Midlife Mastery Journal

Today I celebrate my (ongoing) recovery . . . not from a physical disability, but from a dysfunctional belief system that threatened my very existence. I live in a daily reprieve from succumbing to the belief that I am a victim of circumstance. Today, regardless of the challenge, I live in the knowledge that with every breath that I draw comes a new opportunity for spiritual growth.

In our journey to examine how to clean up the wreckage left behind by the poor choices we have made in life, we come to a turning point. We’ve acknowledged that we’ve done wrong and we’ve expressed our sorrow for it. Now comes the hard part: what are you going to do about it?In our journey to examine how to clean up the wreckage left behind by the poor choices we have made in life, we come to a turning point. We’ve acknowledged that we’ve done wrong and we’ve expressed our sorrow for it. Now comes the hard part: what are you going to do about it?

I have come to believe that there are actually two types of fear. The one – healthy caution – provides us with the protection that we need against rash decision-making. There is another type of fear, however, that arises from insecurity and self-doubt.

Apart from outright physical and emotional abuse, I believe that many (if not all) relationships “on the rocks” could be healed under the right circumstances. From my perspective, the fact that this healing so often fails to take place could be an indication that one or both of the partners have stopped listening. Additionally, ceasing to listen indicates a spiritual problem.

It seems — to the best of my ability to understand the answer — that the universe and all it contains is nothing but a mega-University that’s only function is to educate Consciousness (in all its known and unknown iterations) in just two interrelated subjects: what I’m calling the Two Great Lessons of Life. I won’t keep you hanging there in anticipation. The First Great Lesson of Life comes down to this: learning how to love. The Second Great Lesson of Life is its complement: learning how to let go. That’s it. That’s all there is. Once you’ve mastered both subjects, you’re ready to graduate. If it were only that easy.