Midlife Mastery Journal

The fourth article in this series of “Cleaning Up Your Wreckage” takes on the deepest levels of pain that we experience from messing up. It’s a pain beyond the embarrassment, guilt and even shame of experiencing our fallibility. It comes from recognizing that, from now on, we have to see and to do things differently.

You may find managing important duties and issues a real ego-boost, but by staying focused on the big deals and neglecting the little facets of your life — in your career, your relationships and your own personal health and well-being — you risk descending into crisis and losing it all. Success in life and love depends entirely on how well you pay attention to the humblest of details.

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.

There’s no honor, no virtue, no benefit in simply ‘putting it all on the line’ unless your cause brings benefit — true value — to humankind. That, my friends, takes experience, hardship, patience, and humility to achieve.