Learn to Look Within
“The answers we seek to the problems we face are waiting inside us… just waiting for us to mine them out and use them for our benefit and the benefit of others…” — Rick Cox
The other day while on the treadmill, I had the TV on, which I sometimes do as I will set it on some appropriate back ground music. I do not usually have it on a TV show as I like to take the time to meditate or get quiet. What happened to be on when the picture came clear was a show called JAG. In this particular episode, with Montel Williams as guest star, he was playing a lieutenant in the Marine Corps that was down on his luck and being court marshaled for something he didn’t do. What I saw him do got me to thinking about what I had seen for all the previous years I had watched TV; all of these people who are under stress or emotional trauma turned to drinking or drugs. You see them sitting in a chair at a bar asking for another one or sitting at home drinking out of the bottle.
Now I know it is TV and TV needs to dramatize everything, but why is it necessary to show these people turning to drugs or alcohol every time something goes wrong? When someone loses their job, has a spouse cheat on them, gets into financial trouble, loses a loved one, sets out to accomplish a task but fails, etc, it seems they always turn to either drugs or alcohol. If one was to give this any real thought at all, it is contrary to anything we learned while growing up and therefore, makes no sense as to why we would turn to these outside sources as adults, other than we have been ‘conditioned’ to do so.
I can see it now, a baby begins to crawl and its arms are not quite strong enough to hold it up. As the baby starts the crawling with the legs being a little stronger than the arms, the weak arms give way and it falls onto his/her face and begins to cry and the baby reaches over for one of the small airline bottles of Jack Daniels. As the child gets older he/she starts trying to walk, but with each step or every other step the child totters and falls over and starts crying. As a result the child reaches for a small airline bottle of Johnny Walker Blue. The child’s growth continues as he/she now tries to learn to ride a tricycle or big wheel only to find their feet and legs are uncoordinated as they keep slipping off the pedals or are just a bit short; in frustration they reach for six pack of beer.
The next step is learning to ride a bike however, they keep falling over leading to more frustration, which by now we find them to be alcoholics. They no longer turn to the little airline bottles as they are now raiding Mom and Dad’s cabinets for the hidden alcohol. Soon, they are old enough to start school, but find they are not as smart as some of the other kids. Their grades appear to show them to be less intelligent than the other students as some make fun of them resulting their sulking and becoming distant from others, sitting off alone, finding a corner to smoke marijuana.
By now you are either laughing or wondering what I am smoking. In any event, I hope you realize I am being facetious to the “inth” degree to prove a point. As small developing children, we did not turn to drugs or alcohol when we were going through our major development processes from being born to say, seven years of age. During this time more than any other we went from not being able to hold up our own head to:
A. Being able to crawl
B. Being able to walk
C. Being able to run
D. Being able to make sounds
E. Being able to articulate some sounds like yelling in the store or at the restaurant in order to get the attention of all including Mom and Dad
F. Learning how to communicate quite clearly and chew gum, all at the same time.
Interestingly enough the above was accomplished after all the stumbling, setbacks, and failures and all without the thought of quitting. As children we stuck with it until we got good enough to ‘be like those around us’ without turning to drugs or alcohol. Why is it when we become teenagers or adults, we find the only thing we can do when faced with a defeat or failure, personal tragedy or trauma, is turn to that which is outside rather than that which is already in us to help us get through these difficult times?
As a child, as if by instinct, we continue trying; struggling at whatever it is we are striving to achieve be it crawling, walking, running or talking, riding a tricycle or bike; we try till we succeed. Somewhere along the line we quit doing this. I believe this happens as we begin to develop the power of reason, for it is then we become aware of other factors such as ego, self-image, embarrassment and the implications and difference between success & failure. These factors play a big part in how we start responding to what happens to us, which brings us back to my favorite saying: “Life is TEN percent what happens to you and NINETY percent your response.” How we respond to what is happening will again determine how our tomorrows turn out. If we do not continue to utilize the same pattern toward growth we did as a child, failure can be the only result.
If however, we continue to try, we will eventually succeed at whatever it is we strive to accomplish. The problem lies in the ability to find the energy and power to continue. To do so we need to develop the ability and skill of reaching inside to mine out that which is already in us. For inside each of us is the all the power and insight we need to get through whatever we may be facing.
Like a seed, which has in its DNA and physical makeup everything necessary to attract all it needs to keep it growing and thereby, allow it to become the best it can be; we have the same. The difference is the seed doesn’t think or reason itself into failure like we do. The seed doesn’t turn to some other source to help it get through the crisis of a cold winter or a hot dry summer. The seed does what is necessary to continue – just as we should.
In the amount of time it takes to tell someone else about your problems or issues you could talk them out with God. While sitting alone, instead of drinking and feeling sorry for yourself, you could use the same amount of time to talk it out with God; trust me He knows how you feel. Stated another way, in the time you sit in a bar trying to drink away your sorrows or pain you could sit at home alone talking to God about what is going on; all the while developing the necessary answers to get you out of your current problems. The challenge is learning to mine and extract the answers as well as the strength to be used for your benefit.
The choice is yours however, remember those successful folks around you are not sitting in bars feeling sorry for themselves. They are and have been making the choice to look within to pull out the resources they have within. We have all been given all the necessary resources if we would only take the time to mine them out. So remember in every failure is the SEED for success. It isn’t guaranteed success; it is the seed of success. What you do with the seed is up to you for it still has to be planted, watered, fertilized, cultivated and harvested.
Best of LUCK as you
Labor Under Correct Knowledge…
Respectfully,
Rick Cox