I just got off the phone with my addictions counselor. She informed me that gambling is a disease and that I should consider cognitive-behavioral therapy. When I asked about the fatality rate, she hesitated a moment and then forwarded me to the suicide prevention hotline.
The reason I share my fictional problems with you is mostly to draw attention to the natural thought progressions that are common to most people. For example: Most people wouldn’t hesitate to give you a substantial list of things they would buy if they were to win the lottery.
Following that same theme I had this thought. If a man was to approach you and give you $1,000,000 you would consider yourself to be an unbiased recipient of his benevolence. If however, you had rescued that same man’s son from a fire and he offered you a $1,000,000 you would firmly refuse his offer.
I couldn’t help but think about the widespread application of that very same thought pattern in relation to our everyday decision making. Our instinctual tendency is to take everything that comes our way, because we may never have the opportunity again. When we give sacrificially, we can never be content to receive what others might consider to be an appropriate compensation.
It starts to become evident that our happiness isn’t always associated with an unexpected good fortune, but rather the inherent result of walking in humility. I heard it said once that the answer to every problem is this: How can I humble myself in this situation? I truly believe that the frivolous things of life sometimes are mistaken as free gifts. If we are not careful they will rob us of our ability to decipher our purpose in life and the capacity to enjoy it.
What if out purpose in life is to simply enjoy it?
ReplyDeleteI thought about winning the lottery. When you have no money you "Believe" you can not have or do anything you want without it. But when you do have money you "Believe" you can do and have anything you want.
I think people see money as the only power that can give them a good life. But I think the real power is the knowing that "they" have the power and not money to change there life for the better. To "believe" money is the only power that can give you happiness makes you seem powerless. So I think if people "believe" in there own power and took it into there own hands they can do or have anything they want.
So maybe all life comes down to is what are belief's are, and based on those beliefs is what becomes of our life.
Like Jesus once said something like, "If they had faith the size of a mustard seed, they could do anything". So faith is like a belief and a belief is like a knowing. I know if I walk on water I will sink, that is my belief my knowing my faith?
If faith gives the power to move mountains I sure we also have the power to have as much money as we want or need. But to change ones thinking is not easy. To say you will win the lottery but knowing it is unlikely, are not of the same belief. For words have no power, if they did, I sure every one would win the lottery. You may not have control over anything, but you will always have control over your thoughts and beliefs. For all we are is thought without it we are nothing?
If the purpose of life is to enjoy it, how do you deal with the parts that aren't enjoyable? If you were completely satisfied, there would not be any reason to change things, and if we are not growing as individuals we are dead.
ReplyDeleteI do agree with you that most people do not understand that they really do have the potential to change their situation. Where I differ slightly is that I believe that mans best efforts are incomparable to God's ability to intervene in the situation.
The verse that you quoted is good, and has been the focus of many debates. It is written in the book of Matthew,chapter 17. To understand it correctly though it has to be read in the context of the previous verses. The story spans from verse 14-20. Basically what happened was that some people brought a demon possessed man to Jesus, and asked that he would remove them. Jesus disciples later asked Him why they weren't unable to cast them out. Jesus replied: "Because you didn't put your faith in me. If you had faith the size of the mustard seed..."
Without thought we aren't human. We would just exist with the purpose of survival... or occupy space much like a large boulder. Which may be why we've invented god's belonging to random collections of matter.
Lets say the purpose was to enjoy life, Since I stating that threw theory.
ReplyDeleteWe would simply create a goal or wanting, and once that is achieved we will then want even more and more, since we can never be satisfied with just that 1 thing for a long period of time. Which is what makes life so great?
So we constantly create new wantings and from that we grow and invent new things and progress in technology as the world has been doing for a very long time.
So maybe the reason we feel bad is because we resisting what we want. As we live life we observer and threw many observations and experiences we create many ideas and things we want from those experiences.
And if we do not allow our selves to become what life caused us to become threw the many new wantings and experiences, then we will feel bad. Because we are resisting or believing that we can not do or have that in which we have created threw are wantings.
So by saying the purpose of life is to enjoy it is like saying the purpose of life is to expand threw many new wantings if we were to follow them maybe?