There Is Nothing Wrong With Seeing Things The Way They Are

There Is Nothing Wrong With Seeing Things The Way They ArenBy
Bill Cottringe
n“Common sense is the simple knack of seeing things the way they are and doing things the way they should be done.” ~ Mark Twain.

Here are two important clarifications that I think Mark Twain would have agreed with in relation to the above quote:

Reality: What you perceive, think or believe to be so, before getting contaminated by the unreliable flavoring of incoming information sources, the chaotic in-between mind-chatter, and the inadequacy of outgoing words that usually miscommunicate the information.

Real Wholegrain Happiness: The grand prize you get when you see and act on things the way they really are.

Life continually throws tests at us, but there is one that is ongoing—the test to gradually get a more accurate and complete picture of the realities we are trying to deal with so we can get the best results. We are being encouraged by life to close our eyes and slow down our minds to get rid of the three reality busters in the definition of reality above. This is the best way to get the real wholegrain happiness that nurtures and satisfies our whole being.

Most, if not all failures, unhappiness and unnecessary suffering stem from not seeing things the way they really are. The challenge is to reconcile our wrong versions of the story by “letting go” to the bigger and more accurate reality that is always coaxing us to see it as it is and join it, more stresslessly and effortlessly than we imagine.

There are many things that get in the way and slow down this natural process that leads us to the real success and genuine happiness we all want. Consider the impact of these common obstacles present in your own life:

• Impatience in getting to where you think you want to be at work, in a relationship or in life (widespread addiction to the instant need gratification affliction).

• Lack of clarity as to what you need to be doing right now in regards to getting to where you really want to be (this builds frustration and fuels impatience).

• Intolerance or misunderstanding of any of the obstacles that get in your way in trying to close the gap between where you are and where you want to be (this increases frustration and impatience even more).

• Buying into the many appealing and alluring illusions, delusions, distortions and wrong interpretations that all lead to incorrect realities (this wastes time).

• Focusing on annoying differences and failures and the discomfort they bring instead of building on similarities and successes (this wastes more time).

• Over-embracing half-truths and completely missing the other 180-degrees of the view (this aggravates all the other obstacles above).

• Spending too much time taking things apart to understand them and then either forgetting to put them back together in working order or running out of time or energy to do so (we probably do this because at this point we don’t know what else to do).

• Ego-pride that maintains the blind spots preventing you from seeing things the way they really are (like seeing the reality of this very process we are part of).

• Lacking a sense of urgency to do anything about this all—especially questioning and correcting all the wrong perceptions of wrong realities you have accumulated over the years (By this time they are set in concrete, but oddly the concrete is wearing thin).

Actually, this list of obstacles is so formidable that it eventually leads us to see the light in life, so to speak. Then the joke is on us and we can pause to have a hearty laugh. What we laugh at is finally being able to notice what we have been failing to notice all along—that we really don’t have to add anything to life or any thing in it to make it better so we can feel better.

Right now I am enjoying watching the Snoqualmie River flow by effortlessly in all its raw, natural beauty, as it has been doing so many centuries before me. The only thing I can add to this equation is appreciation. Anything else doesn’t improve anything.