Golden Hour, paper collage, 2022
If you spend your life in pursuit of power, love, and esteem, you are certain to fail. Even if you become the most powerful person on the planet, you will have failed. If you end up famous, universally adored and revered by the masses, you will have failed. If you find a lover (or lovers) who worships you, who would do anything to please you, you still will have failed. And you will have failed spectacularly. Because you will never have enough.
We spend our lives in pursuit of power because someone once made us feel powerless. We pursue love and affection because someone once failed to give us the warmth, affection, and unconditional love we needed. We lust for prestige and recognition because someone once made us feel we were undeserving or otherwise not good enough. And in return, we demand that the world satisfy those needs for us.
We look for other people to dominate and control so that we can gain a sense of power and self-importance. We seek avenues for prestige and recognition so that we can finally feel good enough. We look for love because we think it will fill a void inside of us, that the world will somehow become less cold and inhospitable. But each of these needs—power, love, and esteem—is a mirage in the desert. Like a hunger that can never be satiated or a wound that’s not allowed to heal.
When we demand the world fulfill those needs for us, we are really selling ourselves short. When we need power and prestige, we are not free to accept them as gifts, with great honor and responsibility, and as a means of elevating others. When we need another person to love us, we are not free to accept that love as a gift and to give love freely in return.
After all, if you feel something is owed to you, it’s not a gift. And you’re not free to accept it with gratitude and an open heart.
So much better that we don’t demand anything from the world. So much better that we focus on developing our potentialities, on discovering what brings us joy and lasting satisfaction, on using our talents to do good. So much better that we are driven by inspiration, purpose, and passion. The world opens up to us differently then. We are free to accept the gifts, big and small, that we’re given everyday simply by virtue of being alive.
The Used Life 
21 responses to “A Sunday Morning Meditation”
Very well written… Life is a gift 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you very much! It is, for sure, as long as we’re open to receiving it. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love this post – both the gorgeous collage and the message of not seeking external validation, and instead finding purpose from within 💗
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much! I’m happy this post resonates. 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Excellent essay. It reminded me so much of David Foster Wallace’s speech This is Water. It’s on Youtube if you haven’t watched it already. I don’t think people can satisfy us because they’re finite, love because it can be abstract, and fame because it lacks substance sometimes.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much! I haven’t seen the Wallace speech, but I’ll check it out. I think a lot of our ego needs work like that—they keep us looking in all the wrong places for meaning and satisfaction. Even when we achieve what we think we want, we’re left wanting more.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah love this ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you very much! 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
My pleasure!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love this. A lot of wisdom here. Reminds me of an Emily Dickinson poem, “I’m Nobody! Who are you?”
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much, Bob. And that’s a great comparison with the Dickinson poem. On some level, I think we are only free to become “somebody” once we understand what it means to be “nobody”…if that make sense.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It does makes sense!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love how the nature of the artwork ties into these fulfilling musings about the nature of living in pursuit of something as opposed to simply letting it come to us!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! I was hoping the two would work well together. 😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
Insightful writing that led to a most powerful ending! ✨ Exciting news… I am going to pick up your framed collage this evening. 👏🏻
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! How exciting! I hope you enjoy it. 😊🌵✨
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s so beautiful! Wait till you see it. I chose a purple mat. 💜🌵 I will share soon on a blog post with your link. At some point over the next few weeks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
A purple mat sounds perfect! And thank you for sharing whenever you get around to it—no rush and I appreciate it! ☺️
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wonderful Sunday morning meditation..I’m enjoying it on a Monday 🙂 You shared so much wisdom..my favorite line, “After all, if you feel something is owed to you, it’s not a gift. And you’re not free to accept it with gratitude and an open heart.” This is indeed true and as you have laid out so perfectly, we will not find fulfillment in a world that we think needs to fill us…rather, we must fill the world with the outpouring of what we already have within. Life has this beautiful way of communing with us when we step out with confidence to give it what we can..and in turn, life provides what is always accessible for us to reach out and touch. Superb meditation, my friend.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you very much! As you said so beautifully, life does have a way of “communing with us when we step out with confidence to give it what we can”. To get to that point can be difficult, but it’s very much worth the effort. I always appreciate your feedback, my friend, and I’m delighted you enjoyed the post.
LikeLike