If at any point in your life you have felt like everyone is always picking on you, then the following words are just for you.
Over the last 12 years I have spoken to many folks whose facial expression gives away their bewilderment when I say, "You get out of life what you put in." Furthermore, I am looked at funny when I dare to state that what gets in their way constitutes a "belief." I have been surprised to find how many people associate the word "belief" with a religious or dogmatic belief, never once making a connection that beliefs come in a variety of flavors. These flavors are traditionally hand-selected by us during our formative years. We consent to these beliefs and put them in place, unbeknownst to our own conscious mind.
When we step out to play in the big game of life, from time to time we find roadblocks, some unwanted bumps on the road that create friction. In all reality, that friction is the result of whatever flavor of belief you previously selected as being incompatible with the present moment, "the now." It is in those instances when the universe comes out to rescue us with a mirror, offering an opportunity to look at whatever flavor of belief we have stored into our hard drive and subsequently create a shift. Often, we fail to see that others serve as the mirror to our reality; this interaction is there in order to raise our awareness of those hidden beliefs and help us counterbalance what we know from what we lack in understanding. In other words, what you see and what you get in life is the reflection of your own thoughts and actions bouncing back in your face.
An example of this antagonistic phenomenon can be found in every species and every realm of nature. For instance, if an animal is the runt of its kind, it will likely be treated with some disregard and even some aggression. Nature does not play favorites, and it finds a way to instill transformation. We are always given a choice to surpass limitations. I believe Charles Darwin's theory of evolution applies here. Survival of the fittest can also refer to self-observation in order to manifest change. To quote Neale Donald Walsh, "Life is intended to produce for you a direct experience of who you really are."
Next time you are tempted to take on an accusatory tone with the same old song and dance from the 1997 musical release of "Why is everybody always pickin' on me?" -- stand back and ask yourself, "What am I projecting? What am I to learn from this moment? Who is on my path to deliver this lesson?" Lessons are not always meant to be pleasant. They are, in every case, intended to help us grow. In actuality, not only do others serve as mirrors of our realities, but they also serve as a form of "piggy-back" making it possible for us to jump the fence into the next realm. In this context, those who are placed on our path constitutive a gift from the universe.
Recently, I have been blessed with a few of these people intertwining my own path. However challenging they may appear at first glance, they continue to confirm that each and every one of us serves a purpose. Sometimes that purpose is very clear; other times it is completely obscure. I have come to recognize that our requirements are minimal. There is nothing we must change in others, nothing to fix, nothing to touch. The mere reflection of our truest state of compassion and love moves mountains. As the principle of correspondence is set in motion, life begets life, love begets love, and hate begets hate. Then we are simply left with making a choice of either being or becoming, this symbiotic process creates ebb and flow. We are unable to be in both places at once, in the same way the tides go off to sea. The mere act of noticing is the gateway into a higher state of consciousness. From that point forward, phenomenon takes care of itself.
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