Key Lesson: We can’t change others – or, for that matter, the purpose of any given moment as it unfolds – but we can work to place one less demand on both. Only in this action can we hope to find the freedom for which we seek, because the only thing that imprisons us – in the end – is our resistance to whatever runs against our deeply seated demands.
For Further Study
Even though we all have our natural preference, no season of the year is greater than any other. Each plays an indispensable role in a cycle of life greater than its individual parts; and each one serves the season that follows on its heels, enabling it to fulfill its purpose in a procession as timeless as the earth itself.
During the spring, great forces are released to work upon and within us. Just as life is beginning again everywhere around us, life is literally seeking itself through us, asking us to open ourselves and receive what will renew us.
But, if we would receive this new life, with all its promise, then we must be willing to sacrifice within us whatever stands in its way. We can only be made as new as we are willing to let go of who we have been, and springtime not only awakens this need within us – it also grants us the possibility of its realization…
Whenever we can remember that we would rather smile about what life brings us than suffer over it – that our natural preference is happiness, not hurtfulness – then in such moments of being mindful of what we love most . . . can't we also strive to remember how much better it is, for everyone, to brighten the life of another rather than to darken it in our forgetfulness?
Our demands that life be what we want it to be do not make life more desirable . . . they only hide from us just how undesirable it is to be who we are in that moment.
If we went through our day tending half as much to the care of God's business, as we give to our own affairs, then – from the resulting light of gladness seen spreading across the faces of family, friends, and strangers alike – the good truth would be obvious: taking care of God's business is what's best for our own!
Look at what a person labors at and you will know what he loves. Look at what a man loves and you will know whom he serves. Look at what a man serves and you know his master. Look at a man's master and you know his destiny.
No brighter tomorrow can dawn for us that isn't paid for each day by our work to better serve God's life, illuminate our self, and uplift the hearts of others.
About Guy Finley: Guy is the author of 45 books and video/audio programs including his international bestseller “The Secret of Letting Go” which has been translated into 30 languages and sold millions of copies worldwide.
He is the founder and director of Life of Learning Foundation, a nonprofit Center for Spiritual Discovery located in Southern Oregon, with over 40,000 online newsletter subscribers. https://www.guyfinley.org
Through Life of Learning, Guy has presented over 5,000 unique self-realization seminars to thousands of grateful students throughout North America and Europe over the past 30 years and has been a guest on over 700 television and radio shows, including national appearances on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, and NPR. Guy is a faculty member at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York and 1440 Multiversity in Scotts Valley, California. He is a regular expert contributor to Beliefnet, Insight Timer, Simple Habit, and many other popular spiritual sites.
Finley holds regular classes at Life of Learning including two free talks each week that are live-streamed https://www.guyfinley.org/lettinggo These classes are open to all. For more information about Guy Finley and Life of Learning Foundation visit www.guyfinley.org
