You Are The Great Hero!
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You Are The Great Hero!
You Are The Great Hero
Just like this tree that grew roots between the pavers of the walkway!
Throughout history, every society has developed stories and myths about the Great Hero. It’s an archetype for us to aspire too. The stories of the Great Hero are an epic story of a hero who faces daunting travails in their continuous effort to achieve his or her ultimate goals. Underneath the entertainment, though, it is the story of you and me.
We aren’t a historical story of Hercules, Moses, Rumi, Jesus, Joan of Arc, or St. Francis. We are everyday people who face daily challenges of survival. Whether it be physical or emotional survival, we experience great tribulations in the form of recessions, divorce, job losses, and loved ones dying. We endure smaller challenges of children’s bad grades, unreached expectations, angry bosses, and unhappy spouses. We also experience small travails daily of traffic jams, late payments, missed opportunities, and unpleasant people. These triggers sap our strength and joy in living.
I don’t think Hercules dwelt very often with too many chariots on the road, and I doubt Jesus worried too much about losing his job. But, I’d argue that when you’re the one feeling the negative emotion, you feel like it is the whole world that has been poisoned against you. It is an uncomfortable pressure, even when it’s only a minor event. That is also the doubt and angst that the Great Hero faces.
Negative emotions are very potent and personal. The Buddhists say that suffering is suffering is suffering. I completely agree. As an example, when you are suffering, even the stress of your boss yelling at you feels worse to you than your experience of the pain your friend feels from their pet passes away.
A Great Hero, though…?
Most of the world’s major religions say you have a special place in the eyes of God or the Universe. You are a one-of-a-kind individual. Interestingly, mathematics and biology say the same thing. That alone proves that you are the Great Hero. However, when we feel totally immersed in some negative emotion, we (at least I) don’t feel like we’re unique to the Ultimate Reality or even close to being a Great Hero (I just feel a terrible pressure that I want to get away from).
Yet, it goes deeper. Christ said we should love our neighbors as ourselves. I don’t think this means we love our neighbors as we love ourselves but instead as if they were yourself. Hhmmm…that puts a slightly different spin on things. Hopefully, you’re now asking: “What does all this have to do me being a Great Hero and me seeing myself as God does”? It’s time for some light Blair philosophy.
Let’s start with the very basics.
What is a negative feeling of emotion? I mean any emotion or feeling that you’re experiencing which you find unpleasant, uncomfortable, or just don’t like. Names and descriptions like Anxiety, Stress, Depression, Sadness, Anger, Rage, Darkness, Confusion, Loss, Melancholy, etc. all fit into this realm. There are many more, and you are free to send me the names and the descriptions you use. No matter the name, it’s a yucky feeling to experience inside.
Secondly, (this is a little harder to accept) negative emotions are almost always a result of personal thoughts, beliefs, behaviors, memories, reactions, learning, and experiences, another name for this list is programs. In other words, our brains create the vast majority of our negative feelings from our programs. Fr. Thomas Keating says we are 100% responsible for our emotions. I agree. However, we are rarely aware that we are causing our emotional hells. So….
If:
We have programs causing us to feel negative emotions.
and
All the world’s wisdom books say God or the Universe loves us so much that God even knows the number of hairs on our head (not very many in my case).
and
We don’t even know ourselves well enough to understand what programs are creating our negative feelings. So we blame someone or something else for how we feel instead of look at our internal programs.
and
Because we don’t know ourselves very well, we can’t we love our neighbor as if he/she was ourselves.
Then:
How can we ever see ourselves as God does, even a little bit? There is a lot of thought and emotional noise in the way!
If you are courageous enough to admit this fact, you are on the path of the most fantastic journey!
God loves us, despite our negative emotions. How we think, feel, believe, or behave makes no difference to God. God sees us a perfect and whole.
A simple exercise to start seeing yourself as God does, as the Great Hero.
This exercise only takes 3 minutes.Part 1 (two minutes): Do this the next time you emotionally feel negative. Try not to spin up into the feeling. In other words, before the internal commentary starts berating the situation or other person or even yourself. Start a timer and sit for two minutes and just feel the emotion. Yes, just feel it. Try not to talk about it, yell or moan about it. Just feel it. Look at the negative feeling. Sense it. What color is it? Where in your body do you physically feel it? Does it have a taste? Does it have a smell? Does it have a sound? Describe that negative emotion to yourself, in one short sentence. Write the description down if you can. Try not to justify why you feel it in the narrative. Just describe the feeling itself.
Part 2 (one minute): Here’s the last part and the most crucial part. In the third minute, ask yourself two questions and answer yourself honestly.
1. Who is looking at and describing the emotion?2. Is that “who” feeling the emotion also? (Search your heart, be honest here!)
That “who,” if you can sense it, is the one God sees. I think, with a bit of observation, you will find that “who” is peaceful and content. That “who” is not caught up in the negative feelings. It’s perfect and whole. IT IS YOU! The real you. It’s your Christ Center. Your True Self. Your Buddha Nature. Your Brahmin. Your Ultimate Reality.
YOU!
YOU!
That’s who God sees all the time. Perfect and Whole. No matter what your body is feeling, you have a special unique place in the Universe. You are complete and whole. You were made in the image and likeness of God. How can you be anything else except perfect and complete?
This exercise is a small start to the wonder of who you really are. This journey is about you getting to know you and, in the process, discovering an Ultimate Mystery that is God and who deeply cherishes you.
And this is where the story ties back to the Great Hero: You!
Every great hero faces challenging dynamics. Your daily life is no different. Every great hero met the difficulties with his or her courage and marched forward with an awareness of possibilities. You are no different. Negative emotions leach the joy from your life. Yet, if you look into those dark feelings, sift them out to the programs you have running in your head that cause them, you too can navigate forward into your ultimate dreams and goals. It may feel scary and be a painful transition at first. Every great hero also faces that with fortitude and courage.
When you feel negative emotions, you have a choice. You can react to the feelings themselves, or you can move forward into reality. Those feelings are trying to shield you from perceived suffering, so you may not like that reality at first. However, with some time, you will find the freedom, peace, and contentment in that reality infinitely more desirable than the emotionally reactive life you left behind. You will discover the incredible life God intended for you before the programs that you learned got in the way. You will find the Great Hero that you already are inside!
If becoming a Great Hero intrigues you, I offer coaching on life happiness through awareness. Feel free to contact me here.
Posted June 24, 2014
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