New Year's Resolution

Last month, I happened to know a medical journal in neurology had featured a number of the movies whose theme was regarding illnesses of mainly neurological entity. I was astonished to see so many movies had handled a variety of diseases, whether fatal or not. Those diseases must bring about drama to people and they could not help being concerned about them. Most diseases the movie handled were serious or life long ones. There were a few diseases which I had never known of. Despite of the progress in medical science, there are so many diseases which medical doctors hardly could do with. Especially, hereditary ones or diseases related with aging. 

For the patients, their illness should be their lives themselves and be an absolute absurdity in their life. I know a lot of people with such diseases are living with courage. They are even encouraging us with their positive attitude. 

Our aging and death are themselves the absolute absurdity for us as well. We have been born to achieve something in the world, which are seldom accoplished. If death is brought about with political power, that is, with in war etc, thoughts he/she is in a abusrdity is beyond our imagination. Aging and death are becoming inevitable theme of concern for me. 

We could keep distance from things in our lives as we get older. It enables us to view things objectively but not clinging to them. It won't be easy to do with the absurdity in life. 

Keeping distance and independence from things in the world may let us live more freely and less worried. It should be my resolution this year. Could I get closer to wisdome of elderly?

As this sentences say;

 Leonard Cohen said his teacher once told him that, the older you get, the lonelier you become, and the deeper the love you need. This is because, as we go through life, we tend to over-identify with being the hero of our stories.

This hero isn’t exactly having fun: he’s getting kicked around, humiliated, and disgraced. But if we can let go of identifying with him, we can find our rightful place in the universe, and a love more satisfying than any we’ve ever known.

People constantly throw around the term “Hero’s Journey” without having any idea what it really means. Everyone from CEOs to wellness-influencers thinks the Hero’s Journey means facing your fears, slaying a dragon, and gaining 25k followers on Instagram. But that’s not the real hero’s journey.

In the real hero’s journey, the dragon slays YOU. Much to your surprise, you couldn’t make that marriage work. Much to your surprise, you turned forty with no kids, no house, and no prospects. Much to your surprise, the world didn’t want the gifts you proudly offered it.

If you are foolish, this is where you will abort the journey and start another, and another, abusing your heart over and over for the brief illusion of winning. But if you are wise, you will let yourself be shattered, and return to the village, humbled, but with a newfound sense that you don’t have to identify with the part of you that needs to win, needs to be recognized, needs to know. This is where your transcendent life begins.

So embrace humility in everything. Life isn’t out to get you, nor are your struggles your fault. Every defeat is just an angel, tugging at your sleeve, telling you that you don’t have to keep banging your head against the wall. Leave that striver there, trapped in his lonely ambitions. Just walk away, and life in its vastness will embrace you.

~ Paul Weinfield