by Dr. Marcel Hernandez, ND
Am I wrong in suspecting that I am not the only ordinary human being who has ever dreamed of a misty future when I will enter a place of true stability – a place where all of my challenges will be resolved, and where I will be able to exhale deeply and no longer have to deal with the torrential entanglements of living in this world – including the near-constant barrage of “breaking news,” health issues, financial crises, relationships in turmoil, and family worries that beset us humans daily.
When will it end? Some folks believe they can buy happiness right now, today, measured by the pile of possessions, desirable partners, and nerve-tingling experiences they can gather.
Even though we all know it isn’t true, the short-term distractions promise us a tempting respite from the endless assaults of the external world.
And yet – all too soon, the nap is over, and the same issues reappear as the cycle resumes.
As a naturopathic physician, it all looks suspiciously familiar.
Our medical practice is based on the notion that relieving symptoms never effects a cure, since it doesn’t’ address the underlying root cause or causes.
The root cause of the present worldwide plague of unhappiness can be found in the complex relationship between material greed and the longing to connect with the benign creative intelligence that creates and sustains us all.
Unhappiness is so predictable, its causes are so universally well-known – you would think that we would have learned long ago to avoid them!
It’s truly just a question of our personal priorities. Unhappiness happens when the quest for material goods (and other false gods) rises inside us to loftier heights than our longing for connection with Spirit in all of its forms – as kindness, compassion, generosity, service – all of the expansive instincts in our own nature that alone ever truly deliver into our hands the real happiness goods.
The problem is that in today’s world instant gratification is so immediately available – whereas accessing the soulful qualities in our nature takes a great deal of hard, sustained, deeply focused work.
The resulting disconnection with the Divine in us always – always! – spawns unhappiness and disappointments that we turn and blame on the people and circumstances around us.
We cannot find true peace by changing the self-perpetuating world “out there” that wants to send us dancing and spinning until we crash and fall, victims of our own self-generated stress and anxiety.
In order for true peace to make an appearance in us, we must consciously cultivate our inner world and manage our external stressors.
Battling stress doesn’t mean that we must run away from our life’s honorable challenges; but that when we are inwardly composed, centered, and calm, we find that we are able to meet those dancing dervish stressors from a motionless point within, with grace and resilience.
The result is a balanced life, improved mental health, and a rising tide of general happiness.
A friend recently told me that he would really like to be following a spiritual path more deeply, because he was aware of the comfort it would bring him; but he added that he “just didn’t feel it yet.”
I was sorry that I didn’t get a chance to respond, because we were interrupted. Meanwhile, after pondering his words, I feel I should tell him the following story, if the opportunity should arise.
When I look back at myself forty-five years ago, I see how unhappy and unfulfilled I was. I knew that I was missing something important in my life. I also knew that what I was missing was a spiritual connection, but – you guessed it – I just didn’t “feel” a connection at the time.
I remember discussing this absence of connection with a close friend, and mentioning that if I opened the door to spiritual connection, I would only be pretending to do so.
In a loud voice, in which there wasn’t a shred of doubt or hesitation, only profound, resounding truth-saturated certainty, my friend roared: “By all means – PRETEND!”
I was so moved by the vibration of deep truth ringing in his voice that I felt I had no other choice, and so I tried it. I committed to finding a spiritual path that I would feel was a good fit for me.
For several years I was a butterfly, tasting the nectar of various paths and trying to be as accepting, non-judgmental, and open in my consciousness as I was able – just in case the Spirit decided to make an entrance.
And then, a little over three decades ago, I found the path that I presently follow, at which point I was so certain of its truth that I stepped off the cliff with an uncompromising inner and outer commitment that continues to this day.
Here’s what I learned.
I learned that pretending was actually what I’d been doing by keeping the door closed to Spirit. When I was ready, it only took opening the door a tiny crack for the truth of our existence to flood my being with its life-changing, blissful and wise awareness.
With this experience as my firm foundation I have been able to face even very major external challenges with a far greater measure of equanimity and fearlessness than I ever could, before I opened the door.
I realized that the only lasting stability and happiness come when a touch of the Divine comes flooding through the tiny inner opening and gives us the experience of our inner connection with all creation.
I’ve learned that true, lasting peace can only ever come through finding that connection with the Spirit in us that is manifesting through us as our true, individual Self.
Drs. Connie and Marcel Hernandez
DrConnie@DrsHernandez.com
DrMarcel@DrsHernandez.com