Rainbow in the Dark

And here we are.  Nobody saw it coming; I’m no exception.  But knowing this time would come, I lived plenty and experienced life’s most exquisite moments in the company of my loved ones and favorite peeps while being true to myself and my dear guiding principles.  A family man by choice and design.

See, I never expected to live forever, so I lived every moment to the fullest, knowing each day could be my last.  I enjoyed the simple things the most and avoided drama and chaos at all costs.  I made the best out of every human relationship I cherished.  I wasn’t always perfect or complacent, but kind and helpful in every situation.  And in giving myself to the needs of others, I found comfort and confirmation of purpose.

Learning early on that we’re living on borrowed time helped me keep my aspirations in check while making my every move count toward the bigger picture.  Although I lost faith in humanity and resented every human flaw imaginable, I managed to stay clear of hate, turn my feelings around to offset the world around me, and become a helper and a joker of some sort.

Lonely and private crab at heart, Cancer I am, made room for clarity and understanding.  I delighted in solitude and made my biggest contributions to mankind in a spiritual realm of equality, acceptance, and humanity.  This is my secret to a cool, calm, and collected existence while it lasts. Always seeking shelter in nature and soothing comfort in the ocean.

To my loved ones, I gave my all.  To my peers, the same.  In every bad situation, I took the high road.  In every crisis, I gave it my undivided attention.  To uncertainty, I smiled and accepted the challenges without hesitation. I gave my best effort to the many unpleasant surprises and turned the other cheek. These actions set me free and cleared my conscience of any wrongdoing.  Total freedom, as I understand it.

Yup, the world we live in sucks. Plagued by hate, greed and vanity, the world we share is caving in and little by little we’re extinguishing everything in our path, including ourselves. We seem to have lost our way and in this abysm of desperation, sin rules rampant while our souls rotten beyond redemption. Every day the news is flooded with crime, theft, corruption and deceit. We have somehow become immune to the crisis, and to a certain extent, tolerant to the adverse reactions caused by these plagues.

Now, the new calamity in modality to strike our world is hate. Although not new to mankind, it has spread again like a virus at a worldwide scale. Division between our countries and religions is nothing new as no two minds think alike, but our lack of acceptance for what is different and our egotistical nature prevent us for cultivating the necessary compassion to redeem ourselves.

As free-willed humans, we could stand on the sidelines and let things evolve the way they should. We could also choose to engage in this worldwide madness by believing we are better than our neighboring brothers and sisters, and drive a deep wedge between us and the rest of the world. But we can also let the best of humanity create awareness to the problem we have created for ourselves and at a very small scale, step-by-step, resolve to be the difference.

We’re all born with amazing human qualities that if put in practice could alleviate some of our suffering and alienation—qualities of a good nature that are deeply rooted in us from birth. But in order to tap into this well of good stuff, we must quiet the mind and in deep silence align ourselves with these comforting qualities desperately needed today. If we only practice meditation, or any other type of complete relaxation of the mind on a daily basis, we turn off the switch on the deep-seated animosity created by these plagues and we begin to experience a new sense of awareness that will lead us into a pattern of positive thoughts and actions needed to evolve. Again, the mind is the canvas in which we paint any desired outcome and as long as we follow the rules of creating solutions for the common good of all, our desired outcome is only steps away from coming to fruition.

In our quieting of the mind, we must examine the concepts of love, equality, justice, acceptance, compassion and understanding. We must focus on seeking not what we need, but what the world needs right now. In this process, the mind finds comfort in these newly found qualities that soothe the soul and make us more accepting of our differences. And before long it becomes habitual. We now want to dwell on these good feelings because we can’t help noticing the joy it brings when applied without prejudice. And in this conscious effort lies the proven formula to a long term harmonious solution to our existential dilemma. Remember always that change starts within. If we aim at changing the world for the best, we must become better first.