"He is the 'Other' who is searching for you.
he has always been searching for you.
And you, too, are looking for the 'Other',
even when-and it often happens-you feel you are
doing something quite different."
-The God Who Comes, Carlo Carretto
I find it hard to deal with myself in certain moments when I become one of those people who are annoyed by life. One of those who let a negative story of unwanted circumstances dominate their life. Here, all I see is the negative. I have reason to complain about something at any moment.
The first thing I bring up in a casual conversation?
-How bad traffic was.
-How a coworker really ticked me off.
-How that same coworker "ruined" my day.
-How annoyed I am at my car.
-How annoyed I am at my neighbor.
-How annoyed I am at my beard, or my dogs or how cold it is outside.
-How irritated I am at my past, present and future.
It looks as if I really have nothing I enjoy in life. I find excitement, joy, pleasure, fun, contentment in nothing. For even in the absence of my complaining (if everything's going okay), I'm still not happy.
Even as I'm scribbling this all down though, I realize how overanalyzing my complaints is making me think negatively about my own negativity! Dangit... May I have more grace for myself, and for the complainers in this world.
...
We create the stories we live in. Stories of defeat. Stories of hope. Stories of overwhelming circumstances. Stories of resilience. Will I be present to the present, opening myself up to the invisible moments full of connection, goodness, love, hope and deep meaningful belonging?
The answer to how we are doing may have a lot more to do with how we are believing and telling our story than with how the actual events of the story are unfolding...
Therefore, may you believe a better story.
And may you begin to tell it well.
