Mid-week Inspiration,  

Each day I seek ways to find greater understanding; I look for the learning in the people I meet, I seek to keep my walls down.  I do this because this has been the way of my greatest teachers.  They never professed to be sure of anything.  That was the realm of God.

I have only met a few people in my life who maintained an attitude bespeaking teach-ability.  Most of us hold such a great reservoir of opinion that we find it uncomfortable to even consider new options that may save our lives.

Here is another idea even closer to the core for most people.  "Smoking causes cancer."  This is sacred ground for millions of people and yet there is no direct proof.  There is a mountain of circumstantial evidence, yet it still lies in the territory of opinion. 

I am not for a moment suggesting that anyone should wipe their brow in relief and go rushing off to the store for another pack of smokes.  What I am saying is that our opinions, when treated as law define our limits, and we can no longer find new ways. 

In every area of our culture we bind ourselves to opinions and restrict our opportunities for growth.  In science, medicine, politics, religion and finances we each have our 'sacred cows'.  We each hold opinions that by unconscious repetition have become our own laws binding us, usually to a level of mediocrity.

It is fine to hold such opinions as facts, as personal laws, while they bring positive results into our world.  The real challenge comes when these facts no longer seem to work for us; when our lives start to feel uncomfortable. 

Somewhere in our experiences we want change.  But we have become bound by opinions sacred to our definition of who we are.  We become shackled by our beliefs; we no longer see the truth of who we are.

So how can we tell when this is happening?

It's simple really.  Pain! Whenever we are dealing with pain we are dealing with outgrown opinions.  This is particularly evident with emotional pain (and I include here any less than pleasant feeling: anger, resentment, blame, hurt and so on). 

They are all physically toxic feelings that do not feel good.  In order to enrich our lives we must move away from these diseased feelings.  Any of us can do this at any time, yet most of us suffer because we refuse to change our minds.

One of the most difficult things for a person in pain to accept is their choice in the matter.  I fully acknowledge the challenges involved in accepting such a notion and then moving to make a change; it is not easy.  Yet in order to enrich our lives these are the shifts we must make.