TUESDAYS WITH JEAN, WEEK 2 (7/3): CHOOSING OURSELVES
Excerpt from Finding Peace, pg. 54-55
Happiness is accepting and choosing life, not just submitting grudgingly to it. It comes when we choose to be who we are, to be ourselves, at this present moment of our lives; we choose life as it is, with all its joys, pain, and conflicts. Happiness is living and seeking the truth, together with others in community, and assuming responsibility for our lives and the lives of others. It is accepting the fact that we are not infinite, but can enter in a personal relationship with the Infinite, discovering the universal truth and justice that transcends all cultures: each person is unique and sacred. We are not just seeking to be what others want us to be or to conform to the expectations of family, friends, or local ways of being. We have chosen to be who we are, with all that is beautiful and broken in us. We do not slip away from life and live in a world of illusions, dreams, or nightmares. We become present to reality and to life so that we are free to live according to our personal conscience, our sacred sanctuary, where love resides within us and we see others as they are in the depth of their being. We are not letting the light of life within us be crushed, and we are not crushing it in others. On the contrary, all we want is for the light of others to shine.
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While social media has brought people closer together, it has also made it easier for people to judge themselves. Lives are displayed through filters and it seems as if everyone has a perfect life. It can pressure some to think that they have to live life a certain way, even if that way makes life more difficult. This passage from Jean reminded me that it doesn’t matter if I’m not doing what everyone is doing, as long as it brings me joy. How do you let your light shine? How do you help it shine in others?