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October 2005
 “THE HEART OF REAL ACCOMPLISHMENT” by Jessica Kuzmier
It is easy to buy into the idea that if you only accomplish things, life will get better. That once your dreams are fulfilled, sunshine is on its way. But so many people with ambitious lives are unhappy. Others who have lived rather ordinary existences by society's standards have had the experience of fulfillment. So what is the key ingredient, besides ambition? Perhaps the ones who missed out on fulfillment, even though they did a lot by human standards, looked for the accomplishment itself to take away their disillusionment. As though finishing it would be sort of panacea. In the book of Matthew, Jesus said, what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world, but loses his soul? Perhaps the message is that success in the world is ephemeral and illusory, because the real accomplishments are within the soul's joy. It is what heights you allow your soul to reach, not so much what you do with your outside circumstances. How is this done? It seems the one with the biggest spirits promulgate an ethic of love for all human beings. Dr. Martin Luther King was a good example of this. Dr. King was a man who preached love for all people, including his enemies. This kind of love has the potential for exponential growth, the kind that asks for nothing but its own blossoming, because there is no price tag involved. It exists because it is nurtured by the soul, not by what someone can do for it. Compassion is at the root of all healing. It goes without saying that compassion needs to extend to oneself as much as to anyone else. This is not arrogance. It is just the realization of seeing one's soul as an extension of the human family, and if I am working on a concept of loving all people, I must be included in that equation for it to work.  |