Lyric said:
But I see what Alan Ross is saying---that it's folly to think the Universe will provide you with whatever you want. It won't. It absolutely will provide you with whatever you need, though. Always.
Sadly, I can't even agree with that statement. At least if by "need" is meant what is needed for survival. Here are a few statistics I pulled up:
* Every day, almost 16,000 children die from hunger-related causes--one child every five seconds.
* 820 million people in the developing world are undernourished. They consume less than the minimum amount of calories essential for sound health and growth.
* Worldwide, more than 1 billion people currently live below the international poverty line, earning less than $1 per day.
Just the other day, I was reading in the local paper about a couple of young girls, I believe around 4 or 5 years old, who were shot dead in a drive-by shooting while playing outside. They were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. What I'm saying should be obvious; personal survival is not guaranteed. Anything the Universe provides, the Universe can take away, including our very lives.
Everyday, I'm grateful that I have a job; there are many who have no job. Everyday I'm grateful for the roof over my head; there are many who have no roof. Everyday, I'm grateful for the food in my belly; there are many who have no food. Everyday, I'm grateful to be alive.
I'm sorry if what I'm saying seems to be a downer. But the most valuable thing I possess is not my life. Sooner or later, I will have to give that back anyway. If I die at fifty or if I die at a hundred, it doesn't make much difference. The past no longer exists and the future hasn't come yet. The only thing we can truly lose is the present moment.
The most valuable thing I possess is my beautiful and sacred inner being, which I'm bound and determined to protect from any corruption. I would rather live a short, difficult life as a good, decent, and loving person than a long, easy life as a selfish, uncaring, unfeeling brute. I don't expect the Universe to be kind. I don't expect the Universe to be generous. I don't expect the Universe to be fair. I prefer to let go of all expectations and simply "trust life. ...Then this life is no longer ordinary life, it becomes full of God, overflowing. When the heart is innocent and the walls have disappeared, you are bridged with infinity."