As I was sitting on my back porch yesterday, throwing the ball with my demandingly playful German Shepherd, a series of questions came into my mind. Questions sparked by looking into his eyes and seeing the pure innocence and nature of an animal that knows love far stronger than a human does. A love that knows no boundaries. That when abused, neglected, and till their last breath, they love. An unconditional love.

This series of questions raced through my mind to the point I needed to grab my journal and jot down some of them. Questions that live within my soul and are always asking to be answered. Answered by a higher being, energy, or possibly through working themselves out. Here within my mind, I find these questions to be the same that those who seek universal love and unity ask. Yet will they ever have an answer? Some are as simple as can be, and some are complex. Here are my questions. With every question below, please pause and ask yourself that question.

So, when was the last time you:

• Held the door open for another person, smiled, and greeted them.
• Asked another person how they were doing and truly listened selflessly.
• Checked in on someone you have not communicated with in some time.
• You gave to someone or something without any expected reciprocation.
• Gave an unexpected compliment and truly mean it.
• Stopped to enjoy the small things in life and push out meaningless expectations you perceive that must achieve.
• Realized success is neither fame nor fortune.
• Looked around at nature and realize the beauty that is important in life.
• You told someone you loved them.
• You loved unconditionally.

Our lives begin with this aura of meaning that is pressed upon us by an entity that is not real. One that presses upon us the importance of statures and delusions which we must accomplish to have meaning. We all crave that answer, “Why are we here?”. Most search all their lives in vain looking for that one answer. Those that feel happiness is an ideology that is force-fed to us through society. Society dictates what and how we feel, meanwhile decade by decade, increasing the stressors in which we live. The insurmountable objectives we must accomplish.

If we look at what is dictating our lives, we find humans that are seeking control and amassing a fortune. This has been a dilemma since the dawn of the population increase. As someone who believes in a higher being, I do believe the Bible to be a book compiled for the reasons I just mentioned. The Bible, if you truly research the compilation of the scripts/books, was compiled by a group of men who cherry-picked what was going to compromise this literary work. Yes, some will say it was inspired by God. Yet they have not looked at who compiled it and what their stature was. It is the equivalent of the government today and laws that are passed yet no one gets to vote for the knuckleheads that pass these laws. These were wealthy landowners and royalty. The book was meant to control. As the population increases, there needed to be rules. Even the pagans had Gods. These laws birthed ideologies on how you should live and die. I will say, there are very good writings in the book. Some just come from authors who were inspired by their own experiences and not that of actual divinity. I feel there are scriptures that hold divine truths.

If we look beyond the original manuscript of control, the Bible, which is interpreted differently by every official delivering its message and used for hundreds of years, we find ourselves in a different realm of control ideology. One that is seeped into our televisions, radios, smartphones, and computers. The form of data control. Your data of where you go, what you do, and your interests are all farmed and packaged up to deliver your own personally delivered suggestions, subtly hidden in what you see. If you know it is there, it is not a big deal. Very few are phased by it, but again, our population derives from a lack of cognitive and critical thinking skills, therefore, we have a vast number of force-fed ideologies and misinformation that feed uneducated minds. What does love even mean to some of these people? A new car, big house, attractive spouse, material possessions?  What is success? Whoops!!! Guess what, for a large amount of this demographic, it is the same. That is where things get wonky.

When love and success derive the same meanings, you might be lost.

Lost you may ask? Yes, lost to what society has impressed upon you to think, feel, and act. As someone who believes in the greater good of humanity, I still see self-entitled, selfish, and emotionally cold people daily. Depending on where I am at, what I am doing, or observing: it exists. This is NORMAL.

Well, technically, there is no normal. Possibly a baseline!

There is no perfect. Read that ten times and let it sink in. There is no perfect.

There is your best you. That is happy, healthy, and without the weight of feeling you need to impress others.

So, when was the last time you looked at yourself in the mirror? This morning? Me, too! Here is where I am going to ask you to do something I find helps me and makes me realize where I need to start my every day. When you look into that mirror. You speak, or think vividly, about all the things you should truly be grateful for. Clean water, abundant food, and shelter. The creature comforts such as electricity, running water, indoor plumbing, and climate control. These are some of the small things you take for granted every day. Be grateful for loved ones and those you want to bring closer to your heart. Keep riddling off ALL of these types of things. When you get through your list, you must ALWAYS do one thing. You end this morning routine by looking at yourself, smiling, and telling yourself how much you love you. Yes, you.

If you cannot tell yourself, you love yourself, then stay tuned to next week. I will try and help by sharing how I purge those thoughts and perceptions out of my soul. Please consider subscribing and sharing.

dK