Rise and shine, people … It’s 6:30am and the sun is not even up yet and your hand can’t make it to the alarm clock fast enough before the voices in your head start telling you quite clearly that it’s “too early” and “too dark” and “too cold” for you to get out of your cozy bed … Your sleepy, somewhat aching muscles lie motionless in rebellion, transparently yet insistently pretending not to hear your brain commanding them to move, while an entire chorus of voices are whispering in unison their permission for you to simply hit the snooze button and go back to sleep …

But on this day, you will do something different — you won’t ask their opinion and you won’t listen to that opinion when they give it to you anyway. Today, there is another voice within you to which you have chosen listen — the voice of calm defiance; the voice that says there was a very good reason that you set that alarm in the first place. So it’s time to buck up, sit up, put your feet on the floor, and don’t look back towards that bed because you have important Work to do … There are people in need out there and there are at least a dozen small ways that you can ease their pain, and you are going to get started doing so RIGHT NOW.

Welcome back to your True Self … Welcome Home.

And this is the debate we engage every day of your lives; for each day is a renewed series of arguments between the voices tempting us to walk the easy way and the Voice within reminding us that we can forge the Right Way instead.

And the voices of temptation are many — with at least 10,000 tributaries spreading out into each instant; fanning out like the muddy rivulets a river delta, slow & clogged with silt and sludge — each one of them promising a path of least resistance … a path of comfort … a path of pleasure … a path of ease …

And yet the thing is — on this day you have already decided to return to the River; on this day you have already decided to return to a life that is not nearly as easy, and yet one that is filled with far more Power & Meaning & Purpose … And now that you have made that choice, there is no turning back — the current of Goodness is simply too strong. And your ego knows this is so, which is why so many refuse to ever engage that courageous re-immersion in the first place.

And yet you have done so — and now that you have so decided, now that you have made your life no longer about you & yours and about us & ours instead, then that means that you have arrived at Day ONE — the day of your personal rebirth.

From there on it only gets tougher, of course, and yet from there on it also only gets more brilliant and it only becomes more packed with Joy & Wonder … And you can re-enter this LIFE right now if you wish … All you have to do is get out of “bed”, go outside into your neighborhood or your school or your office or your life, and put one Caring foot in front of the other.

It is at this time that you begin to feel truly fantastic; better than you have ever felt before … Desire falls away and is replaced by Caring; fear falls away and is replaced by action … You are tempted to feel proud, and yet this is no time to dwell on the bravery you have exhibited or how far you have come. You understand now that you are in a fight against an opponent you cannot see, but one one that you can always hear & always feel and even always taste. Indeed, when you close you eyes you can hear that internal enemy you right there nearby — close on your heels, breathing down your neck. And you know exactly who that enemy is … That’s right — It’s you; that other you; the you comprised of all your doubts and fears and insecurities; the you who wishes the real You had never shown up; the you who wishes You never had the guts to make a real Life out of your living — the you that wishes you were still tucked away safe in bed.

It’s always there, this altered-ego; you can never be rid of it — and yet be not discouraged. Though it cannot ever be fully defeated, it has a permanent & fatal weakness — And that Achilles heel is your resolve to Care again … & again … & again. This is what some call “the grind” — the eternal battle between the you that wants only fun & comfort, and the You that wants to Live life to the max before you die. There will always be this “demon” on your shoulder, and yet the more you choose to smile at him and DO Good Anyway, the quieter he gets … The more you choose to get up out of bed at the break of dawn to go forth and serve others — any others — the less he has to say.

And this is the only way to beat the darkness within you — a raw, unadulterated, radical persistence of choosing to Live in the Light.

So today, choose to remember who you truly are … Drown out the voice of doubt with your resolve to make a positive difference in someone else’s life today; set aside your insecurities by remembering that your selfless deeds — no matter how “small” — always count & are innately potent; burn away the subconscious fears ladled over your Soul by your instincts & your upbringings & your politicians & your preachers to simply get up and go Do Good Anyway. Remember what amazing possibilities life holds; remember what profound Meaning awaits you in every moment; remember the deeper, Noble reason why we are all here … and remember that momentum has no power in the realm of a well-lived Life; that only THIS moment counts, and that — no matter what we might have done or not done in the moment before — we can always pause anew in THIS moment and choose Love anew.

So no matter how many times your other you tells you that You are bound to fail; no matter how many times it tells You that You aren’t making a difference; no matter how many times it tells You that You are “not ready” or “too weak” or “too busy” or “too tired” or “only one” or “only human” – get up and Do some Good anyway …

Even if only for today, choose anew to BE who you truly Are …
Choose to RISE UP & SHINE!

(Amen … Let it be so)

[inspired by redproductions]

Filed under: Practical Tips for Peace-full Living by Scaughdt