Returning Home

I returned home this week.  This was very positive.  Though I did not receive an admonition from Cassandra that she is abusive and needs to make changes, I did receive a commitment to do better.  Will things be perfect?  Likely there will be struggles again, but, as Hunter Thompson says, “Who is happier: he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed?"

I also came to an important realization in myself.  I have no difficulty in life accepting the perspective of a person from a different culture.  I can accept the other person’s opinion as valid, even though I may not understand it or even believe what they see as an absolute truth.  This ability made my life in Africa both fruitful and enjoyable.  So why haven’t I been able to take the same perspective with Cassandra?  She was raised in the same culture as I was, but her family and mine could not have been more different.  Being brought up in an abusive home, her belief systems are very different from mine.  Why haven’t I simply been able to accept that?  In fact, by accepting that, I am able to have a healthy detachment from Cassandra.  I no longer take what she says personally, I am able to observe that this person really sees the world in a way that is much different than my own.  I’m able to ask questions and to learn.  Her words and accusations no longer have an impact on me.  They simply represent a world view quite different from my own.

This ties in with a very valuable lesson from the Napoleon Hill Foundation:
The mind is the most powerful weapon known to man. It simply cannot be controlled or contained by an outside force, however formidable that force may at first appear. Throughout history, tyrants have tried to control those who opposed them, but eventually these rulers discovered the power of the imagination was far greater than the threat of the sword. As Victor Hugo said, “An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come.” 

No one else can control our thoughts.  That is our ultimate freedom.   I close today with one final quote:

Although we may not have a choice with the cards we are dealt at times, we always have a choice with how we play them.  Kim Gemmell

May God bless you abundantly this week.

Christian