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Dalton
Roberts |
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True success does not
come when we reach some pinnacle of acclaim recognized by society. True
success is being able to be deeply fulfilled being small and doing small
things. I love reading the
lives of the great mystics and saints of the early Catholic Church. In
her young years, Therese aspired to be big. She wanted to be a priest, a
deacon, and an apostle – even a martyr. Then she said, “I have found
my place … I shall be love.” She called this her “little way.”
Walking this “little way” enriched her spirit so much that she
became one of the most radiant and magnetic influences of her day. Why did her
contentment with doing little things have such a powerful mellowing
power in her inner spirit? Could it be that this process enabled her to
rise above that false sense of self-importance we call ego? There is a healthy
aspect of ego. Freud said ego was the inner instrument for making peace
between our lower nature (the id) and our higher values (super-ego). In
that sense, it is necessary for us to have a healthy ego. It is the
other kind of ego (self inflation, feeling superior) that can make us
miserable. That’s what Therese had to plow through to become happy and
fulfilled by her “little way.” When she chose to made love her way,
the very act of being loving in any small way became a big
rainbow-colored bubble of bliss bursting in her inner being. I have been on top in
politics, at least on the local level. It was not easy to get there. It
took motivation, exposing myself to the possibility of failure, and
sixteen-hour days of campaigning for six months. It took the most
intense focus I have ever achieved. I am happy to have had that
experience but it has been equally fulfilling to me to go to nursing
homes with my guitar and enjoy putting smiles on faces in pain. How do
you compare two experiences so seemingly dissimilar? The simple truth is
that they are not dissimilar at all. Someone has merely convinced us
that one is “big” and one is “small.” Isn’t the higher path to
just do what you do as well as you can do it no matter how big or small
it may appear to others? When both activities become the same thing to
us, we have found a key to happiness. Why do we classify
some things as “small” and speak of them as if they are unimportant
or of less importance than the “big” things, like holding some high
office or making a million dollars? The common experience is that most
of our activities in this life are things we all would classify as
small. Even if we do hold a high office or make a million dollars, our
daily lives will be like moving the tiny beads on a rosary. Both the
rich and the poor have innumerable little duties and opportunities for
loving actions. Life is not a series of big things. It is a parade if
tiny possibilities. Real inner freedom
comes when we become what Zen teacher Suzuki Roshi called “nobody
special.” Think of the people who have been “nobody special” for
you! Just doing their work for the honor and not for the glory. Just
touching your life with their “little ways.” Where would we be
without them? In Women Who Run
With Wolves Clarissa
Pinkola-Estes wrote, “Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world
all at once, but of stretching out to mend the part of the world that is
within our reach. Any small, calm thing that one soul can do to help
another soul, to assist some portion of this poor suffering world, will
help immensely.” It’s just fine to
shoot for the moon but we may grow more by sharing a Moon Pie and cup of
coffee with a homeless person. Visit Dalton's
website at www.@DaltonRoberts.com.
His writings are gathered at www.ipsfeatures.com.
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