There's a lot of hurting out there, a lot of pain, a lot of suffering. We can look at the news and see people, good people, being pushed over the edge. We see it in our own circle of friends. Perhaps we are close to the edge ourselves.
A recent newspaper column about one of the gay kids who recently committed suicide spoke about how it was too bad that he was so young and hadn't had time to "season against hurt." I thought that was very profound. Think about it: "season against hurt."
What does this mean? Does it mean turn yourself off emotionally? Does it mean building a wall between yourself and others? I don't think so.
My idea of seasoning against hurt is to build up our own self-esteem to the point where the attitudes and words of others, especially of those we don't put too much stock in, simply aren't capable of harming us.
We know who we are. We are a good person on a sacred pathway, the hero's journey. We are noble. We have spent a lot of time (and worry) thinking about what we are doing. So on this subject, we are informed, intelligent and experienced. Those who would try to hurt us with words or attitudes are often ignoble and ignorant. They don't value our journey, largely because they really don't know a thing about it, and they certainly haven't experienced it. Oftentimes they haven't thought very deeply about ANYTHING... much less something as important as our sacred journey.
WE are the experts on the subject of transgender. They are not. WE are the experts on the subject of ourselves. They don't know what they are talking about. By simply trying to be who we authentically are, WE are in the right. They are in the wrong if they try to thwart us.
WE are exercising our rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. According to our American Declaration of Independence, these are INALIENABLE RIGHTS... endowed by the Creator. The ignoble and ignorant would attempt to deny us those rights.
WE are doing exactly what the great spiritual teachers and wisest philosophers and most eloquent poets throughout history have told us to do: be true to yourself, take control of your life, accept responsibility for creating the person you want to be, and throw yourself passionately into life.
And so we take the road less traveled.
YES! WE are the abnormal! The non-standard. The non-conformist. The uncommon. The questioning. The original. The interesting. The transforming.
They are the normal, the average, the standard, the common, the unoriginal, the unquestioning, the conformist, the unchanging, sometimes just plain dull!
Do not aspire to be like them! Be who you are you. You are a beautiful work-in-progress, just the way you are, right now. Believe in yourself and the righteousness of your cause, your pathway, your hero's journey. Be the hero of that journey. Go for it. Assume the power! Be the change you want to see in the world and in yourself.
Build yourself up. Temper yourself like fine steel. Be hard and sharp, but flexible. Do not allow the ignoble to bring down the noble. Do not allow them to hurt you. Use the passion of your journey to simply ignore such conformity and ignorance. You have the choice as to how much power you will give them. Return to them the full measure of the worth of their negative attitude... Zero!
You know your value, and they don't. If you refuse to give them any power, they can't touch you with hurtful words or attitudes!
Arete!
Annie R.
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