Perspective II
The same ideas of changing perspective occur in all walks of life. Since we are on SI, an appropriate example is the stock market.
A man goes long a stock, because he 'knows' that it will go up. It does so briefly. Then it begins to plunge down. "This can't be happening", he says to himself. "These people don't know what is going on, they're stupid." He sits put waiting for everyone to come to their senses, and accord the stock the valuation he knows is correct.
Next day stock still plunges. "There must be some of those damn, un-American, evil shorters at work responsible for this.", he says, and proceeds to a stock chat room to tear the Hell out of some of those evil shorters responsible for his torment.
The stock continues down. "Have faith," he tells his fellow investors. "We are right, just you wait". This thing will turn, and then its going to the sky".
The stock continues down. The man is increasingly angry. He tells his fellow longs,"There is no justice in the world. These people are crazy. We are doing what is right, and look at what is happening. I can't understand it!".
The stock has fallen from 29 1/4 to 6. The man is crestfallen, his image of himself destroyed, and he believes that he has been let down. He sells all of his stock. The next day the stock is up to 14 1/2.
What happened here? The man built a belief based upon perception. He perceived one outcome a good, and one as evil. By believing that he was 'right', and refusing to recognize it as an error that simply needed to be corrected, he saw to it that he stayed put, 'took his medicine', and punished himself for his own imagined sins. The stock was going down quickly. That was a bad thing to him. Focusing on the bad in that fact, he did not realize that if he admitted his mistake and moved on, he could in fact short this issue and make a lot of money in a hurry. The only sin he made was presuming to know what was good and what was evil, and not seeing instead all good around him, and only lessons, corrections, and healing. He sought to separate, not to unify in harmony. Those who saw a good opportunity in a stock going down, were labelled as 'evil shorters'. This is usally what happens to those who see good everywhere, put upon them by those who choose to see 'bad'.
All of life is like this. We can choose to judge things, ideas, and people as right or wrong, like the Ten Commandments, the Law of God interpreted by Man, Or, we can see that all of God's Creation is in fact good, and if we do not see it, the mistaken is not in Creation, but a misperception on our part.
If the world is crazy and full of fear and sin, it may not be the world that must be changed, but merely our perception. This is the true meaning of "If thine eye offends thee, pluck it out". If you don't like what you see, you can change the world without by changing the world within. To do otherwise is to make ourselves a martyr, as surely as some would make Christ. Christ is change. Change is good. Change is growth. If you feel frustration and pressure in your life, know that these are the signs of restricted growth. Use these signs instead as useful pointers that show you exactly where your error lies, and what it is within you that needs to be corrected and healed. In this way, what you perceive as bad and stopping you, can become the stepping stone of your good works, as you walk upon Jacob's Ladder.
Peace,
Darrin |
