Since life just happens and we humans put all the meaning in anyway, what would happen if we thought of everything that happens to us as an invitation to either move closer to our highest selves or not? Just as in the Iroquois language that has no word for stupid, by your choices, you either move closer to wisdom or farther away. Choices become a relationship between who you say you want to be and who you become.
As a child, I loved playing dress up. The world of make believe where I could put on the gown and satin pumps and become some exotic star was fun and engaging. With that same ease, we are invited to consider everything that happens as an invitation to create who we want to be—and have fun with it. The important thing is that the dress up is about role-playing. It is a momentary choice to play a role and not who we are. We recognize the game and the role and have fun with it.
Recognizing the invitation to move closer to the wisdom of our hearts—our passions and truths about who we are, what fills us up, and our dreams requires that we are both clear and present. Clarity means that you know what warms your heart, what you value, and the qualities you want to bring to any situation. It means recognizing that how you spend your energy, time, and talent is a choice. And moving towards wisdom means fearlessly seeing how the roles work, how the game is played, and creatively bringing who we choose to be to the game.
If the way you are investing your energy is by being frustrated, then look at your expectations. Step back and detach from the situation and recognize things or other people that you want to change—and then recognize that changing others is not your work in the world. Role playing is dress up. What result do you want? Who do you want to be? What do you stand for? Now translate all of those answers into a response that works for you within the context within which you find yourself.
To recognize the possibilities in any moment, we need to bring clarity and absolute presence. If we are present, we are not in our heads attached to a particular way something should happen. Instead we remain alert to what is happening and use that as data to create a response that brings us closer to who we wish to become and how we want to invest our valuable energy and insights for our own good and the good of all.
And here is the good news. The invitations just keep on coming and we are free to reinvent ourselves at any moment if we don’t like the results we are getting. Make believe or reality? Or are they the same thing?
