The other day while I was on the bus coming home there were two young women standing near me - I think they may have been University students. I have to admit to being a chronic eavesdropper and so I was listening to their conversation. I wish I had counted the number of times the word 'stress' arose in this conversation over about 10 minutes. And it is a word and a reality it seems, that has become a huge burden in people's lives. Why is this so? What is it that we are reaching for that makes life so stressful? Part of my question would also be: if we liked ourselves and believed ourselves to be of infinite value irrespective of what we achieve would we be more at peace?
I have a number of friends who have taught me a lot about the gift of being somebody without worldly success. These folks are my friends at l'Arche - I have spoken of them before and hope to do so many times again. But my point is that here are people who are not only beautiful in themselves but have far less sense of the stress that comes from being a chronic high-achiever. It isn't that each person hasn't felt the sting of rejection or hasn't suffered deeply because most have, but even so, there is a beautiful gift of just being.
 |
| Ken Milne |
Here are some of my friends
to whose friendship
I owe more than I can
say.
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| Melina Boote and Gwenda Dunlop |
You will see in these people the amazing gift of human dignity that we all desire. And because we are all getting older there is as well, the acceptance of self that brings a greater peace.
I would like to trust that as our world faces more of the trials that seem to lie ahead we could learn to value each other person as a gift - regardless of rank or wealth or place in life. It would be amazing if we could come to a new, truer sense of what beauty actually is and where peace really comes from.
1 comment:
Yes, I agree that a lot of our stress comes from valuing the wrong things. We get so many messages about how we should be a certain way and accomplish certain things and we are often valued by others for what we do rather than who we are. We would certainly be more at peace with ourselves and be able to appreciate others if we were more accepting of all our imperfections and appreciative of the gifts of our individual natures. It is not easy to resist the habitual thinking patterns that we are surrounded and influenced by, but so necessary for peace and happiness.
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