Look Inside (KB)

It can happen that something we did ten or fifteen years ago comes back to bite us, hitting us in the form of some sort of judgment or personal chaos in our life. We usually look at the situation and say, “Gee, what did I do to deserve this? How come this is happening to me? Everything was so great, and now all of a sudden, I’ve lost my way. I don’t have the same balance. My business sense has changed.” Most likely, though, our business sense hasn’t changed. The reason we are facing whatever we are dealing with right now is that at some point, in this lifetime or a past one, we took something that we shouldn’t have taken, went into a place where we shouldn’t have gone, or were a little bit too greedy. The consequences of what we did before are arising in our experience and we don’t have a clue as to where it came from, because we weren’t present in the moment, even then, when we set it in motion. All of us tend to look at a problem, assess the circumstances, and then blame the other person, often using a variant of the following accusations: Well, she did that to me. He left me. This person passed away. That person cheated me in business. All the while, however, we are missing the point: that what we experience is a reflection of what is inside of us. When something happens, instead of looking for someone to blame, the more effective approach is to start to ask, “What did I do that created the space that made this unfortunate event happen?” We are constantly looking outside of ourselves, reacting to our negative life situations and relationships and falling into either regret or guilt over the past or anxiety for the future. We externalize because we haven’t yet arrived at the understanding that all we need is right here in the present. The “me,” the “I am,” exist in the present moment. It is the part of myself that creates everything in my life. Everything. The more we can turn inward and cleanse ourselves, rather than turning outward to get a “fix” or lay the blame on something or someone else, the greater our power to take control of our lives.