WE ARE CREATED EQUAL
WHO "WE" IS AND HOW CAPABLE WE TRULY ARE
WE ARE ALL CAPABLE OF CREATING A HAPPY LIFE
Yes, some of us have been born with a DNA or a development path problem that may limit their fuctionality.
All the rest of us have sufficient capability to achieve the top levels of life. All are capable of learning and then implementing what works in life.
It is not ability or personal talent that determine the achievement of that which really matters. We can achieve the happiness that we want even without some of the "advantages" of a high IQ or some special ability.
We all have the ability to adapt to circumstances, if we so choose.
People born without limbs adjust, often having wonderfully inspiring stories, to live a full life. (Read Nick Vijicic: "No Arms, No Legs, No Limits"; John O'Leary, Rising Above.)
People born with "handicaps", such as being deaf and blind, like Helen Keller. (Read her page on this site.)
Children with Downes Syndrome are often of a "happy nature", so they get there another way.
People who are born in bad conditions have also proven themselves to be able to achieve happiness. (See Bad Past, Good Life.)
The few who cannot are born with mental disabilities that cause them not to be capable of the learning and reasoning that is necessary to be able to achieve happiness. But those are remarkably rare.
And if those people are properly valued as fellow human beings and appreciated, they can achieve more happinessj because we choose to give them more. They are less capable of getting it for themselves, but they are still blessed if there are people who are with them who can help give them more happiness.
Other than those who are truly impaired, as the Dalai Lama says, "Right now, at this very moment, we have a mind, which is all the basic equipment we need to achieve complete happiness."
WE ARE SO VERY SIMILAR
While chimpanzees are 96% similar to us, human beings are 99+% similar to each other - though somehow we have a misperception of that. We see skin color, "IQ", religion, education, beliefs, behaviors, etc., as being "differences", plus we make up things about other people that make them appear to be less human. But we are essentially the same: miracle bodies and the highest functioning minds in the universe, the desire to be happy and avoid suffering (as noted in Buddhism).
I learned the Barksdale materials and saw that there was no reason to fault myself or another human being for being at the level of awareness at which they currently are. It is invaluable and, indeed, absolutely necessary for one to be truly happy for one to learn The Reason For "No-Blame", No Criticism.
I have been blown away in several workshops by the great sense of connection I felt to the other participants as we began to see that the other people had the same fears and problems in their lives that we all have. I felt so moved as I say in the Lifespring workshops how liking, accepting, relating, grew to no sense of separation and to "loving" the others without condition - all of them that went through the whole process.
In The Basic we hugged; in the Advanced we "kissed" (figuratively at least and actually physically, even same sex heterosexuals) and felt no barriers between us regardless of so-called differences - we were the same. In the "leadership" program, which I think 63 of the 65 people in Advanced chose to continue into, I felt such a sense of connection, total empathy that I cannot adequately describe the joy of it all.
And I accomplished degrees of that in some of the other workshops. To this day, I cannot help but automatically "see through the eyes" of the other person and to have a true feeling of compassion for them. And that is the source of my deciding to have the mission in my life to be able to contribute significantly to helping to relieve their suffering and to helping them achieve true happiness. (And it moves me to even think about it. I hope that I can make a truly significant contribution before I depart this earth.)
AND YOU ARE, IN FACT, CAPABLE
Toward fulfilling that missiion, I must communicate to and convince you that you have the ability to achieve true happiness, no matter what level you are currently at. You only need to take the steps toward mastery, suffering the initial failures and mistakes and incompetence but achieving more happiness as you learn. You will surely be able to grow toward a solid foundation for happiness and on into abundance.
The next step is below.
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So, how do we get to harvesting true happiness?
