June 11, 2000
"When we are really honest with ourselves we must admit our lives are all that really belong to us. So it is how we use our lives that determines the kind of men/women we are."
Cesar Chavez
Sue Enochian, a wonderful soul
who I have grown to love, sent this quote to me. She followed the quote with the following message.
“ I want to be using my life to make a change within people’s hearts
and lives – to give them permission to know themselves.
We can do this, whatever it means to each of us, whatever it means to
interact and become a stepping-stone for others to place their steps upon to get
to where they need to be going with their inner/spiritual journey.”
I have never written a similar
life statement, but I think I need to do this someday.
My wife, Janice, (of 24 years today!) may not have a written statement
either, but I have been amazed at how she lives her life similarly to Sue’s
statement. Janice gives our family
“permission to know” ourselves and to love ourselves.
In doing so, I think she knows herself better than she sometimes gives
herself credit for.
It is scary to think that Chavez
is right when we are living in a material world that seems on the surface to
define us and appears to reward us based on a winner-take-all principle.
Throw away the resume and the toys and get to know the person that is
left. Even if you do not have
supportive family and friends like Janice and Sue who give you permission and
encourage you to know yourself, you must find the internal strength to know the
only “possession” you have. It only follows that when we discover ourselves we must next
figure out how to use our lives in a way that honors the gift of life.
Maybe that is why so many avoid self-discovery.
Cesar Chavez was a Latino
activist who brought the plight of the migrant farm workers into the national
spotlight in the 1970’s. His
statements are based on a time when certain employers treated their
“workers” as a commodity or even property.
As for the migrant worker, he saw people who owned nothing including the
sense of owning their own life. He not only worked to change the working and
living conditions of the migrant workers as a group, but he gave individuals
permission to know themselves and discover their self-worth.
Most of us would have trouble
relating to the conditions Chavez helped to improve. But rest assured they still exist. My wife witnessed similar conditions in the Dominican
Republic last year while on an outreach mission.
What touched her most was the spirit of many of the women that shined
through their poverty. They took
ownership of their lives and were blessed as a result.
So whether we have more riches
than we need or are challenged daily to keep food on the table, our life is our
real possession. Knowing ourselves
and giving others permission to know themselves needs to be a conscious
exercise. How we use our life,
share it, nurture it, can only come after we know, accept and love ourselves.
Deciding what to do and how to live will develop and define your soul.
With respect, acceptance, and
love,
Richard