap hits the fan, I am well placed to do more than keep on keeping on. I am well placed to own myself for all time.
A word from the wise: do not merely live at cause; be the cause.
Here’s to reaching for the thought that feels best …
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