Eat, Pray, Love

figuring it out.

i find it fascinating how our minds work. it seems as if we can switch from one opposing thought to another leaving us often times baffled and just as lost as we ever were. i've just started reading what's sure to be one of my favourite books of all time. lent to me by a dear friend, Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert has captured my heart and attention within the first few pages. i'm not going to sit here and review the book (that would be silly, I've only started reading it) but i will tell you that she puts into words so wonderfully the full extent of what I'm looking for. some people do not look. something I've realized just recently. we are not taught from a young age that happiness is our personal responsibility. as children, happiness comes from getting the toy you wanted for Christmas or stuffing your face with jujubes and twinkies and sometimes getting to stay up past your bedtime to watch that movie you shouldn't be watching. if only this is what real happiness was about! inspired by a recent note from The Universe, getting to the point in your life where you fully accept responsibility for your own happiness may be one of the most crucial and life changing moments in your entire life.

we can all agree that it is much easier blaming our inadequacies, failures, mistakes and disappointments on anyone but ourselves . . . sometimes we even blame God for the place we find ourselves in at this very moment. but because i personally don't believe God has a predetermined plan for each of us (if He did, then wouldn't we merely be puppets in a puppet show?) and because of the element of free will, this leaves the responsibility of our lives up to us. and our responsibility to ask God for help is ours to bare indeed. God is there to aid, obey and guide us . . . i believe He wants us to find the Godlikeness in ourselves and to be comforted in knowing that at the core of that Godlikeness in us, is unconditional and abundant love that we can call upon whenever we need to. understanding that our happiness is completely in our own hands can seem daunting to some but in essence, i don't think God would have it any other way. i think it's completely necessary for our evolution as a species and finding the perfect balance between (as Gilbert puts it) "worldly pleasures and the devotion to God" or the balance between average and extraordinary. 

i guess what i'm trying to say is . . .  you gotta read this book! and keep searching and searching until you find your perfect balance. don't succumb to just the "worldly pleasures" in this life - you'd be missing out on the most magnificent part. and always know, you're never alone.