Many people consider themselves open minded, even interested in the meaning of life, love and religion. Yet how wrong are we willing to be, to get the answers we seek?
Imagine what would happen if the messiah arrived on earth one day and said, “Everyone but the Hindus got it wrong.” How would the other world faiths react to this news? Of course you can switch Hindu for any other religion and the response would most likely be the same.
Even if this messiah had such awe inspiring powers that compelled people to ‘believe’, it is hard to imagine that man-made religious establishments would willingly lay down centuries of doctrine and established hierarchies of power.
Set aside for a moment the fact that the concept of a messiah, a single son of God, makes little sense and imagine a scenario where God’s representative, the being sent to deliver mankind the answers to all the issues they have, would even be asked to convince, impress, or command the people they are here to help.
It seems ludicrous but highly plausible that while the majority of the world holds some form of religious belief, that same majority have invested so heavily in a set of beliefs about life that they would discount, dismiss or reinterpret any ‘truth’ that may be on offer. While this may seem ludicrous, it is in fact historically correct when you consider the man-made religions that have been developed around the teachings of many of the world teachers (Buddha, Christ, Mohamed etc.).
So the question remains, how wrong are we willing to be, to get the answers we seek?
In some respects it is easy to pick on current religions for their obstinate and at times arrogant approach to being the holders of truth, yet being unable to explain why so much harm is caused in the name of those very same religions (wars, sexual abuse, corruption, homophobia, racial and religious intolerance etc.).
But what about at a more personal level; what about you and me and the guy that lives a couple of doors down? It doesn’t take long to hear people expressing an interest in health and well being. In fact it is a growth industry, yet there would be few of us that could not name at least one (or more) things that we could do in our own life that would improve its quality (e.g. diet, exercise, work and relationships etc.).
So we have the interest, some even have the motivation – yet strangely the global picture shows growing rates of obesity, diabetes and lifestyle diseases. Which means that there is a vast difference between what we know and what we do. Which suggests there is something we are getting wrong.
So the question remains, how wrong are we willing to be, to get the answers we seek?
It seems that we pride ourselves on being ‘right’ more highly than actually being right and are willing to gamble with our own health to prove it. So what could be so important that we would be willing to sacrifice our own health, or possibly our understanding of the deeper facets of life, to defend?
There seems to be an inner battle going on. There is one part that innately knows about our well being and that something about our current relationships with each other and with the world is not working, and there is part of us that only wants to change our current understanding of life, just enough to avoid anything too painful.
For example, have you ever changed your diet when you were sick, only to revert back to the previous diet once you got better again? We often like to change things enough to make the pain stop but not enough to make it never come back.
We seem to play a game of brinkmanship with our well being – convinced that we know best and are able to stare down the forces of nature in the hope to prove nature wrong. Yet for centuries our bodies have reacted to poison in the same way, regardless of what we call it – arsenic, caffeine, emotions etc. Yet for centuries we take the same poisons.
We pretend there is no effect, even commission research to prove some short term benefits, but nature (and time) have a way of showing us the truth.
We only need to look at cities that quickly decay once humans no longer inhabit that space, to consider how simply and quickly nature is able to re-balance itself. Humans love to shout into the storm, to feel powerful and in control, yet live oblivious to the fact that in another part of the world it’s not even raining. It seems we waste enormous amounts of energy to sustaining ‘our version’ of life, a version that does not seem to work.
For centuries we have tried to be the masters of our world, the masters of our own bodies. We propagate the notion that humanity is the smartest species on the planet yet we continue to demonstrate a distinct lack of intelligence. We have intelligent people that smoke, abuse others, slowly kill themselves with poor diets and sustain corrupt systems all the while professing how intelligent they are.
It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created, that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is.
We have tried this approach for centuries, both personally with our own health and as a global community, but our bodies and nature are talking back and the global environmental, social, health and financial results show a report card that reads a resounding ‘F’.
So, how wrong are we willing to be, to get the answers we seek?
Maybe we need call to account that part of us that rejects the idea that we are not as smart or evolved as humanity could be. Maybe we start with listening to that quiet voice that guides us to take more care of ourselves and each other. That voice that gets over-ridden by an assumed ‘urgent’ matter. This quiet voice is there, it never goes away – it is often simply not connected with or listened to enough.
But it is in our best interests to learn to listen to these whispers because to date we only respond when they scream, and the world and our bodies are screaming right now.
The religion of the future is one founded on the willingness to be wrong (i.e. honest) and to live from the possibility that we are NOT on earth to be masters of all we see, to manipulate it to our will, but we are here to learn to live in harmony, vitality, responsibility and productivity.
That religion for me is The Way of The Livingness, a religion founded on the understanding that the answer to all we seek lies in how we live and what aspect of ourselves we give more power to.
Imagine if we put as much effort to finding every aspect of our lives that did not contribute to harmony, vitality and productivity as we did following our favourite sporting team. If we got excited about being wrong because it simply meant that we could now live a deeper level of harmony.
What would happen to how we would relate to our families, friends, neighbours?
What would happen to our health and well being?
What would happen to our billowing health and defence budgets?
If there was to be a teaching that would change life as we know it, it would be one that built bodies, societies and communities that are vital and evolving. It is a messianic approach in a way, but not because this message is carried by a single person who will save all others, but because it shows us how to save ourselves.
How wrong are you willing to be, to get the answers you seek?
By Joel Levin, Perth, Western Australia
Further Reading:
Hate, Fanaticism and Entitlement – The Investment in Being Right
There is no Right and Wrong in God
Is Serge Benhayon the ‘new messiah?’
“we are here to learn to live in harmony, vitality, responsibility and productivity” This is the call of the Universe for all to respond to truth.
Much needed read today. I find connecting to the body brings the honesty whereas the mind will continue to justify itself in being right.
In 1980 I used to say I am from home town, state, country, earth solar system and then the Universe and now the deeper understanding that we are actually from the stars and we are all equally Gods and thus everyone will evolve to this at there own pace.
Unfortunately there is no indication whatsoever that the world is ready to pull itself up and question what’s going on, in fact all of the signs indicate that we’re fully prepared to lose ourselves even more in the distracting chaos that currently constitutes life.
“So the question remains, how wrong are we willing to be, to get the answers we seek?’, I feel compelled to ask are we seeking answers? I’m not sure that most of us are, I actually think that most of us are pretty content to carry on as we are, as long as that is that we can continue to use the things that we currently employ to get us through the day. Take away our methods of coping and then we might start asking a few probing questions but not now, now we’re too distracted and numb.
Alexis I would agree with you, if we took away all medication for 30 days from the headache pill to the latest cancer curing drug. Then humanity will have the biggest wake up call because we would see how sick we really are. Then we might start asking questions but while we prop our society up and pretend everything is okay then we don’t have to look for any answers to any questions and this seems to be our current state of affair.
‘How wrong are you willing to be?’, maybe a more accurate question is ‘how wrong are we able to be?’ because our actions and thoughts are pre-governed by our previous actions and thoughts and so most of us have set ourselves up in such a way that we are not able to pan back and consider the whole gamut of different possibilities and choices, we are narrowed in by our own hand to a tiny sector of possibilities and being wrong is very often not one of them.
“There seems to be an inner battle going on” there sure does and this is reflected in how much illness and disease there currently is.
I feel I’ve gotten to the point where I know there’s no point being defiant against nature. There may be a pull to have a strop but I know how that poison feels and it’s not worth it. It’s not worth aiming for an ‘F’.
Are we willing to let go of our pictures and beliefs if truth comes knocking on our door? ‘that same majority have invested so heavily in a set of beliefs about life that they would discount, dismiss or reinterpret any ‘truth’ that may be on offer.’
I love this; ‘If we got excited about being wrong because it simply meant that we could now live a deeper level of harmony.’ This would be great at schools, if there was no pressure to get things ‘right’ and children could instead experiment then this would feel a lot more supportive and true.
This is a great point; ‘So we have the interest, some even have the motivation – yet strangely the global picture shows growing rates of obesity, diabetes and lifestyle diseases. Which means that there is a vast difference between what we know and what we do. Which suggests there is something we are getting wrong.’
Who are we convincing that we are right? Surely it is ourself we are trying to convince – bearing in mind we are the ones who live in our bodies. We are a constant experiment with what affects our bodies and what doesn’t. Yet, as you share, we are far more interested in defending a way of living that is not physically, emotionally or psychologically working because we are overwhelmed by the report card we have created over years of looking the other way.
Man-made religious are an interpretation of the original source. For me, the way we live is far more religious than living to a doctrine because we then express without speaking the relationship we have with the source we are from.
This is indeed the problem when we have pictures of the outcome – we impose our needs on what we want rather than what the truth is. So long as we do this there is no evolution.
‘We are here to learn to live in harmony, vitality, responsibility and productivity.’- even though we know this to the bone and can feel that the way we are living isn’t working for us, it can still be difficult to let go of the habits and momentums that get in the way of living as our full, vital self. Changing our habits is a step by step process, one step at a time, and includes absolutely loving and embracing each step and all that we are, and are learning, along the way.
Thanks Joel I certinly found that layer by layer I had to peel off all the things I thought I was right about until I realise my entire life and setup was not true, was not “it” and I did this first and foremost by being willing to see what was true and then let go of what was not. It was a challenge but today I know it is the greatest love I have given myself and my family and humanity. The gift of me being me of me every day.
When we look through what history shows us we keep going until the absolute very last point and then until we are forced to make a change then we will do it. Backwards really and to what extent are we compromising on, whose lives are we jeopardising to get what we think we need and make no compromise in the process.
The more I look at it, the more obvious it becomes that we really do know the answers and we do know how wrong our choices are, although we pretend (even to ourselves at times) that we are ignorant of it all. The excitement with which people relay the results of commissioned research which conveniently proves some short term benefit or another, is proof enough for me that everyone does know about the long term harm and are just looking for any justification to prove themselves selves ‘right’ for making such choices.
These choices show we are not really that intelligent, though we like to kid ourselves that we are, ‘We have intelligent people that smoke, abuse others, slowly kill themselves with poor diets and sustain corrupt systems all the while professing how intelligent they are.’
It is crazy that we have had the answers delivered many times over the centuries but most have stubbornly resisted being exposed and denigrated the deliverer of the unwelcome truths.
We are standing at yet another crossroads in our existence when so many things are failing that this is a great question to ask and ponder on, thank you Joel.
Being honest is one of the first steps to support us to evolve because without honesty we stay stuck in the illusion that we are evolving.
It makes no sense that we can say we are intelligent but can ignore the basics of looking after ourselves. I agree we would definitely get an ‘F’ in a report card and deservedly so.
“we are here to learn to live in harmony, vitality, responsibility and productivity.” This is what the world teachers present and demonstrate in the way they live but man and his wayward spirit manipulate the message to maintain the separation from truth.
We can’t ever separate from truth because truth is who we all are but we can do such a good job at living so dishonestly that it feels like there’s not even a smidgeon of truth in the life that we are choosing to live.
‘there is a vast difference between what we know and what we do.’ Yes this is so true. How often do we ignore what we know to be true and opt for the easier way or the more comfortable way? Both of these ways are an illusion for although they may appear to be working in the short term the long term has a debilitating effect on our bodies, all of them.
There is a silent and yet unignorable, gigantic yet seemingly small issue that plagued our race each and every day. And there are numerous indications of this each and every day that tap ever louder asking us to wake up and question what is really going on. We all think this world is it. But it clearly is not and in the questioning we may start to realise there is way more going on behind the energetic scenes trying to keep us small when we are in truth so much more.
Changing our relationship with ‘being wrong’ so that we appreciate the learning, instead of bashing ourselves over the head for it, is a vital part of moving forward and learning. If we don’t give ourselves the freedom to try things out and see how they feel, and with that, get things wrong and to learn from them, then we live in so much fear and paralysis that there’s a stagnation – and no growth there, either.
We have been fed lies and lies, knowingly so, accepting them and allowing them to be our only vision. But what if there is more to it, more to us, what if those lies simply show us that we know the absolute truth of life, of what is occurring in our every day life, but how much we have invested in our comfortable ways that has allowed many many lies to be covered over our truth. How possible is this ? And how willing are we to see this fact ? The answer is revealed.
What a great piece Joel, and we have to come to The Way of The Livingness at our own time and articles like this will open peoples eyes to the understanding that what is required already exists.
It is certainly a culture of pushing the boundaries until we have no choice. I know there is still some stubbornness in me that wants to do what I like and then I’ll deal with the consequences later. But this way of living is not in true response to the body and it is arrogant – where we do not want to see that poison has always and will always continue to affect us.
The thought of one world that is completely 100% unified is a for many a mere dream or wish and not even a conceivable reality. This shows the extent of humbleness we all have to get to to even be open to seeing that this is the only way forward.
The bottom line is that we either are willing seekers of truth and are open to explore, learn, grow with absolute honesty as such admitting our waywardness, or seekers of identification in which we negotiate, cling onto and bed with lies to maintain our identity. Our degree of openness to truth reveals the quality of energy we ultimately are saying yes to and if we are in fact living the divine truth that is available for us all to be lived.
Powerful comment Carola, truth and love is always accessible to us and it is up to us how much we choose to live this.
I have wanted to be right, get it right, and do right, for to get it wrong, filled me with trepidation, to now realise that some of our greatest learnings come from our willingness to admit that we are wrong, without judgment, but with an openness to really learn. Truth that the right and wrong cannot teach us.
Our stubbornness about holding onto a way of living that has only caused pain and suffering doesn’t make any sense on one level, but the human spirits thirst for anything that will bring it identification and a sense of individualism (even if it means misery and disconnection) will ensure that holding onto being right continues no matter what.
As I read this the only thing that stands out is the level of comfort we are in because deep down we do know what to do, what makes us well and yet we carry on doing the opposite.
It is so true Julie – this exposes our insatiable thirst for individuality, that at all cost, including the harm to our body and others, that we continue to ignore the lies so that we can continue to satisfy the individual. An illusion in itself as there never can be satisfaction in creation, only the need to seek for more to fulfil the emptiness, that which only love and truth can satiate.
“It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created, that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is.” This part I am curious about examining now as I know there are many things in my life that are repeated ills. Repeated because there has been an allowing of that repetition. And at the moment I wonder why?
It is brilliant to look at our investments and to see which ones have become so entrenched that there is next to it an unwillingness to let it go, for it may be wrong but the holding on has become more important than the quest for truth.
“It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created, that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is.” When we make life about how it is for ‘me’ as the individual it separates us from the world but when we live life with self-love we share this love with all around us and bring Brotherhood to the world.
” but because it shows us how to save ourselves. ”
This blog gives a whole new meaning to ” self salvation “
It is so obvious when you take a long look at how the majority of humanity are living that “we waste enormous amounts of energy to sustaining ‘our version’ of life, a version that does not seem to work.” No wonder exhaustion is one of the biggest ‘illnesses’ on the planet, and that to counteract it we turn to energy drinks of some form, eat foods that exhaust us even more, or indulge in past-times that distract us from how we are truly feeling. And all the while we say we want the answers, but apparently only the answers that sustain our version of life.
‘Maybe we start with listening to that quiet voice that guides us to take more care of ourselves and each other.’ This would seem so obvious but a lot of the time we do not listen to that quiet voice and we drown it out with our stubbornly held familiar ways, ways that do not support us to be responsible and reap the benefits, not to mention the joy, that responsibility brings.
Joel this is so true
“We propagate the notion that humanity is the smartest species on the planet yet we continue to demonstrate a distinct lack of intelligence. We have intelligent people that smoke, abuse others, slowly kill themselves with poor diets and sustain corrupt systems all the while professing how intelligent they are.”
This makes no sense to me at all and in fact show me just how unintelligent we are.
“So the question remains, how wrong are we willing to be, to get the answers we seek?” we would be wise to study this question deeply as a form of education at school for within this question lies a truth that could begin to unravel all the lies we currently tell ourselves.
One of the key learnings for me has been that me thinking I am right is only an indication that what I say is true. There is no certainty and one of the most humbling moments in life is when you find that you were absolutely convinced you are right and the find out conclusively that you were wrong and perhaps even completely wrong. Accepting this when it happens rather than explaining it away made a big difference in my life from then on.
You perfectly display Joel how we have an investment in the lies and corruption we have let in. It’s in these small acts we find comfort and we struggle to keep hold of that. We like to eat our cake and have it too but know it’s not true. To experience love and clarity we have to be prepared to let go of everything we’ve let in.
I love the way you express Jospeh, super honest and full of wisdom. You lovingly expose how much we have a hand in creating all that we experience and see in this world.
I love your blogs Joel, please never stop writing.
I find being open to seeing how wrong we have been requires a level of honesty and dropping of one’s pride. It opens up space for learning and growth when we have no issues with being ‘wrong’.
Yes, we know we are wrong – that we can’t avoid – but our pride may not let us admit it or play it down or rationalise it or … and the more intelligence you have the more we able to avoid our pride being hurt.
We are going to end degrees, not in truth but actually in proving that we are right, spending hours of time inventing things, focussing on doings and tasks. whilst forgetting that we are energetic in the first place. So what is our energy that we all do this with? Can we deepen that understanding to start with,
When it comes to the oneness we all felt as children and is within us today although for most it is covered over how can we or what gives us the right to stand in our pride? On the other hand when truth is felt there is no wrong or right… it just is.
We cling to the list of things we’ve done ‘right’ as we go to bed at night. We sleep under the cover of a quilt of piousness but in reality this is our biggest disease. For there is no mistake that can touch the Love we have inside, but this excessive trying to be right keeps us seriously lost. Thank you Joel for highlighting this here.
We have superficially heavily invested in right and wrong but when it comes to questioning what is really going on and what our motivations are we don’t mind settling for whatever version of right as long as it fits the bill, i.e. ticks the boxes of what we need to be true to sustain our version of living life.
Yes, it is time for us to start connecting with and listening to our inner voice and wisdom, it certainly does not appear to work by not listening to it, our health and lives and the world are not thriving and joyful, ‘Maybe we start with listening to that quiet voice that guides us to take more care of ourselves and each other.’
You could reword the title of this blog to, ‘How far are we willing to compromise on what we KNOW with every cell to be true, to fit the mould and be recognised in this world?’
We need to connect with ourselves and with each other to come to real matters, for if we stand away from it, we will only look for limitations and temporary solutions that often only fit certain people for a limited time.
I enjoy how this article tackles this; how we create our own reality over truth. And how good this is to come back to our truth of things, and let go of the creations that made us have a limited mind.
Over the years I have noticed that when we seek to be correct or have the argument won in our favour no one truly wins as there has been no purpose to question why this has come about in the first place and we are willing to ask the questions that truly matter.
Yes, very occasionally, a point absolutely has to be made but such a moment is in my experience quite rare. Most of the time there are alternatives and the more deeply we read the situation the more options we have.
Not wanting to be wrong and getting things right can be an influence of mainstream religion. I know I have been influenced in this way through some of the things I have held onto over time. When I reflect on when I have gone into that stance, my whole body goes hard and there is a hardness to what is then expressed and arrogance is definitely a part of that. If we run ourselves in this way, it has a huge affect on a body that is built to be love.
When we go into being right or wrong we shut down our avenues for a deeper understanding of the whole. Our natural qualities of observation and awareness felt via the body, then fall by the waist side because we are then denying truth and allowing doubt of being wrong to run us.
Or it could be . . . How wrong are we willing to be, to be ‘right’? . . . as we seem to hate being wrong instead of embracing it as a great learning.
Maybe the first thing to admit is that we really are not that intelligent as a human race, we just have to look how we live, ‘We have intelligent people that smoke, abuse others, slowly kill themselves with poor diets and sustain corrupt systems all the while professing how intelligent they are.’
Joel, I love this; ‘If we got excited about being wrong because it simply meant that we could now live a deeper level of harmony.’ So often there is a pride, embarrassment or some sort of retribution if we gets things ‘wrong’, how beautiful for us a society to embrace being wrong, learning from this and evolving.
I love this line as it puts everything into perspective, ‘We only need to look at cities that quickly decay once humans no longer inhabit that space, to consider how simply and quickly nature is able to re-balance itself.’ Now and again we see a small flower growing in between concrete, and this shows us how easily nature can claim back the planet, without effort or trying.
The beautiful point about living life is learning from our mistakes and it is from this learning we can not only understand who we are but how to care, nourish and express from our bodies exactly what is there to be shared. Living a vital life is not one of being right but one of being open to growth, understanding and learning from our mistakes because without this we continue to go around and around being right but not being true.
Every ‘mistake’ is a potential treasure chest for change, an opportunity that can be seized, explored and utilised to the max so as to support us to make a different choice next time. And if we actively know this knowing then we would embrace ‘mistakes’ and not cringe in the way that we currently do when we make them. Living the truth of what a ‘mistake’ truly is would also change our attitude and reactions to others as well as to ourselves, rather than condemning both them and us we would help to point out the gold in what’s just happened and support everyone to use the situation like the evolutionary stepping stone that it is.
” How Wrong are we Willing to be, to get the Answers we Seek? ” What a great title and the humour is , that the answers will be wrong anyway so in truth they will not be answers , but a continuation and building of more ” false truths ” .
The constant battle of right and wrong is literally killing us. We have to get beyond right and wrong and make it about truth and the best place to start with finding out what the truth might be is to look at our body and understand its messages.
‘It seems we waste enormous amounts of energy to sustaining ‘our version’ of life, a version that does not seem to work.’ Yes Joel, and so many versions we each have expending so much energy, yet each time my awareness comes to a version I can feel it is not the truth and how it holds me away from the unity and oneness we all are. Letting it go returns me to the connection of us all.
Like a sweating school kid sitting a multiple choice exam, we seem to sit staring at the answers, randomly changing the last ones. But we don’t stop to consider reading the question again. You are so right Joel – if we just took a moment to cease our constant fight or flight we might understand in being ‘wrong’ we are given huge clues as to what is right. The longer we persist with the illusion that everything’s sunny, the longer we are lost from the truth.
We have been so ingrained with tests, exams and achieving, we have come to believe that life is about getting good marks and always being right. We tick all the boxes but fail to see that the greatest discoveries and wisdom in our history came from people experimenting and being wrong. The greatest hindrance to anyone seeking the truth is to continue on thinking things will change, while avoiding the evidence that what they think is right is actually wrong. Thank you Joel for reminding me to embrace the results of my life’s tests instead of clinging to the comfort of familiar acts.
‘…It shows us how to save ourselves’. And BOOM, there we have it. The answer, or, if we don’t want to commit to that completely, a potential answer, one we could explore and play with. Worth giving a shot given the alternative isn’t really working so well.
Thank you Joel for another thought provoking sharing! We have the ability to bring the winds of change that are so lacking at this time. Thanks to the Way of The Livingness presented by Serge Benhayon we have the opportunity to learn how to make those changes happen.
Great question to ponder on “How Wrong are we Willing to be, to get the Answers we Seek?” By the look and state of humanity I would say we have been willing to be very wrong, absurdly wrong in order to keep our illusion alive.
Thank you Joel. There is a question in life that at times supersedes all other matters: If the current forms of organised religions do not have all the answers, then who does? And could it really be us? Do we, the people of this planet hold what is intrinsically known to be of truth and universally intelligent?
And it looks like mankind really does need to understand how wrong it has got so many things, as the reality of our collective choices is there for us to see at every turn.
“How wrong are we willing to be to get the answers we seek?” I love returning to this question, and I think it’s a question many people are faced with everyday, if you touch on truth then you realise that a lot of what you have made your life to be is not truth, the question is what do you do with that? I’ve learnt it’s ok to be wrong and it’s ok to essentially start from scratch when it comes to making your life about truth, you just need to approach life with an earnest humbleness and a willingness to learn.
“It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created, that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is.” So true Joel – we can defend our bad habits so strongly that we want to believe them, because we ‘like’ the taste of alcohol, coffee, chocolate etc. But deep down we know these are poisonous to our body. Sometimes even after a serious wake-up call in the form of illness we revert back to the things we think we love. I know someone who continues to smoke a week after recovering from pneumonia. Despite the fact we know we aren’t going to live forever we prefer our comfort and irresponsibility to responsibility and truth.
I remember squirming when I read this blog for the first time, I really didn’t like it. Which is highlighting exactly what your mentioning in that arrogance that wants to be right and avoids being wrong. I am finding the whole Right and Wrong thing to be a complete distraction because when I feel I get to be aware of what is true and what is not and there’s no struggle to remain in truth and avoid being true, it is there and thats that. Right and Wrong feels like they are not based on reality or truth but of our own pictures of how we want life to be.
In order to improve our own and our collective society’s health and wellbeing we have to consider and be honest about how we are living our every day – and is it supporting us in full in every single aspect of our lives.
If I’m not with my body then where is the love? This simple question can tell so much about what is being chosen in any one moment and what the ripple effect of that will be, as not choosing love, is also turning away from everything that truly matters, all of us and our return to the stupendousness of who we are.
How honesty are we willing to be to accept that God did not create the ills and issues that abound human life, we did, collectively. Therefore how willing are we going to be to take responsibility and realise that together we are the ones that are going to fix this mess? It is not God, the government, the next door neighbor that is responsible but us ALL no matter who we are.
For the false understanding to work people have to believe ( give their power to it ) therefore making a lie true , but this does not make a false understanding a truth.
‘How Wrong are we Willing to be, to get the Answers we Seek?’ A great question Joel. We are still big on avoidance. But when we begin to appreciate the love that we truly are, we can open that Pandoras box with that love and understanding, rather than guilt, regret and recriminations.
Great questions Joel and love how you pose the possibility of getting ‘excited about being wrong because it simply meant that we could now live a deeper level of harmony.’ It is amazing just how wedded we are to being ‘right’ whatever the personal cost and the wider impact on others and how little responsibility we are willing to take for changing our own behaviours. I have spent the last few weeks experimenting with incorporating simple exercises into my working day to support me and have been shocked at how challenging I have found it to allow myself the space to do them despite knowing that they would be really beneficial.
Unfortunately for us all, is does seem that we are at this point not so willing to get it wrong in order to discover what is true. Yet in our holding on to our ‘beliefs’ that we think are defining us, the pride and ownership of thinking we know best, we are in fact moving further and further away from the revelation of who we truly are, with every moment we hold tight. For the truth we seek is already within us, within every body and all around us. When we are truly willing to receive the truth we will discover that that truth is already and constantly speaking loudly to us, through every body everywhere, we only need to be willing to listen to it.
“Imagine if we put as much effort to finding every aspect of our lives that did not contribute to harmony, vitality and productivity as we did following our favourite sporting team. If we got excited about being wrong because it simply meant that we could now live a deeper level of harmony.”
This is awesome Joel, this is not utopia this is really real and a way that can be lived by everyone.
When will we truly admit to ourselves ‘we are here to learn to live in harmony, vitality, responsibility and productivity.’ And change our way of wrong and right into truth. Truth as is presented by The Way of the Livingness.
At this stage of the game, any investment in our current way of doing life is clearly one sustained by a false sense of pride.
It is our willingness to admit or being open to see that we may have gotten things wrong that leads us to opportunities for learning and expansion. I find being arrogant and closed doesn’t serve anyone. We learn more when we are not afraid to stand up to ask questions.
When we look at things like this it’s amazing to see how we are collectively. How we act and where and what we chase or hold the belief to that are answers. If the ‘messiah’ one day did show up on our door step then we would not see him currently in the world we live. The awareness of the fact that all choices lead us to a choice, in other words it does matter how we act or how we live because in this way this quality gives you your view of the world. How you move and live shapes your reality of what you see.
‘It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created, that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is.’ That hits the nail on the head. People do know that the trajectory they keep choosing to go on is not heading to a pretty ending as it were, but they bury their heads in the sands of denial.
We choose suffering over the letting go of our pride. We will bludgeon ourselves and others to defend a way of life that we know is failing us all – because to concede to this, our pride would need to crumble. That’s how wrong we are willing to be.
Indeed, if there is any one true thing to glorify in this life, let it be the messianic light that lives within each and every man, woman and child. Let it be the fact that we each hold the key to our own salvation.
There’s a great humbleness in being wrong and I find in that humbleness the truth is easily seen and accepted. I’d say knowing something isn’t what it could be and being humble is a great platform to rebuilding a new and solid and true way of life.
I have found when I admit I have been wrong without the need to justify or beat myself up, I learn so much more.
We are the only saviours, that is, the responsible of our own life. Any religion, theory or whatever thing that says the opposite of it, is an excuse that we can choose to try to avoid that fact.
We exert a lot of energy defending an untenable position in the face of worsening global health statistics, conflicts and wars, modern day slavery and general apathy and callousness.
Allowing ourselves to be wrong instigates a humbleness which leaves the opening to get to truth.
This totally exposed the need we have for creation.. Creation in a way that grows its way of coming to an answer that we prefer knowing over the actual truth. Without judgement it is a clear example in today’s world that we have gone to the extreme levels of agony, misery and drive to achieve this form of answers. What we are being offered by this blog – to stand still with honesty to ourselves in to the world, to observe and see through – as honesty is the key to unmasking any lies.. And hence from there we can make great change – as if the answers are getting each and each time more hard to come to – it turns out to be the time to change the quality of answers to look for.. No longer what we like from a creation point of view – but one of returning to all that we know. Now that is a whole different story – and will turn out to be probably a very different result. If we look for lies we don’t find the truth. If we don’t look for the truth, we will find lies.
‘Without judgement it is a clear example in today’s world that we have gone to the extreme levels of agony, misery and drive to achieve this form of answers’, Danna even though I totally agree that we have gone to extreme levels of agony, misery and drive, I also know that humanity can and will take those levels even further before we feel so sick to our stomachs of our own behaviour that we are prepared to ask the questions that we’re currently not willing to ask.
Isn’t it interesting that we seem to have this mental form of existence that we think that we are the ‘only ones’, the providers of actions and thoughts – the individual that makes a change from this one part of the body (mind) and assumes that the rest of the body will follow – without considering the consequences. How loving is this? And how truly – is this?
A great starting point to ponder on and further feel into whether this form of existence is actually true and that it only creates a further dwell into the illusions.
Is there ever really a wrong or a right? If we are honest, open and humble, every experience is an opportunity to learn more. So how can anything ever be ‘wrong’?
Right and wrong are like prison walls that make sure we don’t look at the real picture but get caught up in proving or defending a point that is in truth untenable.
The religion for me is also ” The way of the livingness ” my choices make my life. That can be choices that bring me connection in a relationship way with God or choices that ignore my relationship with God. Thank you Joel.
A powerful and uncomfortable question Joel. The call for us to be more responsible for the state of the world is ringing in our ears.
Thank you Joel…. The world certainly needs to admit something is not right, and the idea of actually saying yes, we have got it wrong well this would be a fulcrum of change sorely needed.
The world would be so very different if we claimed ourselves as the Sons of God we are – there is no way we would treat our bodies in the way we currently do, or treat each other how we currently do, if this fact was known and lived. We would treasure ourselves, read life, not react and see beyond what our 5 sense register into what our 6th sense is offering.
Especially as a man, there can be a temptation to identify with what we ‘know’, to see life like an arcade game where we accumulate ‘the answers’ as we go. To admit or even consider the possibility that it’s all not true means letting go of this castle we have built. The crazy thing is it just isn’t us and just causes us pain and gets in the way of us asking today ‘what if this is all wrong?’. It’s like we think we will have failed the test. But as you beautifully show Joel, there is no exam, no grading board, no pass or fail, just a new opportunity every day to consider what’s real.
Clearly we are often willing to be very wrong but not willing to be true.
Great blog Joel; it is such an open and honest expose of our arrogance, righteousness and irresponsibility. A heartfelt call for us to choose responsibility and not get caught in the trap of ill choices to get the answers we seek.
In the past I could feel the anxiety in my body when I would get something wrong, getting it wrong would bring condemnation displeasure these things I would want to avoid at all costs, getting it right meant to be safe, a pat on the back so to speak. I now love that when I make a mistake, get it wrong , it is an opportunity for my learning, and not a condemnation.
I don’t enjoy being wrong, well not initially anyway. It feels uncomfortable. But really if we consider what happens afterwards as the important thing, for we know that we learn so much about ourselves and about others when we are. There is a surrender that happens as we open ourselves up a little bit more each time. So it’s interesting to ponder on being right all the time, or needing to be right all the time – the drive for perfection and what that does. Clearly this has had major consequences all over the world when this had been applied at community and society levels resulting in lack of acceptance for one another. Accepting our imperfections is a glorious part of being human, for we know that we can’t as individuals do it all, but together we can be so much more than we could ever imagine.
The humbleness of the great teachers and those wise figures of history are not so because they knew it all as some taught, but because of their willingness to be proved wrong in the first place. If we have a problem with being wrong then we have an investment in always being right instead of seeing that whether we are right or wrong, it does not change who we are.
I was pondering the other day on the fact that it is crazy how we can give more focus to changing our diets than we do to changing our quality of being that caused us to eat the very way we do in the first place! We could be on the most healthiest so called diet imaginable yet we could still be just as self loathing and angry as before and this shows that nothing has truly changed.
Yes, it is not for one person to save us but for ALL of us, as we are all the one.
It seems I keep stumbling across this article Joel. Today this line stood out for me: ‘We often like to change things enough to make the pain stop but not enough to make it never come back’. That’s one of my current internal battles. There is a choice I keep making that doesn’t make me feel very good, but it’s better than what I used to choose, yet, for some reason, I keep avoiding taking my choice to the next level that will put an end to me not feeling good. There is this willingness to not be completely responsible for how I am feeling, and so the cycle continues.
Yes Joel, it’s like we have walked so far down a road that we don’t even feel we can consider that maybe it was the wrong turn. We feel we can ‘still make it’ if we just forge ahead. The thing is though, life doesn’t actually work the linear way we think it does, so any moment, any minute, any day we can make a new choice and go a totally new way. But it’s not a path that we change but the energy and impulse we are aligned to. When you choose to align to the impulse of your Soul, it’s like all the different dead ends you walked down, automatically begin to dissolve.
I’ll admit when I first read this blog I didn’t like it, the part of me that doesn’t want to be wrong or admit that there are repeated behaviours in my life that simply don’t work and are not successful regardless of the value I give to them my body always tells me how successful these choices are. Coming back to read this again it makes sense to listen to the body, for when I do life changes, the world changes and continues to expand. This feels more successful than repeating those old, loveless ways.
Wanting to be right is such an ingrained behaviour, but why? If we think about it what is going to happen when we have not got it right? A great question I am going to remind myself of when I feel the stubbornness kick in.
What I am coming to learn as I let go more of the religious beliefs I was raised with is that any person can connect to God and express divinity. Our religion does not determine this.
On a day when I feel I missed an opportunity to support someone I am very much appreciating, ‘If we got excited about being wrong because it simply meant that we could now live a deeper level of harmony.’ Because this is how I feel – inspired to live more responsibility so I can spot clearly and respond when irresponsibility is affecting others.
It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created, that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is. Yes, we really are our own worst enemy when it comes to our evolution. We distract ourselves in so many ways, all to avoid the inevitable conclusion, we are all returning to our Grandness.
Taking responsibility for how life actually is can seem like a big task, especially when there is so much mess and struggle in so many areas. I can understand why so many of us in life can become quite controlling – to avoid having to live with the mess, but this only puts on a glaze of seeming control, when actually the mess is always and ever present. In life at the moment I am learning how to accept the fact that I have contributed to the mess we are all in, which always seems to come back to a sense of the lovelessness I have allowed myself to live by – a lovelessness that contributes to all the messiness that exists. The key here though is self-love, because even though I can see what I have done, if I view it from the perspective that I am love, at the core of my being, then no judgement can be made, just understanding, which spreads out and thus this is what is contributed in place of the irresponsibility.
The power is in cycles – our awareness that, no matter how many times around the sun we have chosen something that does not support us truly, we can still choose differently. We always have a choice. All our choices have consequences but we always have a choice.
‘The religion of the future is one founded on the willingness to be wrong (i.e. honest) and to live from the possibility that we are NOT on earth to be masters of all we see, to manipulate it to our will, but we are here to learn to live in harmony, vitality, responsibility and productivity.’
It seems that being ‘wrong’ really is our Achilles heel. Is it worth thinking we are right, when we know in our hearts we are wrong? It makes no sense, worse still, it is perpetuating a lie. We think we are comfortable and safe in our lives, yet, in truth, we are so obviously not, our choices are destroying us and our planet. Yes, it is so worth being wrong if it allows us to live the truth that we hold in our hearts, a truth that will remind us of our purpose, why we are here and where we are going.
‘If there was to be a teaching that would change life as we know it, it would be one that built bodies, societies and communities that are vital and evolving. It is a messianic approach in a way, but not because this message is carried by a single person who will save all others, but because it shows us how to save ourselves.’ ….. and we have this in ‘The Way of the Livingness’. A true religion that reminds us of all that we already are, all that we are a part of and how simple it is to choose to live this in full. It’s US that get in the way, we over complicate things in our resistance to wanting to step forward into what we perceive is the unknown, yet it is not, in truth we are actually returning home.
It’s easy to see how we invest in doctorates or masters degrees. We pride ourselves on what we have achieved. Yet what your words remind me Joel is how we think that being a ‘grown up’ in everyday life is measured by how much we know. This might be about plants, sport or a favourite composer or more basically how the world actually works. When you put it this way it’s like we really are walking bags of assumptions. When you strip all this away, there’s an innocent questioning, just like child that exists underneath – and it’s in this state it’s clear to me we are at our most wise.
I see in myself and those around me this defense of what we have created in the form of solutions without acknowledgement of what is really going on. How often in work these solutions take the form of approaches that go on a cyclical venture – everyone gets excited that x solution will work, it doesn’t, then y solution is introduced and it doesn’t work, all the way around to x again. All acts as an avoidance of taking responsibility whilst things steadily deteriorate until we have to admit no solution addresses the underlying energy of what’s creating the ill in the first place. At what point do we, do I say what I’m doing isn’t working and I need to go deeper?
What a perfect blog for today. Joel, you touch on such an important point here “there is part of us that only wants to change our current understanding of life, just enough to avoid anything too painful.” This is so detrimental to our own health and lacks enormous responsibility to the whole – to the family, the community and the humanity we are a part of.
The beliefs and ideals we hold can limit our ability to question the status quo and whether we really are living in a true way.
“we are here to learn to live in harmony, vitality, responsibility and productivity.” How wrong we are when we dismiss the call from our body to live in harmony, vitality, responsibility and productivity with each other.
Another insightful and profound blog Joel. As I take more moments to stop and be re-connected to the stillness within, I have more awareness of that ‘quiet voice’ that is forever within and slowly and surely, beginning to heed it and be guided by its truth and wisdom.
“Maybe we need call to account that part of us that rejects the idea that we are not as smart or evolved as humanity could be. Maybe we start with listening to that quiet voice that guides us to take more care of ourselves and each other. That voice that gets over-ridden by an assumed ‘urgent’ matter. This quiet voice is there, it never goes away – it is often simply not connected with or listened to enough”.
I am finding more and more in my life, that the more open I am to simply saying yes I was not right in this, to be able to openly feel and seek self correction, that this transparency brings with it such welcome evolution that it is so worth it to get over that initial speed bump of having to be perfect and get everything right that so many of us carry.
What a blog! Yes, our mess is ‘man-made’ and so the way forth and out of this mess can only be found in surrendering back to true divinity. What is true divinity? Well, we can identify it in its connection. Only when it is uniting us all, when it is true for all and a service for all – than it can be a true religion. But this can be experienced as a hard way as it is based on union and equality – individualism is a ‘no go’ here. But we are all very much identified with and holding on to our creations. To learn to let go but not give up and that surrendering is in fact an act of taking responsibility require the willingness to see that we are vessels of energy and the only true choice we have in life is what kind of energy we are align to. This is in fact the answer to all our questions but not the one we seek.
Before Universal Medicine and the Way of the Livingness I would say being wrong was not really an option, and honesty was clouded with my own perceptions and nowhere near to the honesty I allow myself to feel today.
“The religion of the future is one founded on the willingness to be wrong (i.e. honest) and to live from the possibility that we are NOT on earth to be masters of all we see, to manipulate it to our will, but we are here to learn to live in harmony, vitality, responsibility and productivity.”
Beautiful Joel, took me some times to read the question, until I actually wanted to hear and feel were you were talking about. This question makes a lot of sense, and it shows us that we can go so much deeper.. and that our willingness is key. No mind trick will do that question! Awesomeness.
It seems that we are not willing to look at things that challenge our beliefs and ideals of what is the right way or true way of living., because it might expose us to be living a lie.
We seem to do just enough to maintain our comfort, and because we and our own are protected, not really care about what goes on over the fence. The comfort ensures we don’t strive for a true way of life, because that would feel uncomfortable moving towards. What I feel is that while “self” rules and we don’t consider and care for the whole, things may not change. Unless something comes along and can act like a crowbar for the comfort.
We really don’t know how to communicate with others and make talking about our health and what’s happening for us a regular topic of conversation. And I don’t mean in a poor me, I’ve got this and that kind of way, but telling the facts and really being open to seeing the bigger picture of why. We just want to keep our physical history to ourselves and keep up appearances, but this is part of the reason everything is breaking down. If we could let go of the self and make it about evolving through something and not see it as a failure or something is wrong with us, we could start to be honest and talk openly.
within this simply written message, is a profound proposal that would fundamentally shift humanities relationship with itself and with the divine… If it was listened to… If it was actually taken on… And the thing is at some stage it must because as Joel says, we really have got it wrong… And it is glaringly obvious.
Thank you, Joel, for highlighting how hypocritical and pointless it is to cast blame upon institutions when as individuals we are choosing to live in a way that does not simply honour our being.
Honouring our being, now that’s a thing. What if we asked ourselves before we did anything if this were honouring our being? And what if we were honest enough to speak from the truth of who we are?
Very well said Joel, “The religion of the future is one founded on the willingness to be wrong (i.e. honest) and to live from the possibility that we are NOT on earth to be masters of all we see, to manipulate it to our will, but we are here to learn to live in harmony, vitality, responsibility and productivity.” To be able to live and love, to forgive and to accept, these are also the hallmarks of the way of the livingness.
I agree I observe in myself and others a defence of habits and behaviours chosen that bolster what does not work on this planet, be it as simple as shopping on a whim and bringing more things we don’t need in to our homes, indulging in food that does not support us or the planet….some of these choice seem small but they condone what is not working…through accountability and responsibility we become more willing to chose different. I know that I have began to peel away from the hooks that have bound me to a life where what I do / have is more impotent than how I feel and what my true purpose is….it continues to unfold.
The phrase ‘do or die trying’ came to me in reading the title! We become the dog with the bone and refuse to give up rather then accepting the fact that we could be wrong.
“If we got excited about being wrong because it simply meant that we could now live a deeper level of harmony.”
I like this thought as it would turn around all our “wanting to have right” attitude to a graceful openess of making faults or errors as a form of evolution.
We’re supported in a way that we can’t even think of, not the slightest bit to evolve back to who we are. Life is full of confirmations of the beauty we are. As well as life respects the amount of appreciation and love we can handle. The way life is designed to allow free will as well as the support it offers to choose love is incredible. Yet, for most of my life, I too chose to fight myself, fight my love and ligth, fight others etc. Yet all a distraction to be able to withstand the pouring love. Thank God for the Love He provides so we’re are able to let go of the destructive choices and patterns.
“How Wrong are we Willing to be, to get the Answers we Seek?” – Joel this is a thought-provoking title with the usage of ‘wrong’.. because so many of us want to be ‘right’ from a life of self-consumed perfectionism and protectionism. When this grip loosens, with a speck of humbleness transpiring… the answers we seek, we find are already known.
‘It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created, that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is.’ The more we are open to learning and to change, the simpler it becomes.
“It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created, that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is.”, and from my experience the endless defending is so very exhausting and harming to our bodies. I continually see people knowingly abuse their bodies with food, drink, exercise etc, but when asked why they always have what seems to be a logical reason for doing so, at least it seems logical to them, all the while making no sense at all. Time to drop the defense, take off the blinkers, honestly acknowledge our lives as they truly are, admit to getting it ‘wrong” and take responsibility for making the choice to change. Now that’s what I call true liberation!
It is so humbling to admit to getting it ‘wrong’, it opens us up and lets others in all at the same time. When we are willing to be open and honest and not defend, it begins to melt the walls of protection that we and others can build around ourselves.
We’re so invested in what we’ve individually and collectively created that we’re at a stalemate with ourselves – on the one hand running with the arrogance of invincibility and on the other, self-medicating in all manner of ways to check out, numb, distract and deny the emptiness that’s deeply felt. Seems humanity has yet to reach the tipping point of its own salvation, but we are on the way.
The effects on the global level leads from the example we set in our homes and daily lives. Much here to ponder on the responsibility we all have in creating our part in the whole.
Another pearler Joel, I love it! There is a such an effort involved in staying ‘right’ about certain things I do in life that I know do not contribute to that harmony you referred to. It is actually quite a relief to let down and say how it really is. Just that process of honesty unlocks the seeming gridlock those repeating patterns we know are so undermining seem to have.
There is pride and stubbornness inside each of us that likes to think we have got the basics right. But wow what would it be like if we stopped and actually sat with the fact that we haven’t grown or developed since we were a child, and in fact in many cases we have actually gone back? Seeing through our false dreams of progression might be painful but if as you say Joel it finally connects us with the truth, well isn’t that a route worth taking instead of circling round repeating what we know doesn’t actually work?
Everything I have healed and learnt has come from me being willing to be raw and not try and be ‘right…”So the question remains, how wrong are we willing to be, to get the answers we seek?” When ever I try and be right, I am blinked, have narrow vision and do not feel the larger picture….healing what is not us (ur hurts) and learning what is us (one) comes through honesty and the willingness not to be right.
Thank you dearly for your consistent commitment to writing blogs Joel.
“For example, have you ever changed your diet when you were sick, only to revert back to the previous diet once you got better again?” now this is a great point as it’s something I often do, take more care of myself when I am sick than in each moment, therefore creating the next sickness to occur. What seems obvious though is why not continue to take care or deepen my care ongoing? When I start to treat myself this way everything changes.
It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created, that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is. Sadly this is true for most, we place so much importance in keeping up appearances and living a lie, all the while, feeding the lie a little more.
“Many people consider themselves open minded, even interested in the meaning of life, love and religion. Yet how wrong are we willing to be, to get the answers we seek?” The battles we are seeing around the world are a direct reflection to the inner battles we have on a minute to minute basis ourselves, we are the root cause of all our disturbance in the world. As individuals if we want change its up to everyone to live that change and it will ripple out.
I love the link between the inner battles being reflected with the outer ones and vice versa….
When I was young I wasn’t confirmed for the beautiful being I am. Giving myself permission to feel how much that hurt and how much I’ve chosen to not confirm and love myself is the perfect excuse to just exist in this world, rather than being the natural reflection of the tender, caring and loving man I am. Only by allowing myself to be wrong, more wrong and even more wrong I’ve found myself. I’m accepting now that life will forever expand, I will forever unfold and am choosing to let go of anything I hold onto and that actually doesn’t resonate from within,
What I’ve found in the last seven or eight years it that the more willing I am to be wrong in regards to the answers I seek (instead of holding onto ideals and beliefs). It is a choice to heal and live a vital and joyful life. It’s not ‘given’ to certain ‘special’ people, but in truth hard (heart) work. Just as God does, he’s holding us 24/7. Never takes a holiday or a sabbatical:-).
I like your point about how we’re willing to change what we eat or how we treat ourselves when we’re unwell only to revert back when our health improves. Many of us just see it as an inconvenience as opposed to a moment in which we can stop and be honest about how the choices we’ve made have brought us to this ‘destination’. But with honesty there is the potential to understand and change those old behaviours.
‘There seems to be an inner battle going on. There is one part that innately knows about our well being and that something about our current relationships with each other and with the world is not working, and there is part of us that only wants to change our current understanding of life, just enough to avoid anything too painful.’ Yes Joel, we want the quick fix, but that can never work.
Yes, very much so. It is a known fact in the science field that researchers conduct research to prove themselves right. Oh how damaging are our egos.
The message is carried by every single one of us Joel.
Indeed Joel how much are we prepared to take responsibility and seek the answers where we are own saviours through the quality in which we live our lives.
As our relationships with ourselves blossom and expand, I love how this is reflected in our relationships with others too.
“There seems to be an inner battle going on. There is one part that innately knows about our well being and that something about our current relationships with each other and with the world is not working, and there is part of us that only wants to change our current understanding of life, just enough to avoid anything too painful.” – our comforts exposed!
Being open minded is a lineal object, just like a door that can be ajar. Both items can and are measured! Do we do the same thing with how wrong can we be from truth, if it is almost more truth than not? Is this the grey world we live in when we lose sight of what is and what is not truth!
“Imagine if we put as much effort to finding every aspect of our lives that did not contribute to harmony, vitality and productivity as we did following our favourite sporting team.” – this would surely change the world. It takes courage and humbleness to say ‘i’m wrong on that’ but as I’m discovering, not needing to be right and being ok with getting things wrong is very freeing and gives us and others the space to make mistakes without being crucified for them.
100% true, and it’s so sad to think that the majority of our society perceives such way of thinking as too idealistic or naive…
I was so full of the lies and had an ‘obstinate and at times arrogant approach to being the holder of truth’, when in reality and all honesty, I was caught up in my own hype. I thought that I was fooling everyone while underneath I was an emotional wreck and emotions are a killer as well as being one of the most power-full addictions. All along I lived with the ideals and beliefs that I was doing a so-called good. Being open and raw to these hurts has allowed me to put in place a way of living that supports me to heal from my old way of living.
I had to look up the word brinkmanship, and so have learnt a new word today. It is a very apt way to describe how we play with our health.
I also really connect to the use of the word “harmony”. As you say, “. . . for centuries our bodies have reacted to poison in the same way, regardless of what we call it – arsenic, caffeine, emotions etc. Yet for centuries we take the same poisons”. When I consider how attached I was to my emotions, I find that I still have pockets of emotional attachments.
Just today sitting in Singapore Airport, I noticed how I still relate to the hardening and competitive anger I would have to go into when someone played a hard-hitting pool shot. Thank you Joel for this blog; it is amazing how I am now open to healing the anger I would normally go into instead of staying in a harmonious state. There is still so much for me to learn and re-imprint on my path back to harmony. The next time I see an available pool table I will feel the difference in the way I can now strike a pool ball.
Scientists and doctors at one Australian University I’ve studied with are puzzling this same conundrum: why is it that so called intelligent people with facts and information before them of how to generate healthy and well bodies, continue to ingest harmful substances and make life style choices guaranteed create illness and disease. One conclusion given is that people often do not experience the ill-effect of life style choices immediately, there is usually a delay between action and the body’s reaction to the harm imposed on it. People usually stop only when diagnosed with an illness or disease. Universal Medicine offers an alternative perspective. It says taking responsibility for our own health and well-being and developing a close and loving relationship with our bodies, can make us healthy and well. We are given an understanding of the body as a delicate, intricate magnificent all knowing instrument that feels all and constantly communicates with us. It is our responsibility to live in a way that stays in connection with this god-given human body, listen to and live by its messages, not other external influences. And when we do, we began to feel again and can sense the impact of harmful lifestyle choices immediately. The body speaks to us, but we often don’t pick up signals because we’ve lost connection with ourselves and even when it screams at us we often dismiss or over-ride it. This, exacerbated by pace of life, work pressures family and other commitment, sport, entertainment results in a total disregard of self. Consequently, the truth is illness and disease is often self inflicted.
“But it is in our best interests to learn to listen to these whispers because to date we only respond when they scream, and the world and our bodies are screaming right now.” Someone I know with acute pain said this to me recently ‘when it begins to shout, I’ll do something about it’ And these words came from my lips ‘Why wait until it shouts at you, if you did something now your body wouldn’t reach a point where it had to shout at you”
“Imagine if we put as much effort to finding every aspect of our lives that did not contribute to harmony, vitality and productivity as we did following our favourite sporting team. If we got excited about being wrong because it simply meant that we could now live a deeper level of harmony.” Just yes, this is a great observation of how we live our lives ‘shouting into the wind’ rather than putting all our effort and determination into living love and being harmonious.
I have been observing myself over the last week or so with something that has come up for work. I have been observing resistance which often comes up when something new is introduced. I know that whatever I am seeing and feeling is very much something for me to look at and learn from in my own behaviours and my own life. So I have been looking at my own resistance and therefore what I have been unwilling and unprepared to accept. As I re-read your article Joel, something that I have realised is that I have actually not been ok with being wrong. As I watch this resistance a question that has risen is what if I am wrong. The answer to that is, it’s actually ok if I am wrong. Even though I know that, there is still something that I am hanging onto about this and what it is is how I am seen. We like to think that we appear in a certain light with people, especially when you have a senior position at work. So really I have a picture about how I should be, what I should know and that because of my position I need to know more that someone else. I can feel how tense my body has become because of this belief. I will ponder on this further, for I can sense that I am not quite at the bottom of this.
My energy levels are also very much connected to my ideals and beliefs, which are all connected to how much illusion I am in. These are great insights that you are sharing Shirley-Anne.
In some respects it is easy to pick on current religions for their obstinate and at times arrogant approach to being the holders of truth”, and this has been just like fool’s gold. Now humanity is slowly learning that true religion has the true alchemy.
Joel, it was beautiful to read these words this morning ‘we are here to learn to live in harmony, vitality, responsibility and productivity.’ We can get so caught up in controlling our lives, either ‘making do’ with what we have got or trying to make our lives more comfortable or better in some way. To bring a deeper level of self love and self care to our lives is such a great start towards building a more harmonious, vital, responsible and productive life.
It’s true that we look outside of ourselves for the answers and give the power to someone else or to a religion. But ultimately we absolutely know what is true and right. Looking within and feeling the truth is all that is required to gain our answers, and we have to be willing enough to listen to this inner knowing.
A great blog Noel and reflection to ponder on and is so true . Currently our world does not make sense nor how we live in it and the willingness to see this and change and get out of the comfort is open here to see. Making choices to live in true religion really does make all the difference and changes everything. The Way of the livingness offers us everything and how sick or wrong do we have to get to embrace this is a great question.
‘there is a vast difference between what we know and what we do. Which suggests there is something we are getting wrong’ I totally agree Joel. I’ve read hundreds of statistics surrounding humanity’s deteriorating health and how lifestyle related diseases are becoming increasingly common, and it seems that there is hard evidence that shows we do know a way to look after our bodies but we continue to ignore this in terms of what we choose on a day to day basis. This attitude hasn’t helped us up to this point, so maybe it’s time we gave it (and ourselves) a chance?
A great question to ask and ponder on. Many things we do are not logical nor do they make any sense when we honestly look at them. It does not take much to see that how we live has a great impact on our wellbeing and health, but it comes back to how honest we are willing to be to make the changes we need.
This is so true Joel. It is almost as if there is a fog of illusion that shrouds our memory from how we felt when we were sick and the cycle of eating food that may have supported us getting sick in the first place takes hold again. I have met people who are taking various medications to stop reactions from various foods in their digestive system, and would rather take more pills to sort this, when it would be simpler and kinder to the body to stop eating the food that causes the problem in the first place.
For example, have you ever changed your diet when you were sick, only to revert back to the previous diet once you got better again? We often like to change things enough to make the pain stop but not enough to make it never come back.’
I used to find the idea of being wrong totally abhorrent and I perceived all advice as criticism. I have since done a complete 360 and find such joy in unveiling the illusions I live under as this clears the path back to reconnecting with my intuition, inner beauty, clarity, power and wisdom. I finally know that seeing my ‘wrongs’ is part of the grand journey reconnecting is back to universal truth.
If I look back over my own life I can see how I was willing to keep seeking because I never considered the value of stopping and looking at the common thread in every situation – ME. The drive to keep searching was there because of all my unresolved hurts and believing in “if only … I can be that or do that or have that..etc etc..” Of course now having seen how responsibility is key in our lives I can start to stop the searching and come back to whats true rather than trying to get it right and can make true changes.
‘We often like to change things enough to make the pain stop but not enough to make it never come back’. This is so true Joel, we can also trick ourselves into thinking that we have cleared something only for it to come back again either in the same way and louder or in a completely different guise. Either way, eventually it has to be addressed. Better to be honest and up front and admit to what we have been holding onto, than to cause ourselves more pain or discomfort.
Great questions Joel, we only have to look at how much is not working, in the world, and in our own lives to know that we may not yet have the answer, but only in being willing to see just how much we have it wrong, and how much responsibility we take for our choices, will we be able to truly see that we have been responsible for where we are, and where the world is. and then opens up our awareness and with it the possibility of a different choice .
When we look back at the history as truthfully as we can, could we have got it more wrong? But we continue in those same pursuits whether it be religion, nationality or culture even though history, recent and past shows these thing create anything but oneness, brotherhood and harmony. Enter the Way of the Livingness that can bring back truth and harmony, which has been missing for a long time.
Yes Kev, if we really are honest with ourselves it is all a little nonsensical how we/the world has got to where it is today.
Great question Joel, my assumption is that at the moment, there are many who are not yet willing to answer so honestly. So those who are, there is a responsibility to focus on the way of the livingness, allowing for there to be a joyous reflection for anyone to then choose a different way for themselves.
“That religion for me is The Way of The Livingness, a religion founded on the understanding that the answer to all we seek lies in how we live and what aspect of ourselves we give more power to.” Unfortunately we do put more effort into things that are not for the good of ourselves let alone for the all, and we constantly make choices that contribute to ill health and exhaustion. When will our intelligence stop needing to be so intelligent and let a much higher power, love and wisdom from our own bodies and inner heart, take over?
Very true, Joel. The majority of humanity (myself included) will do anything to avoid responsibility for how we treat ourselves and each other. If we did, life as we know it would crumble and we would have to start from scratch in learning how to be and developing a relationship with our bodies that is constantly reflecting the truth.
I have a feeling Janet, that life on earth is about to crumble and it is time to start listening to our bodies which are the marker of truth and not handing our power over to ‘experts’ who only have their own interests at heart.
Resolving the inner-battle of wanting to be ‘right’ with the willingness and openness to be wrong is a profound healing and one that bestows great freedom.
If I consider all my best efforts in life they’ve all come from a desire to fulfill an ideal which, no matter how ‘worthy,’ has come at the expense of my well being in some way and so has not come with a quality that actually supports another though that’s often been my intention. Really admitting this and being honest about the quality I live in knocks out the arrogance of my ‘successes.’ It is listening to the quite voice of my inner knowing that brings quality , something I have barely explored just yet.
Just yesterday, I realised I was holding onto being right about something because it meant I could cast the blame onto someone else – make it their fault and therefore not take full responsibility for my part. And this was over a tiny issue. So the investment in being right and not being willing to be wrong is huge on a grander scale. As a species, could we admit that we have got some things wrong such as organised religion, politics, education, health and be willing to approach all of these areas from another angle…one of truth?
“There is one part that innately knows about our well being and that something about our current relationships with each other and with the world is not working, and there is part of us that only wants to change our current understanding of life, just enough to avoid anything too painful.” we are very good in nominating what needs to change but a little less good at making the change and everything that we have to look at or change in order to keep making this change.
Joel, its great to come back to your article, I am finding this to be very true, ‘The religion of the future is one founded on the willingness to be wrong (i.e. honest)’, recently I have been honest, simply expressing what I am really feeling and not letting embarrassment or shame stop me from sharing what I am feeling – this has felt amazing and very healing and has allowed me to feel that there is nothing wrong with me and that simply expressing what I feel feels wonderful and empowering.
Yes and then (when expressing honestly without shame) we also feel it is not us that are wrong we just made the wrong choices.
Wow Joel I love this and the much needed enquiring questions you ask . “There seems to be an inner battle going on. There is one part that innately knows about our well being and that something about our current relationships with each other and with the world is not working, and there is part of us that only wants to change our current understanding of life, just enough to avoid anything too painful.” This really does offer us the opportunity to take responsibility and make the changes to how we are living that will change everything lovingly back to who we are .
I think you hit the nail on the head here, we are very happy to ignore the long term consequences of an ill choice for an instant numbing, short term relief or reward. In truth we really don’t want to challenge the status quo and our level of comfort or familiarity.
I simply adore the way you express Joel you can take us to the very places we don’t want to go and with a steady arm and next step shine a light. Imagine if we did all just surrender to having been living in an ill way, hands up no defence of the way we had been going about our days. Imagine what could be possible then on the macro international global scale. So much scope for truth and love.
Moses and his seven plagues just got them out of town but did not change their beliefs? He had to wander the wastelands for 40 years for the people that followed him forgot where they came from. So, what chance do we have today after two centuries and still there is a separation between the religions! The Way of the Livingness may take longer than 40 years but it is a step in the right direction!
What you share here is gorgeous and a beautiful question to ponder on. We are wrong, we only need to be truly honest about that we are. Making changes accordingly.
Always love reading your blogs Joel and I so love this title. I have found being wrong rocks our comfort and our bubble that we live in, We like to hold onto what we believe to be true without questioning it because if we did it would expose how far removed we are from living the harmonious life we could be living. I am actually beginning to enjoy being wrong as it exposes another layer of illusion I have been living in that I think is true but is in fact not.
There is one thing that most humans fear and that is to be wrong! Why is this ? It seems to be something to do with pride, to be seen as a failure ! The truth as I see it is that we need to be truly honest with ourselves and appreciate and love ourselves as the Souls we are, evolving back to who we truly are.
Exquisite writing Joel and stunning insights and questions to be asking us all. And very pertinent to me today. This line particularly – “Maybe we start with listening to that quiet voice that guides us to take more care of ourselves and each other. That voice that gets over-ridden by an assumed ‘urgent’ matter”. I have a small medical condition that is asking me to listen to that quiet voice but I find myself responding to the assumed urgent matter and when I do it hurts. My body is telling me.
Thank you Joel. Your blog reminds me of the feeling I have when I find myself in an argument feeling as though I am on the brink of no return of reacting and lashing out. In this moment I can allow the anger, blame, frustration and hurt to move my body or I can connect and allow my heart, love and joy to move my body. Once I connect to the love I am I am able to be far more truthful about what is going on and my responsibility within the situation.
‘there is a vast difference between what we know and what we do’ and this game of brinkmanship that we play with our health is ridiculous – thinking we can get away with it, of course we can’t but our bodies put up with a lot and we think we have. In time of course things go wrong and it gets put down to ‘Well that’s just old age I guess’.
This is an interesting question in light of developments for me recently about my willingness to feel the truth of matters and how that affects everything around me. When it is shown to us that we have chosen to go astray it isn’t a comfortable moment it is very uncomfortable and the willingness to feel this is the difference between someone committed to evolution of humanity and one who is not.
There is no doubt that the explosion in health care costs we are already seeing will only get worse. So for this fact alone, are we willing to say the way we have been living isn’t working and another way is needed?
Joel you have asked some great questions, what are we willing to change. Changes that can have life term effects, are we willing to take responsibility – a question we all must ponder on. The true choice will turn our life around.
Life is so simple if we listen to our bodies as they know the truth.
love it, the line between the two can often seem blurry .
How wrong am I willing to be? Great question Joel. The way you have written this, it sounds so ridiculous that stubbornness that we hang onto the be right. There is control in that. What if I don’t have control? But really there is no such thing as control. I was talking to someone today and we were talking about that very thing. I said that when we start to ‘loose’ control we realise that we never had control in the first place. He laughed and agreed.
We are so focused on passing the test, on acing the exam, on graduating with flying colours. Yet in truth all these pieces of education are just repeating what we think we already know. When we fail and fall it’s simply showing there is something missing in the steps we took. How freeing then this truly is, for it opens the door to us learning. Wow Joel how would our world be if we applauded and strove for these moments, no matter how much our pride might seem to sting? This way we would have such an awesome opportunity to grow, even if it is the opposite of everything we have been taught. I had a ‘failure’ this morning, so what a great opportunity here to practice this with myself.
I think of how my life unfolded and how little of the things I saw made sense, I would question things yet others would respond, “thats just the way it is”, but now I understand, and I realise that things are the way they are if we don’t question them, and if we are able we need to reflect that we don’t need to be exhausted by life, that we don’t need to drink to have fun, we don’t need long holidays to recover and the idea of not having such things is a not a punishment but a way of living life that is actually incredibly satisfying. I now understand that we get energy for life from things other than food, and that there are forces that influence our choices, and this no longer seems otherworldly but fits in clearly with why we make self abusive choices and choose to follow loveless religions, and why if we want to make intelligent choices then we must look inwardly, not look for answers from the outside world.
“it’s just the way things are”, I see this in some many sectors and settings. It becomes a reason to not look more deeply at what is going on and what might need to change.
“But it is in our best interests to learn to listen to these whispers because to date we only respond when they scream, and the world and our bodies are screaming right now.” – they are, very loudly. We only need to look at natural disasters to see how loudly the earth is screaming, or recent political outcomes and the health statistics. All show very loud screams about something not being right in the way we are living here on earth, with ourselves and with each other.
We humans seem to have this ability to loose interest or forget after a while those things going on in the world that are affecting us all, even when we are hundreds of miles away from them. We can’t get away from them as energetically, they are happening in some reflective way, right in our everyday lives.
Joel, you have asked here a very important question about the changes we are willing to make. Changes which have a long and sustainable effect, and not just change that is momentarily satisfying.
To be absolutely honest with ourselves and with everything that is going on in the world is what truly saves us and the world and no other can do this for us but the choice we make to ourselves.
Joel Levin, I love how you have written the willingness to change as long as it doesn’t get painful. It is as if we have a barometer of how far we will go with our own responsibility but any slight moves over the set number we often bring the temperature down a notch or two. From my own experiences I have noticed that yes the initial reaction is to go into the pain of it all but what if we had the choice to not go into reaction by building a body that is aware of what is true and not true and making this the foundation.
Sometimes you have let things fall apart before you can offer an opportunity for things to be rebuilt as they should be.
For an intelligent species how is it that we would rather live in separation than in co-creation with the rest of humanity, something is really wrong if we believe the way we are living best serves humanity as a whole.
There is such a wholeness in how wellbeing is presented here. There is a lot more to consider then just physical fitness and eating ‘healthy’ food. Although these are somewhat important, they are not the pillars of true wellbeing. When will we all realise that emotions, stress, sleep rhythms, energetic awareness, saying what you feel and honouring the body and what it communicates, is all part of it. Joel, a very powerful expose’ of wellbeing.
So true Joel -‘ It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created, that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is.’ Let us fool ourselves no longer.
Having just read a very moving article on suicide, it made me reconsider this blog post. How wrong are we willing to be? We have to be more honest.. with ourselves, and with society or else more and more people are going to continue with what they see as a way out.. and that is getting it dead wrong.
It is clear that we are willing to be pretty wrong and go deep against ourselves and our true wellbeing in the name of whatever that is handy for us. For some, this may lead to raise questions about life but for many it will not. Not everybody will be able or willing to connect ourselves with what is happening to us and assume responsibility for it. Some people may search for a different way of living and knock onto doors that may not really deliver a true change. Other people searching for a true different way of living or willing to get true answer may cross Universal Medicine’s path and enter an era of amazing life changing realizations, start making inroads into a beautiful expansion of their well being and assuming responsibility about him/herself, his/her life and realizing that we also hold responsibility towards our fellow human beings.
I recall a time when I’d been very sick and during that time I was super sensitive to many foods and drinks. I naturally didn’t feel like drinking alcohol and even when I felt well again, I didn’t feel like drinking – I didn’t feel the need for it. But I then started a new relationship, and going for dinners or having dinners together became the norm and in came wine. At first I didn’t want it but then started to have a little and before long, I was back to drinking 1 or 2 glasses of wine a couple of times a week – all very acceptable and considered ‘normal’. But my body never liked it and I’d wake feeling hungover after 1 glass sometimes. I felt a frustration at my body for ‘letting me down’ but now see this was a blessing – my body was way too sensitive for alcohol and I wasn’t appreciating that. Now I do. I wouldn’t drink alcohol if you paid me because I know how I feel and love that, and wouldn’t want to change that for anything.
“This quiet voice is there, it never goes away – it is often simply not connected with or listened to enough.”
its so true, when i think back over many aspects of my life, I consider that i always knew deep down what was right for me, but many times I choose to ignore this wisdom, at my own expense. I am so glad i now honour this knowing from within, and appreciate it far far more than i used to.
Joel, I can feel the truth of what you are sharing in this article, when I allow myself to to be wrong and not go into reaction and get defensive but instead to simply learn from this, it feels very simple and evolving and loving. It feels that if I do not take it personally when something is exposed as being wrong or unloving and instead see what is being exposed as a great oppurtunity to learn then life feels much lighter, more simple and enjoyable.
I loved coming back to read this again Joel, it really brought home to me how life could change if we stopped trying to be right and spent all our time trying to prove we are right when we do know clearly that there are so many things that we do that are harming us and clearly not right for us. Alcohol and sugar are prime examples, we know they harm us, they alter our state of being and affect our health and yet every day there is scientific news trying to prove that one or the other of these is either good for us or bad for us, yet if we listen to our body the truth is already there. Being right is not proof that we are right, we are super clever at defending our lies more than seeking truth.
What you call being wrong to get the answers we need, the philosopher and teacher Serge Benhayon calls our ‘convenient truths’. It looks like we’ll just about do anything to defend our ignorant stance and utter lack of responsibility.
Yes, Joel, there is such humility in the way of living you describe, being constantly open to learning more, willing to make mistakes and growing as a result. There is a ever-expanding grandness for us to return to rather than settling for a comfortable existence which in truth serves no-one.
Another awesome thought provoking blog Joel, why is it we do not want to be wrong? ‘It seems we waste enormous amounts of energy to sustaining ‘our version’ of life, a version that does not seem to work.’ And yet we are meant to be intelligent…’We have intelligent people that smoke, abuse others, slowly kill themselves with poor diets and sustain corrupt systems all the while professing how intelligent they are.’ Maybe it is time to start listening to our inner quiet voice.
The Way of the Livingness is a religion in which we save ourselves – in other words, take responsibility for everything we do in order to live in absolute harmony with everyone and everything
Eventually we usually find out whether something is working but if we are absolutely certain that it is working, then it can take a long time before we get to the truth.
Reflecting on your comment about ‘Health and Wellbeing’ Joel – many are aware of the choices available to improve our level of health and wellbeing but the choices are not made, we do not take responsibility for how we are feeling, it appears to be too hard. When I read the title of this blog ‘ How wrong are we willing to be?’ it appears to me that the majority are willing to be extremely wrong before they implement choices in their life to improve their health. The vast majority of Humanity are suffering from many different forms of illness and disease yet are still choosing to distract themselves from this dis-ease by indulging in food, alcohol, drugs or distractions such as over exercising, watching TV or excessive busyness. It appears to me that we are prepared to be very wrong before we are prepared to make the choices that are most loving of who we truly are.
“The religion of the future is one founded on the willingness to be wrong (i.e. honest) and to live from the possibility that we are NOT on earth to be masters of all we see, to manipulate it to our will, but we are here to learn to live in harmony, vitality, responsibility and productivity. That religion is The Way of the Livingness”. What a refreshing, liberating and beautiful way to live Joel, knowing that we do not have to be and are not the masters of everything we do, but that how we do whatever we do is really key. When we understand this, everything about our life has the potential to change to benefit everyone, including ourselves.
How true it is that we are prepared to dabble to an extent if this keeps our pain or symptoms at bay but are we prepared to make lasting changes and to keep growing; even at times when things are seemingly improved better or not going haywire?
I have looked everywhere for something that felt completely right or true to me and nothing ever did until I found the Way of the Livingness.
It seems there is a hard way and an easy way to get to the same point of the answers we seek in this world. We can either connect to our inner heart and the wisdom that comes from that connection with the universal intelligence we are all a part of and change pretty much everything we have created on this planet of ours, or we can do it by a process of elimination, trying everything else first and finding that they all fall short, until we are left with the one option we have not tried – that connection with our soul. The latter road is much more arduous and full of more suffering. It is our choice which road we want to take but the end result is inevitable.
One of the greatest fears I grew up with post aged 8 was getting things wrong, yet as you share the willingness to see just how wrong I and society have got things is the only way to truly having the answers we seek.
Neither wrong or right deliver truth.
How long do we intend to live in the misery of not wanting to admit, we have got it all wrong? It wasn’t until I met Serge Benhayon and went to his presentations that I could feel the absolute truth of the fact that we don’t think, we only think we do. That changed so much for me.
The greatest problem with religion per say is that it is based on faith and not discernment.
Are we in fact the abusers, thinking we are getting away with our behaviours, not taking responsibility with every action in respect of every person in the world? Everything has an impact, and if we only equate it to profit and loss, or self gain, we are missing the true value and quality we have been supported in by nature. Abuse it and we loose it and I see and hear much evidence of disregard and coverups for financial gain at the irreplaceable cost to our precious water, land and sky. We are at a point where we are aware and your question Joel has never been more pertinent. How Wrong are we Willing to be, to get the Answers we Seek?
Giving up ‘ I’ve got it under control’ aspect in life releases us to actually delve deeper into responsibility of what’s not working …. Really not working! Our bodies are suffering, our communities struggling to be heard, coverups in systems, destroying our environments, fighting across nations, refugees, the list could go on and on, but where are we the people that are aware of all this, why are we passively agreeing to the abuse we are receiving?
The foolishness and ignorance of pride as we resist admitting we are wrong when that admission would lead us to exactly where we yearn to be. In petty arguments I have held onto my version of ‘right’ in absolute conflict with my longing to drop all the games and simply be open and connected to who I am arguing with… this hold off really is madness.
The Way of The Livingness is the religion for me, too. For all the reasons you give Joel as it truly brings true understanding and purpose to life.
Without the willingness to be honest and take responsibility for the state of our health and the world we have created, we are like a dog chasing it’s tail, going nowhere fast.
“It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created, that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is.”. Every day I see all around me people who are so stuck in living in the way they always have, and totally determined to defend what they probably know at some level isn’t in fact working, but as they have always done it this way, this is the way it will stay; and I definitely was one who lived (existed) like this. A couple of wake up calls and the willingness to acknowledge that I had got it “wrong” has changed all this for me, and now I am finally learning to live instead of just existing.
It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created, that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is. Unfortunately Joel, this is so true. We go on pretending that our lives are honky dory just so we don’t have to admit, we’ve got it all wrong, but in doing that, we dig ourselves deeper into the mud of irresponsibility and meanwhile everyone suffers, when we could turn it all around by simply admitting that we have got it all wrong and start helping each other. Why do we need a natural disaster to bring that out in us?
Brilliant question Joel. You show how in life we seem to be constantly striving to ‘get there’ and we like to think we are close and near and doing ‘pretty good’. Sure we have a few minor things to address but there’s no big mess. But what if that simply is not true, and there is something very substantial about the way that we live that is not correct? What if the real you is a long way from the performance you currently do? Well then we might find that everything we long for and yearn for inside is not so far away as we think, is not unreachable or unattainable at all. It all just hinges on what we choose to believe and then think. So why not be honest, and let go of this interminable race and see what is truly there in front of our face. There is no shame about coming to the truth of you.
Imagine if we could get excited about getting it wrong, as that would lead to another point where we can learn, grow and continue our evolution. That would be a game changer!
I am playing here with this scenario of a world teacher returning to incarnation to lead the way – this could potentially be a big shock! With the number of people who have walked away from the truth and fooled themselves into thinking that something else is the truth for them, then they would not recognise the world teacher for who he/she is. And so the world teacher might find that reminding people of the truth might take more time than anticipated. There are those who have so long forgotten that they will deny that this person is the world teacher and possibly fight this notion. Then you have those who have a vague recollection, a feeling of familiarity with the world teacher on encountering him/her and the shared wisdom. These people know the truth but it is like a veil is stopping them from fully remembering everything. These are people who have walked away from the truth partially. Then you have those who remember the moment the teacher steps into sight, the memory of the glory we are released in an instant within each cell, a reminder and a call so strong to come back to living the wisdom that lies within us all.
But imagine the patience and the love and the care that a world teacher would need to have developed and carry to not judge the forgetfulness, to not react to the denial or the resistance, to not hold it against God’s sons to have forgotten who they are. Image the enormity of their holding light. And so it is, we are here to remember and to let go of what is not true and re-embrace ourselves again. For the world teacher is amongst us, first as what appears to be an ordinary man, and then as many of us, inspired to remember and claim back what we know to be true.
Absolutely brilliant Joel. As always your truthfilled questions and wonderful delivery offfers yet something deeper to ponder for the reader. Gentle questions that take you by the hand to consider more. Thank you.
When I read your article Joel, I could see how many people believe the existence they live is ‘all there is’: few have any understanding of the huge potential that lies within themselves to transform their lives. To feel and experience fully the Way of the Livingness requires a depth of self exploration and questioning that few are prepared to make. I know this for myself but with one difference – I was always curious, and searched for something more, I knew the life I led was not ‘It’ and my search led me to The Way of the Livingness’, I learned to take responsibility for my own life and health which has transformed the person I am. We have to be open to seeing that if something isn’t working, something must be wrong. The problem is many accept what is not working as ‘just the way it is’. We are here to reflect that there is another way of being and each one of us can bring ourselves out of darkness into light.
Having read this blog a number of times I had felt that I was open to truly being wrong in order to know the truth. I have however recently had a change in my physical health which I do not like and suddenly I feel even more open to the fact that I need to look at my way of living and any assumptions that I may hold about it.
Awesome Joel. We have tried so many things, from missions, to fighting to hiding and indulgence, but we haven’t really lived in connection with God and making that our only way.
So much shared wisdom Joel, I also find it strange that when the truth is presented that we as the Students of The Livingness are called a cult. As I live in more harmony than I could have ever imagined before I found the Way of The Livingness, this is not only true for me but also is the same for over 1000 people I now call family. This is all because of the presentations by Serge Benhayon, which started out with teaching me how to be gentle before I could even look at being self-loving and being self-loving was a forerunner before love.
In truth there is no right or wrong, there is just what is….and our ‘what is’ is not representing the truth of us.
“Imagine if we put as much effort to finding every aspect of our lives that did not contribute to harmony, vitality and productivity as we did following our favourite sporting team. ” what a show stopping moment Joel. We have a situation where being wrong is bad, failure, yet what I can see here is that it is only by embracing how wrong we have been that we will end up with true success.
“It seems that we pride ourselves on being ‘right’ more highly than actually being right and are willing to gamble with our own health to prove it.” This seems to be where becoming “righteous” come into our lives. The drive to be “right” when the truth that our bodies and the life we are living is clearly telling us that we are getting something wrong.
“How wrong are we willing to be…..” I just remembered back the time being a child. I always tried to sell my mother the story in a version which would reward me. So already being young of age I did choose to not tell all of the truth to get the answer I wished.
Never be beaten! If there is a problem you can solve and you hit a wall… go over, under, or around… never stop. That was the mentoring I was given growing up. But, what if you still don’t arrive at an answer? Do we make our own truth and stick to it because we don’t will to be seen not able to solve the problem or sweep it under the carpet and hide our self-felt inadequacies. Both of these choices will only build a false foundation that we build our life’s on. Being wrong, not knowing and having to ask others for help allows everyone to grow and we all shine brightly as one.
It is no exaggeration that “the world and our bodies are screaming right now.” Highlighting how stubbornly we refuse to awaken to that which is not working, tenaciously seeking to perpetuate our suffering, screaming world and bodies… I can’t help but ponder on just who and what is running such a show, that love be so left out of the equation. Well exposed Joel Levin.
We are indeed so much more, and to live a religious way in life is to be in constant relationship with this ‘more’ – the truth of our being, our relationship with God, and the greatness of His Love that every one of us has the right to embrace in the way that we choose to live. The livingness of such a way is needed today, more than ever.
A religion based upon the foundation of our purpose for the living of life: “…we are here to learn to live in harmony, vitality, responsibility and productivity.” Outside of The Way of The Livingness, I have not seen a religion that responds to this call so comprehensively, and with such a powerful call to personal responsibility as you’ve shared here Joel.
Your words pierce through how incredibly, staunchly, resistantly and stubbornly we hold on to that which we are familiar with and ‘know’ the territory of – even when we also know well, that our holding onto things as ‘right’ is simply not working. How arrogant we have been and yet can be, that we do not willingly surrender that which is not working and celebrate every step we take to dismantle it and rediscover the deeper knowings within, founded upon love for ourselves, our bodies, and all.
A religion that brings us back along the path to our true return.
‘Even if this messiah had such awe inspiring powers that compelled people to ‘believe’, it is hard to imagine that man-made religious establishments would willingly lay down centuries of doctrine and established hierarchies of power.’ This is so true. it’s hard to believe that we would cling onto something that is clearly not working – a world of ill ways and struggle – all to avoid admitting that we have got it so very wrong.
“Many people consider themselves open minded, ” I thought I was opened minded until this was reflected to me recently I am not, I can be very shut down and not willing to see, speak or allow another person’s choices to be. That is not love, nor does it support people to be more open and choose love in their lives. It very much says I am right you are wrong, which is a total form of abuse, and is not love. It exposes my own reactions and the choices I have made. God never does this. He simply hold us steady in absolute pure love, with no judgement and in that space we get to feel ourselves.
There does seem to be this inner battle going on, we know life is not working as it is, and yet how many of us go along with ‘the crowd’, as opposed to honouring what we feel deep inside?
This is so true, Joel – “the world and our bodies are screaming right now”. We would need to have our head well and truly in the sand to not feel the desperation building in the world today, as the old way of relating to ourselves, our bodies and each other is not working and sending us towards personal and collective catastrophe. It is certainly time to relinquish the arrogance of knowing more but living less.
Great points Joel – we lose trust in life and go about it not really caring and we close off to life, ourselves and others when we don’t really need to. Imagine if we discovered that we can actually have fun and enjoy life and that we don’t have to drag our feet along the pavement. I think many ideals and concepts have been placed in us to make sure that we do not discover the beauty and grace we carry within ourselves. Because if we do we don’t need outside dictations saying how we should live to get to heaven. We discover that heaven is already living within us and that nothing can take it away, but we can chose to step away from it.
It’s really interesting how arrogant we can be to think that the way we are living is successful when life is anything but harmonious, and illness and disease are continually rising. We do need to open up and start asking ourselves what is really going on.
Right and wrong has never got us anywhere that is for sure. Imagine the possibility if we, in true humbleness allowed ourselves to feel what we all in truth calling for, and to be willing to take the steps and respond. Surrendering to love as a living way, is our way.
No doubt we are greatly invested in getting things right and even when knowing we may be wrong, at least being seen to be getting it right. Taking writing comments on a blog for example, would anyone seriously say they have absolutely no investment in how their comment is received by others? This has been going on since very young and like the hardness in our bodies developed as protection around getting hurt, our protective mechanisms form many barriers to the truth. As absurd as it sounds, the barriers we put up to prevent us getting hurt, also prevent us from being open and aligned with the truth. But if we really knew this, would we not very willingly be prepared to be wrong?
The deeper and more honest we are the more real and purposeful life becomes with a simplicity and knowing that is flowing and harmonious and allows the real beauty and magic to magnify in the world.
The world is screaming right now and we are having to turn up the music so we can’t hear it.
That’s such a great question, in order to seek the truth we need to be willing to let go of all our pride and investments and everything we think IS us, because all the pictures and pride and investments we have mask something magnificent.
If you look rationally at the world and how it operates on a grand and smaller scale you might be forgiven for going a little crazy, for the choices of how society function at present does not really make a whole lot of sense, especially not if you were to pride yourself on being part of the most intelligent generation of the most intelligent species on this planet. But of course our measure of intelligence is perhaps coming from the mind and how we can influence and corrupt life, and not from the body which is the part of us actually interested in the harmony and honesty that Joel speaks of. To use a practical example a local government area I lived in for years talked of sustainable transport and greenspace while at the same time making choices that created the opposite, the intention was corrupted by alternative options that were chosen, choices like putting in a supermarket that is only accessible by car, which made people drive more, to get to a store that did lots of special on alcohol and sweets and crisps, generally all the good stuff that makes us fat and disconnected from our bodies even more. And this example is one among countless of how life functions, on a micro and macro scale, ill choice heaped on top of ill choice, and then we wonder why we get sick.
It feels to me that we have to ask are we willing to let go of it all in order to remember the truth which underlies all that is.
‘In some respects it is easy to pick on current religions for their obstinate and at times arrogant approach to being the holders of truth, yet being unable to explain why so much harm is caused in the name of those very same religions (wars, sexual abuse, corruption, homophobia, racial and religious intolerance etc.).’ Many atrocities have been done in the name of religion, and yes, we need to consider the same in our own lives, homes and neighbourhoods and open our eyes to what is truly going on.
Many people consider themselves ‘open minded’, but are only open to hearing or considering things that they are happy to hear or that correlate to their own beliefs and ideals. This arrogance really limits what we can learn from the world and from other people.
There are so many times that I have known deep inside of me what is true, but I have gone and done the complete opposite. I can keep a story going for a long while before I finally get honest and come back to the truth. I can get it so wrong, but I know inside of me all along that it is wrong. My answers are definitely inside of me. I can feel them and I know them. I just need to surrender to this instead of creating investments in other things that take me away from truth.
There is nothing more damaging to love and relationship than being ‘right’. It is like a snag or rock that we get caught on, and as the stream of life flows on we get torn apart. It is certain that proceeding about some task or other correctly is a very practical and helpful thing but being stuck in the snag of ‘right’ is very destructive.
In our stubbornness we are only really fighting ourselves and the truth that our body holds.
And not just holds but expresses too, either in at times a joyous light feeling or in heaviness and maybe even sickness. Like I have heard it being presented so often at Universal Medicine events, that the body is the marker of all truth. And it is so true – our body will show to us our way of living time and again…
The world is indeed being destroyed by people being ‘right’… and if we learn to let go of right we can begin to open the door to truth.
The question could also be posed how much am I willing to avoid seeing that I can carry on making the same choices – “there is part of us that only wants to change our current understanding of life, just enough to avoid anything too painful.”
Not wanting to be wrong in part means we don’t want to have to change.
Scientists and neurologists at a university I’m studying at are also faced with the conundrum you present. They claim only 1% of dementia is related to genetic make-up. The most common risk gene being APOE. While ageing is still considered the highest risk factor, dementia is not inevitable. In most cases dementia is related to life-style and environmental factors. It is important to understand that dementia does not just happen to us, it is a consequence of irresponsible living that creates in the body and brain conditions which make it more likely for the disease to occur. The dilemma for these scientists and for society as a whole is not knowing how to get this message across in a meaningful way to the millions of people who are either unaware or even with the knowledge refuse to choose a healthier way of living.
Ref: Preventing Dementia MOOC University of Tasmania.
People want to belong – to the group, family, club, friendship group etc. To feel the truth of what is happening around us, to truly look into the detail can expose the fact that we are not living what is true and to expose this by living differently or speaking up can mean we become isolated and not ‘belong’ anymore. It is time to look at the foundation upon which we stand and be willing to be wrong if what makes up this foundation isn’t true. It is often the one that stands alone in truth and does not waiver that we all gravitate to when we are seeking to expose what does not feel right – this is what we trust and deep within we all can feel the love this offers.
It’s an awesome feeling that the purpose to life is so much grander than going from one sporting match to the next activity, so much of it all to be a distraction to not be with myself. I’ve lived years like this it is was exhausting and miserable. The day I realised there had to be more to life than existing was the day life became truly interesting and bit by bit the exhaustion and inner misery falls away.
Sometimes even when our bodies and the world is screaming, which it is now, we still do not respond ‘we only respond when they scream, and the world and our bodies are screaming right now.’
A deeper level of honesty enables a deeper level of self reflection .
Has the world ever been is such a bad state, and when we need unification so badly the world seems to becoming more separate. It looks like we have to get it a lot more wrong before we get it right.
“It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created, that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is”.
Yes Joel it is time for us to listen to the quiet wise inner voice and to admit that much of how humanity lives is clearly not working. Lets live simply based on what is true love, cutting out the complication of what is not true love.
We absolutely save ourselves no question Joel, as I found out from Serge and his presentations, workshops, and witnessing his absolute dedication to living in his fullness everyday in every way, and then putting into practice my own living rhythms for a truer and more vital way of life.
Its a great point about sickness and health, and how we make changes when we get sick only to revert back to type once well, a yo yo effect. Yet most of us will have experienced times where we have changed things about our health, early to bed, or eating well, or abstaining from alcohol, or opening up to someone in conversation not in reaction but purely motivated to care for self. And the difference the health choice makes when we do it from a place where we are not sick, that I have found is often very powerful, as we are making choices not to alleviate suffering, but to enhance wellbeing, that in my opinion is when we are activating our true intelligence, and that is the aspect of our being we do well to align to as often as we can, that is where true wellbeing lies.
It is strange that although we seem to know what to do to live well, to live a healthy, vibrant life, we still often swing back to errant ways that take us away from who we truly are. There was a time when I was totally convinced I was on the right track with my life, yet I was not living a vital life. I was so wrong. I didn’t want to be wrong yet I knew that the way I was living was not harmonious. Now I see and feel the way to be. I solidly know that my way lies in personal responsibility and deep love for myself and others. If I step away from this, it feels awful. I still feel that arrogance that wants to lie to me and tell me that I can get away with living less, but why would this be the way to live when there is a true and vital way to live that is so much more connected?
It is an interesting point you raise. The reality is that what we have is what we will defend unless there is something better or what we have is so blatantly abhorrent.
I love this Noel a great call to humanity and much needed with the current state of the world and all of us .How far do we have to go in destroying ourselves before we are stopped in our foot prints and change is forced upon us . Taking true responsibility starts here for ourselves and all humanity .
Reading this really highlights in a loving way the ferocity of how we champion and hold onto beliefs, even when someone comes along and shows us the plain truth of the matter we still want to argue the point just to be right.
I love coming back to this blog because it really does confront us with the state of humanity and the sheer arrogance that we live with. How much war, corruption, ill health, etc are we willing to have before we stop to ask the right questions?
I was driving across part of the UK the other day and at one point became aware of the number of religious buildings we have, in some villages literally right next door to each other, and I knew that at some point all this compartmentalisation, divisiveness and the conflict it causes, will come to an end. Maybe not for a while, but we are working towards reuniting as people, setting down all that has separated us to date: current religious institutions, our belief systems, culture, philosophy of life and blind adherence to science in isolation from energy and our innate wisdom.
Haha! My comment above should have read “my image” rather than “the image”. I can’t believe I got it so wrong!
It is our willingness to be wrong that we learn about ourselves and our world the most. If we live in the arrogance of always being right, then we are not leaving any room for expansion to evolve.
The trouble is Joel that everybody else has got it very wrong except ME! I am not willing to be wrong as that would destroy the image and image is everything! . . . But half jokes aside . . . even though I am willing to learn and despite being a bit tongue in cheek here and having some fun I can feel that this is always my first port of call. I can see it in many others also.
Joel it is such a great and valid point – how wrong are willing to be? How much are we willing to admit that the ways we have generally adopted have not been and are not working? For me it comes down to stubbornness and a resolve for truth. We can be stubborn and stick with our ill ways only to consider possible change when we have no other option. Or we can be open and allow ourselves to really see what is going on and not settle for anything less than truth. I know myself it is hard to admit to others let alone myself when I am wrong but it is a bitter pill we all have to swallow sooner or later just depends on how long we choose to delay seeing and facing the reality of the disharmonious way we are living.
“Which means that there is a vast difference between what we know and what we do.” I found in myself I am very good at nominating what is not true and what needs to be done to change this but then that I don’t take that action, that step to change it. This has been a great realisation as actually the last part, the action is equally needed as the nomination. So I am learning to live the changes that I feel that are needed with less and less delay in between the nomination and the action. This is part of developing a livingness as it is all about living what is true not just about knowing it.
There is so much complication in this world and yet life can be so simple when we allow it. I love what you are sharing here, Joel.
I love the way you have brought in health and wellbeing Joel, into the question of how religious and other beliefs can stand as an obstruction to the answers we seek. Everyone is interested in health and wellbeing – certainly after the body is starting to shout out loudly about it it. The way we have separated the cause and effect relationship between the way we live and the thoughts that run that lifestyle is a very sneaky thing – we can’t see the wood for the trees!
‘It seems ludicrous but highly plausible that while the majority of the world holds some form of religious belief, that same majority has invested so heavily in a set of beliefs about life that they would discount, dismiss or reinterpret any ‘truth’ that may be on offer. While this may seem ludicrous, it is in fact historically correct when you consider the man-made religions that have been developed around the teachings of many of the world teachers (Buddha, Christ, Mohamed etc.).’ It’s all about protection, finding a safe haven to hide away in. It has not been until the last few years that I have realised how much protection I have lived my life in, how I chose that over a true life. But now that I can see it, I can see how widespread this is amongst us all and it is clear that protection is one of the most dead-end choices one can ever make.
Calling our use of protection for what it is. Thank you, Lyndy. A dead end choice born out of fear and stubborn pride that leaves us unwilling to admit we have got things wrong.
It’s incredible how we already know the answers we seek but choose instead to go searching for them. It’s like it’s all too simple and we need to create a bit of complication and drama. What would it feel like if we stopped the searching and allowed ourselves to simply ‘be’? Perhaps this is too scary for some, as it would mean that life would change its meaning and we would need to focus on a greater purpose.
I have a feeling quite a lot of people are ready to concede that what they are doing they don’t like or isn’t working. It gets harder when we have to consider whether we have been comprehensively fooled and what our part in that is. It seems that fewer people are ready to go there.
Another amazing sharing, raising many areas for contemplation, ‘It seems we waste enormous amounts of energy to sustaining ‘our version’ of life, a version that does not seem to work.’ We do indeed Joel.
It seems in the world today that we have so many different versions of ‘the truth’ and so many dead ends that do not deliver us the love and vitality that we deeply miss, that there is a general given-up-ness in society. So that if and when someone comes along who is actually representing and living something that is definitely and very clearly delivery true health, vitality and love, it is easy to miss it or reject it as a result of the hurt of being misled so many times before.
The more I’ve read the question “How wrong are we willing to be to get the answers we seek?”, the more I love the question. It’s asking us to move away from the arrogance and ignorance that we’ve developed over the years. It’s asking us to not be smartypants and come up with all the illusionary ideas or theories that are lived, but empty of the real life. No, it’s asking us to take a u-turn and start asking feeling into the questions we actually have and be honest that at best, most of us have idea(l)s, beliefs, hopes about the meaning of life, but not the true answers. Admitting this requires allready a lot of courage and humbleness. The question posed by Joel to me is a paradigm shifter in many, many ways. If we truly dare to feel the depth of the question and willing to open up to be ‘wrong’. There’s a lot of power in “I don’t know”, a lot! This is much more powerful that acting like knowing, yet without any lived experience.
There is certainly a very potent way of turning life and our health around, and that is by becoming open , aware, and being willing to be wrong. Being ‘right’ has dominated our lives for so long and is one of the prime diseases in our relationship with each other and the world. Until we can be willing to be wrong and connect with the rich depth of our being within, our society and our health will falter. As you say:
‘If there was to be a teaching that would change life as we know it, it would be one that built bodies, societies and communities that are vital and evolving. It is a messianic approach in a way, but not because this message is carried by a single person who will save all others, but because it shows us how to save ourselves.’
” there is part of us that only wants to change our current understanding of life, just enough to avoid anything too painful.” I love that you expose this so clearly and that we have a choice to actually change our attitude to being ‘wrong’ and rather see it as the opportunity it is to bring more clarity and depth to living in harmony.
The title alone of this blog gives much to ponder on. Our stubbornness can work not very wonderful wonders. We know truth in our bodies yet we can spend a lot of time and energy convincing ourselves out of something we know so well.
There is an expression “two wrongs don’t make a right” which exposes so clearly how obsessed we are with being right. I’ll take a dozen wrongs if it gets me to truth, over one right that keeps me within an ideal.
It’s impossible for us to truly learn the answers to what we seek if we are never open to the lessons on offer by life; the greatest teacher available to us.
We are each our own messiah. Our ‘still small voice within’ provides all the knowing we need to bring about our individual and global salvation if we’re just prepared to listen.
Serge Benhayon asks questions that really undress the breadth of our human arrogance and investments in this earthly life. To begin with i felt really unsettled by this, but could not ignore the fact that these questions sparked something inside me, i felt like it was the first time i had been truly offered a choice.
When a child does something wrong like touching a hot radiator, they learn to never do it again. They need and embrace the ‘wrong’ to learn the ‘right’. They don’t judge themselves, they just get on with life and make sure not to do it again! Simple. The ‘wrong’ is absolutely part of their learning.
Recently I was working on a project and realised that the process by which I had gotten to the end result was as much through working out what I didn’t want it to be just as much as I what I did want it to be. I had an equally open and constructive relationship with the ‘no’ as I did with the ‘yes’. My point being that it was through being fully open to being ‘wrong’ that enabled me to find the answer much more easily.
So this is the point where we embrace our mistakes as much as our successes, if we are willing to truly learn?
Another thought provoking sharing Joel. How important it is for us to admit we may be wrong for this world of ours to come to a harmonious and loving place, for me it is very important, as I see how we all have made a huge mess of our world by the way we live. To consider all instead of one . What toll have our selfish ways taken!
It was not long ago that smoking was considered good for you and was a part time of a vast majority, however the physical symptoms and issues known now to be caused by smoking were still there before, simply over looked and seemingly not considered – how often can we ignore the evidence in front of us in favour of a desired outcome.
A classic example of this is when we say we love alcohol, many of us are unable to own up to the fact that this is not the truth at all. We may like the sugar hit it gives us for a short time but we certainly do not like the low that proceeds once the high wears off. We do not really like the nonsense we talk and we tend to get emotional when we are drunk nor are we able to connect with anybody as we are so disconnected our self, we waste heaps of money, our body stinks of alcohol, we feel dehydrated and we feel hung over and not well the next day. Some are allergic to wheat so this has an effect on our bodies as well…mmm…interesting when you weight up the pros and cons here…. The cons far out weight the pros and we say we love alcohol.
“It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created, that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is.” There are enormous billion dollar industries built around defending that version of life, and so many of us gleefully support them, just so we do not have to face our own demons.
It is amazing how we human beings are so arrogant and stubborn in the way we live life, when the truth is that we are living in a way that is destroying not only our own peace of mind but assaulting the planet we live on. We appear to be so frightened of admitting that we have got it all wrong.
What your saying here Joel, from what I understand, is that we have come to a place where we have allowed it to be ok to bend the rules and change the truth in order to do what we like. I.e. We will listen to all the things that say coffee is good, exercise that pushes the body into pain is great, criticism is ok, emotions are a good thing etc. We’ve developed a lifestyle where we justify all the things we do that are not truly loving or supportive, and we go out of our way to do so. Wow – it seems so much simpler to live the truth and put love first. Any yet by going so far with these false ideals we seem to think living the truth is so far away from where we are.but it is as instant as the next choice we make.
Reading through the comments you can feel the not so pretty ‘other side’ to striving to be right.. the fear of being wrong. What if our wrongs are our greatest learnings and that we have been conditioned to not embrace them as such?
When we are determinied to be right rather than be proven wrong there is no opening for another or even the truth of a situation to really emerge and be appreciated.
As usual, Joel, you deftly expose the contradictions of human behaviour with such love and non-judgement, seeking only to shine a light on the lovelessness and call us to be more.
How wrong am I willing to be to get the answers I seek? Only writing this reveals another question that is very connected. What are actually my own questions in life? A great part of my life I’ve been on a mission providing answers – being up in the illusion that this was the reason I live here. But as a matter of fact (literally), I escaped connecting to myself and feeling into what my own questions actually are. This makes me feel very humble and real. One of my questions is who I am and how I practically live this on earth? I realise an arrogance that I want to feel me, but that I don’t want everything that’s not me, avoiding what I actually can’t avoid. And instead of being honest about it, I went on my mission. Now I can laugh about it, but I also sense the fragility and the vulnerability inside of me. I’ve been missing me. The importance of feeling my body and whatever it is communicating is definitely something that I didn’t want to be wrong about in order to get the answers I seek.
This blog is very needed as it is something I guess we are all doing and having difficulties with. Through reading this blog I get a more clear sight on what we are doing, and have been doing for ages, that does not truly give us true health and well-being so it is worth asking the question of what is truly going on.
I can certainly admit to changing things just enough for life to be better than it was. But what if I founded a new way of living based on listening to the small voice that says, this thing that you do this is not it, it has only brought you failure – recognition and a false identity is not the grandness you know you are. There is nothing to stop me giving myself permission to drop all the doctrines, the shoulds and the ways I’ve created to fit in to a broken way of living and the more I admit and feel how I have been living isn’t true the less attached I am to my old, broken ways.
I have been wrong, very wrong in living the movements that being a woman is lesser than a man, this is not what I believe but it is how I move. And because these movements do not coincide with the harmony of the whole (universe), it is an individualized state that causes dis-ease. Our movements are defined by our every choice, so in being devastatingly wrong I am starting again from baby steps in deeper respecting my own needs before anything else.
We create our own mystery in our choices and searching for answers when so much more is known at heart – the answer we are trying not to find.
‘Yet for centuries our bodies have reacted to poison in the same way, regardless of what we call it – arsenic, caffeine, emotions etc. Yet for centuries we take the same poisons.’ – And in spite of this we don’t shy away from calling ourselves the evolving spieces.
How Wrong are we Willing to be, to get the Answers we Seek? I think that so much of the problem is that we refuse to see or admit that we are actually wrong and so we are therefore able to continue for a really long time with whatever it is that we are wrongly doing/saying/thinking because in our eyes we don’t see ourselves as being wrong. The ability to not see our own wrong doings seems to be an inbuilt feature of human beings.
Trying to deny the divine inevitable is a futile endeavour that our spirits indulge in for their own recognition, unchecked this arrogance brings devastation, yet with the soul it brings a truth that EVERY BODY recognises.
To answer your question Joel: I was willing to nearly die because I did avoid the answers of life. I was 40kg overweight, had asthma and many other diseases. I was not able to work regular, not able to be honest. I felt depression and anxiety a lot. My life was an existing. But I had not ‘just’ nearly to die 2 times before I made change, I had to know that there is support. Just when I met Serge Benahyon I chose to be able to make the changes into my life that brought me some health back and brought me back into society as a precious member for all. So the answer is: We need inspiration. To that it is possible to life in a different way. And so – everyone of us and how we live counts enormously.
How far are we willing to go to not see our choices and how we have got it all wrong, a brilliant piece of writing Joel that exposes so much and leaves one with so much to ponder on. Honesty is the only way forward and offers and opens up so much for us to see and brings true responsibility to our lives and an opportunity to change and with this the whole world changes. Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine are bringing back by reflection true integrity and honesty to the world for us to see and live for ourselves.
It is a strange juxtaposition of all the species on this planet, with ‘us’ alleged to be at the top of the food chain that we will go to no ends, even to our detriment, to defend something that is not true, just to not be proven wrong.
Very well said Steve, so it is vitally important to let go of our arrogance and pride and learn it is fine to be wrong as long as it is showing a truly loving way forward to be right.
“That religion for me is The Way of The Livingness, a religion founded on the understanding that the answer to all we seek lies in how we live and what aspect of ourselves we give more power to.” This is true for me too, it all lies in the way we live, our every movement and choice, takes us to the answers we seek, a forever evolving process.
And when we reflect on the answers we got we get to see pretty clearly how we are doing in our daily life and rhythm.
God reflects so much for us to learn and grow from as humanity, our arrogance and individualism takes us away for the one love we truly are.
How wrong are we willing to be? Quite wrong, perhaps. How embarrassed are we willing to be? Perhaps a whole lot less and that may be the reason why change is so difficult.
I do agree that if we put much more time into what creates harmony, love and vitality we would be in a different situation altogether as humans. Time our focus changed.
The lie I used to live had so much controlling energy and at the same time I was willing to jump ship at the ‘drop of a hat’ when I was proven wrong! So ingrained where my beliefs I feel the ramifications of holding onto such an idiotic existence shut me down to feeling how blessed I am when true connection is achieved. All beliefs belong to that part of me that needs to be lovingly looked at and removed. I have much to look at and even more to reconsider so my life can be one of serving myself / my body so I can be a true service, which is the loving harmonious state Joel has shared. Thanks to Serge Benhayon for opening my eyes and body to the truth!
The beauty about honesty (willing to be wrong) is the empowerment that goes along with it. I don’t need to wait for anyone to make a change. With me being honest the whole world changes.
We argue our point because we don’t want to be wrong, we hold back from sharing because we don’t want to be wrong, we don’t try new things for fear of getting it wrong, we get ridiculed if we get things wrong. “Getting excited about being wrong?” I think that little suggestion would change the whole world.
Great blog Joel, something for me it raises is that I have often thought how much can I get away with? Ie. I can have this but it will only effect me this much and then I can do this or that to recover. But I am only fooling myself. Ultimately everything we do has an effect and consequences whether or not we like to admit it.
We think we have the sum of life on earth, but we actually don’t. ‘we are here to learn to live in harmony, vitality, responsibility and productivity.’ and for that to happen, we have to be able to not just admit when we are wrong, but actively seek out where we are failing, how we can do things differently.
‘Even if this messiah had such awe inspiring powers that compelled people to ‘believe’, it is hard to imagine that man-made religious establishments would willingly lay down centuries of doctrine and established hierarchies of power’ …. I agree, Joel, and that is a very scary inditement of how far we have strayed from living our truth. That we would rather continue with a lie, than admit we were wrong. Such is our arrogance, that appearing to be ‘right’ surpasses even the truth.
“How wrong are you willing to be, to get the answers you seek?” is a question I can answer for myself and I can say that I have been willing to be wrong on many aspect in my life. For instance I have lived a life in which I allowed myself to live irresponsible to the impact my choices have to all of society and in that I allowed society to move its way and from the sideline judging it, but now I can see that I am an equally important part of the whole and do matter and each and every choice I make does influence everyone I live with on this planet earth. I now can say in all honesty that I have contributed to the waywardness society is in and this is all because I have been willing to be wrong to get the answers I was looking for.
“Imagine if we put as much effort to finding every aspect of our lives that did not contribute to harmony, vitality and productivity as we did following our favourite sporting team.” Imagine indeed…if this were the case, so much about our lives would change. If we were to simply take responsibility for our day to day choices, and to let go of how we wanted life to be and what we wanted it to look like, there would be space for so much to flow as it should, without all the complications that we so readily create and prevent us from living loving, vital and full lives.
‘How Wrong are we Willing to be, to get the Answers we Seek?’ – It’s an interesting question you pose here Joel, I’d say a lot of people would not think twice to sell their own soul, just to get what they need or the answers they seek.
Wow! “Imagine if we put as much effort to finding every aspect of our lives that did not contribute to harmony, vitality and productivity as we did following our favourite sporting team” – or any other ‘thing’ that let our heart beat faster. What if we would seek harmony and truth in our relationships instead of success or comfort? I found myself so often so much in effort, so much exerting myself ….thereby I know that I will not truly achieve anything. All what I am and all what is needed is already inside me, I just have to learn to let it out. This is done by surrendering not by creating. And this – turns this world around.
Joel I’ve been reflecting on why is it that we defend something that we know is not working, a product we know is not supporting us or a way of life? I was thinking that perhaps its because we cling to something we think has helped us, something that allows us to cope and get through life. Yet the real point is if we are open to truly seeing how wrong we have things we can then very easily make different choices and our entire life changes.
We have all known someone that will go all out to support a wrong ideal or belief just not to be wrong. What about the child questioning something an adult says and the child persists for justification, it is “because I said so”! Is this the seed we plant to support the foundations of always having to be right?
I am sure if Jesus met Muhammad or Krishna they would not diverge on what their versions of religion are because in truth their common teachings were always about love. So does this not highlight just how far we may have it wrong when modern religions clash on their very beliefs and held ideals?
There is something very humbling about being wrong that brings with it at first a pain but then a lightness to my body. By being honest with my body rather than thinking that my actions are right and I don’t need to (or have already) feel in full the quality of my choices makes so much more sense. Because in the ‘being right’ there is a tension and a holding on that is very draining. There is nothing wrong with being wrong if anything admitting being wrong feels so right! it feels more honest and certainly feels lighter than to hold onto the weight of being ‘right’ and then having to spend a lot of energy justifying and defending that ‘right’.
So the question remains, how wrong are we willing to be, to get the answers we seek? This is such an awesome title Joel, shaking us out of our comfort zones and waking us up to truly seeing what we are actually choosing on a day to day basis. Thank-you.
What would happen, you ask Joel,’ If we got excited about being wrong because it simply meant that we could now live a deeper level of harmony.’ This is what is exactly happening now with so many of us who love The Way of The Livingness – the deep joy in seeing through an illusion, an ideal a belief, a condition on life, is so great to feel as there is an immediate inner expansion which must sooner or later be reflected in the body and its health and well being. It is like being set free from the bonds and constraints of a way of thought and being that is a prison house.
In the course of my life I have met “Many people (who) consider themselves open minded”, whereas it doesn’t take long to come to see that they appear to only be open minded about what they believe to be true in their own little sphere of life. When it comes to expanding their view of what is possible they come up with every reason possible to justify why they are right and what is being presented to them is wrong. Looking back I know that I considered myself to be one of the open minded, but I will now put my hand up to say in many cases I was wrong, and from this declaration of honesty I have found my understanding of me, my fellow man and the world grow exponentially, and the answers I was seeking waiting there for me, as they always were.
Living with the need to be right has meant that I have not been able to accept myself as I am. There has been a sense that I am less than perfect and always striving to get somewhere to improve, be better, and not make mistakes. It is hard to be honest when you can’t admit you are wrong – in fact it’s arrogant. There’s humility in being prepared to be proven wrong and when one lives for truth and not for right or wrong a shift occurs which makes one more willing to see what actually is going on. There’s no longer any need to prove yourself or be someone, you are just being yourself and by being connected you can no longer override the messages that the body gives you and you no longer need to manipulate situations so you look good. Living this way restores your natural vitality because you are no longer resisting what’s there to be felt.
Deep down the truth is known by all, and yet there is the inner battle not wanting to succumb to the humility, the letting go of the enormous pride that holds on stoically, not wanting to admit that all along we have let ourselves be duped. We took the ticket for the wrong train, the one that takes us further away from home, not closer to it. But the irony of course is that all we need to do, is acknowledge this, hop off, get back on the right track and on to our true journey home – the inevitable and certain way for all of us, eventually.
“It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created, that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is.” This Joel is a statement that exposes what most of us are doing. Because the ‘version of life’ that we create gives us a sense of identity it is hard to let go of our attachment to it as we think it is us. We might look like we have great responsibilities in our roles but true responsibility is for us to reflect to others love not self-abuse, productivity not busy-ness, vitality not exhaustion.
This is a powerful blog on our state of being in the world. So well observed. And how very true, “It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created, that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is.”, we pull every string but not the one of responsibility.
SO true Esther, the responsibility string we lightly tug, just enough to avoid the ‘bucket of consequence’ tipping on our head 🙂
I love re-reading this blog as it reminds me each time to willingly and joyfully look forward in the coming day to be open to being exposed being ‘wrong’. It brings a lightness and drop in defensiveness to the day.
Haha, I love this Joel – “If we got excited about being wrong because it simply meant that we could now live a deeper level of harmony.” This would be so much more supportive than the self-judgement and criticism we go into, which is really just opting out of being responsible for our choices and evolving.
If we removed our pride in being right, the world as we know it would simply not exist.
How willing am I to be wrong….well the thing is, I got often get quite attached to being right….I am aware now though that the more I seek to be right, the further I get from being true…and so I am in some ways willing to know that I am wrong…even when I think I am right…The only thing I can call on for clarity in this situation is how my body feels,tension, hardness, force, righteous…openness, flow, surrender, truth….Thank God for beginning to appreciate my body as more than transport that takes me A to B.
This is deeply beautiful Joel : ‘The religion of the future is one founded on the willingness to be wrong (i.e. honest) and to live from the possibility that we are NOT on earth to be masters of all we see, to manipulate it to our will, but we are here to learn to live in harmony, vitality, responsibility and productivity.’ This is the vital difference between the two available ways of living on earth and we must make our freewill choice. Being willing to be honest, to observe and be willing to be ‘wrong’ or even if ‘right’, about say something as simple as the date two of you had planned to meet, the ability to be able to drop it without argument and move forward by arranging to the next meeting is the step needed to live in harmony – our true natural way. Manipulation is NOT the name of the game.
Great blog Joel. “It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created, that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is.” This is a key part in what is going on. If we keep defending what has come before then we do not need to look at ourselves, the reality of what is and then be faced with doing what we know is needed. Defending is a great way to avoid what is needed and the perceived onerous responsibility that would bring.
Hello Joel and many people are speaking the same way. Where I work it is a discussion that comes up at least a few times a day, “There seems to be an inner battle going on. There is one part that innately knows about our well being and that something about our current relationships with each other and with the world is not working, and there is part of us that only wants to change our current understanding of life, just enough to avoid anything too painful.” People are realising more and more that our basic relationships with each other have changed, not for the better either. As many are saying they use to know most of the street around them or in a town or suburb they knew how everyone was connected but now more and more we don’t even know if we have a neighbour let alone what there name is. What are we loosing here and what is the cost?
Brilliant Joel – it is like we play The Game of Life, and pretend to be unattached and nonchalant but all the time it is juts a ploy and a ruse designed to win and not loose. If everything we do and say is geared to being better or the best, what would it actually be like to consider as you show, that this Game of Life is not even real or true? Imagine the freedom from the trying, imagine the liberation from the struggle and the crying, and yet isn’t there part of us that goes ‘oh yes, but if I just try this one last ploy maybe I can still win it all!’. As long as this philosophy runs us all we will be destined to loose.
So true Joel, whatever the masses are doing doesn’t seem to work as is evident world wide. From my personal experience adopting the teachings of The Ageless Wisdom into my lifestyle has changed my physical and psychological state for the better.
You can go on repeating that question endlessly, Joel. It is such an invitation and opportunity to consider deeply and honestly our current situations, personal health and the health of those around us and society globally. Listening to the whispers of wisdom rather than waiting for the screams of entrenched disease and dysfunction.
For me – totally, completely and utterly wrong. I was looking in all the wrong places – searching high and low, far and wide, in dusty books and ancient scriptures when all along the answer (God) has been waiting patiently inside me, waiting for me to look there!
“This quiet voice is there, it never goes away – it is often simply not connected with or listened to enough.” Most of us simply do not like to take the full responsibility for what we have choose to do hence most are not connecting or listening enough to this quiet voice. I love that you have expose this so lovingly in your amazing honest blog Joel.
Another amazing blog Joel. It asks one to be way more responsible. Thank you so much for expressing all of this so easily. Very simple.
‘For example, have you ever changed your diet when you were sick, only to revert back to the previous diet once you got better again? We often like to change things enough to make the pain stop but not enough to make it never come back.’ Yes I do this quite a bit Joel, especially when it comes to exercise. I know I must look after my body in this way and get into a rhythm, but then after a while the lure of the computer gets too much and I cease exercise for a few days as I am feeling so good. It is the wayward spirit’s sneaky way. I must keep choosing love.
I have seen people pay a very high price in order to never appear to be wrong as that ‘wrong-ness’ seems to be too hurtful to bear. In my experience, accepting that I am wrong is mostly quite easy, sometimes embarrassing but mostly easy.
To truly be committed to seeking answers, I need to start with the acceptance that I have something I don’t know, that I am needing to learn something, in short, that I have been living from a wrong assumption about life and there is a greater truth to unfold before me. So all it takes is honesty, humility and acceptance which are qualities I am more than ready to open up to in being wrong.
There is a beauty, strength and humbleness that comes with being able to see and then fully embrace with honesty to the core, moments where we recognise that were wrong.
“We often like to change things enough to make the pain stop but not enough to make it never come back”…. “but nature (and time) have a way of showing us the truth.” This is so great that no matter how much try an delay the truth of whats going on in our body, our body eventually brings to the front. We eventually have to deal with it.
This is Awesome Joel, it is very clear we are missing something as we have the knowledge but clearly are not living it as more and more people make choices (and defend them with everything they got ) that compromise their beingness only to result in an accident, illness or disease in the long run. This would be a totally different story if we were to meet life through our bodies first honouring the level of tenderness and delicateness within.
Being right is something I used to fight for tooth and nail and it cost me friendships and even jobs. I was carrying so much hurt that was masked with anger. I would fight to defend myself or my cause on occasion it would take years to realise I had been defending something that wasn’t worth defending. I have learnt that when any relationship gets stuck in the right and wrong zone it will go nowhere. Allowing truth to be felt takes its to a whole other level.
I feel God is true, I feel God is universal, it is an impossibility that only a few would have access or know of God. Why would organised religion tell it’s believers that they must follow the one, always knowing that they will never be enough…it is a system of control, we are equal in our origin, every soul on this planet.
Your blog feels very much a blog for our time when everyone is feeling overwhelmed with life and how we have all chosen to live our lives. I know I have been feeling that ‘inner battle’ for some long time and I am now beginning to realise that being wrong is Okay as it supports me to let go of that inward fighting. It is now time to entertain the notion that being wrong gives us access to seeing the world as it is and ‘that we could now live a deeper level of harmony’.
Indeed Susan, there can be a great easing of tension, if we stopped fighting to be right and accepted the learning that is tapping on our awareness every moment of the day.
‘The religion of the future is one founded on the willingness to be wrong (i.e. honest) and to live from the possibility that we are NOT on earth to be masters of all we see, to manipulate it to our will, but we are here to learn to live in harmony, vitality, responsibility and productivity.’ Joel I loved reading this sentence (many times). We are all on this earth to evolve and willingness to be honest is such a great start for us in our own evolution and also in the harmony we can thus bring to our bodies, our relationships, our community and the world.
“…there is a vast difference between what we know and what we do.”
So agree Joel, this gap is what is our downfall if we would apply the knowledge we have and actually act accordingly we would soon find out what is true and what is not.
This is awesome Joel, these are the bigger questions that so few of us are willing to ask, but now as you say our bodies are screaming pretty loudly even under all the things we use to try and pretend that we can’t hear it. With all our beliefs, stimulants, drugs etc. we as a race have lulled ourselves into accepting things the way they are because we don’t want to dig a little deeper and see whats really going on.
I love being “wrong” and the practice for me is to realize I have made an unwise choice (as very honestly made aware by my body) and not go into critique of myself but see and understand the exact process of making this choice, so that I can work backwards and understand how I can choose differently next time.
The mentality that we have of changing something to revert back to our original choices come from thinking we have to improve anything, that something is wrong and we have to fix it or work it out. But the truth is, fixing something because we think it is wrong or not good enough will never get us there. If something feels off, fixing it will keep us cemented in the hurt, in my observations, I have realized that going into what feels off and feeling why it feels this way and by understanding it, choices in life will naturally change.
By body screamed loud and clear and I ended up in hospital but it is so easy to fall back into a pattern that isn’t always that self loving. Thank you for the reminder.
I am struck Joel by your observation of how we can be more invested in being seen to be right and the holder of expert knowledge than living in harmony and balance with our bodies.
‘There seems to be an inner battle going on.’ There is indeed an inner battle going on and it is this inner battle that lays the foundation for and grows the potential for a world war amongst us. It is, as you say Joel a battle created by that part of us that will wilfully gamble with our own health and well being even though deep within we know exactly how to care for our health a this going on on the battle starts to be ‘won’ – not to the detriment of anyone but for the good of all.
That religion for me is The Way of The Livingness, a religion founded on the understanding that the answer to all we seek lies in how we live and what aspect of ourselves we give more power to. This is spot on Joel, and in particular the last part of what aspect of ourselves do we give more power to, this is a very important point, as it’s not the belief that holds the power, but the power you give to the belief as we are way more powerful than any ideal or belief. Love transcends anything.
I have had a distinct hatred of being wrong, or being seen to be or have done something ‘wrong’. I had a fierce pride that defended my choices to the hilt at great expense to myself I might add. It doesn’t work and I found that the hatred wasn’t of being wrong, but of myself because of those ill choices. Learning to be true rather than right, loving rather than adversarial, open rather than defensive is an ongoing and ever deepening surrender.
Great article Joel, It lays open for all to see that there is something deeply disturbing in the human psyche. “We seem to play a game of brinkmanship with our well being – convinced that we know best and are able to stare down the forces of nature in the hope to prove nature wrong.” we are behaving in complete defiance of nature and our own bodies, when the magic of god is abundant in both, waiting for us to connect with.
The willingness to be wrong, it seems this is the heart of how we change our ways. Of course changing our ways requires us to accept that we are not living and working intelligently on this planet, and in spite of the chaos and disharmony that abound our world we are not yet humble enough to accept what we view as intelligent is actually pretty dumb. I feel technology is the perfect example of this, we can create incredible devices that can do huge number of things, yet we still fight wars, drink too much alcohol, allow domestic violence, abuse one another through computer screen and separate ourselves by religion and culture and nationality and all manner of things. We go out of our way to highlight our difference and ignore our similarities, and yet at heart we are all of the same essence, from the one source and we are all made to live with far greater care for our health than we currently do. Our bodies and how vital and energised they are is the perfect guide to how we live, and how many of us can say our bodies are in perfect working order, that don’t need the caffeine or sugar to fuel our day, or the beer or wine to take the edge of. Also, true intelligence would not sit back as a whole other country to suffers terribly, our intelligence is linked to our heart, our soul, and that intelligence recognises us all as important, all equal, that to me is a great guide to what evolved intelligence is, seeing everyone matters on a global scale. and collectively addressing imbalances in this regard.
Having the awareness that we may be getting it wrong, brings the awareness of how to begin changing our lives to get it right, or at least, look honestly at why we have chosen to get it wrong in the first place, when innately we know the difference between right and wrong but have been choosing to ignore it, hence the sorry state the world is in.
Great question, how wrong are we willing to be?? I would say absolutely willing to be fully wrong , as wrong as it takes to see the mess we have created in flashing neon lights. We leave one tendril of wrong uncovered, unseen, and we accept the rest of the illusionary package.
Our bodies hold the truth of everything that is, they expose all our choices that have caused harm to ourselves or another, and they can experience joy and harmony when we honour them.
Maybe, the more we live in connection with the rest of the world, venturing away from our ‘self bubble’, we will be less concerned about being right or wrong, rather, how to live with more equality, harmony, joy, love for ourselves and everyone else.
‘While the majority of the world holds some form of religious belief, that same majority have invested so heavily in a set of beliefs about life that they would discount, dismiss or reinterpret any ‘truth’ that may be on offer’ …. that’s actually very scary, that we would be willing to forgo knowing the truth, to protect our beliefs, even if it means forever staying in the dark ages.
It is deeply revealing to own up to just how much investment I have had in being right and how hard I have always found it to express when I admit to being wrong particularly in a work situation. I can be more honest with myself about bad choices I have made and continue to make but exposing myself when my income depends on it has felt harder – a great example of living life in segments and fearing others judgements and wrath. I can feel how freeing it would be to let go of these fears and have experienced this but continue to revert to old patterns and if I am allowing this to be a struggle for me how can I rail against all the injustices of the world caused by humanity’s deep resistance to the truth. Examining my lack of willingness and being honest about what is not working for me in every situation feels like the way forward without judgement at the twists and turns along the way.
“That voice that gets over-ridden by an assumed ‘urgent’ matter. This quiet voice is there, it never goes away – it is often simply not connected with or listened to enough.” This is so true Joel how often do we really stop and listen to the gentle voice that is within, offering us a more honest approach to life. This voice has the power to expose that the way we are living is not working and is detrimental to our health, to each other, to the world, and ultimately the Universe. If we were to stop and instead of overruling this voice with the distraction of what can at the time seem like “urgent matters’, our lives and this planet would be much more harmonious , and in line with where we all could be.
“We pretend there is no effect, even commission research to prove some short term benefits, but nature (and time) have a way of showing us the truth.” When we look at the extent we go to in order to convince ourselves or others that something is good for us it is quite crazy really. It’s certainly time to see just how wrong we are, for everyone’s sake.
This morning I can feel just how stubborn a part of me can be in defending and holding on to hurt in order not to accept the responsibility for all that I experience in my life.
Joel, this is a great question, ‘How wrong are you willing to be, to get the answers you seek?’ What comes to me reading this article is that in education the system seems to not be working, from what I observe children start school with a joy and love of learning, as confident and expressive little beings and what seems to happen is that their joy and sweetness and love of learning are crushed and the children learn to be ‘good’ and ‘nice’ and ‘polite’, academia is the focus rather than children being themselves and working together to live harmoniously – this system is not working and so this question, ‘How wrong are you willing to be, to get the answers you seek?’ seems very relevant here.
‘It seems we waste enormous amounts of energy to sustaining ‘our version’ of life, a version that does not seem to work.’ And what if we were to give up the fight and live the life our bodies are asking us to live – one that sustains us, rather than us needing to muster up energy to sustain it.
Hi Joel, this reminds me of the lengths we will go to in scientific research to prove that something is ‘good’ for us on some level… even though we know deep down that it is not. For example – how is it that we can prove that smoking or alcohol (known poisons) are beneficial for the body?! A strong will to be right – at the expense of the body.
Thank you Joel for another inspiring article, in my choosing to belong to a religion I decided that it was right which locked me in to rejecting anything that did not match up to my version of right. Extremely arrogant. I love this line what ” If we got excited about being wrong because it simply meant that we could now live a deeper level of harmony.” I am gradually stepping out of the right and wrong box and allowing my body to speak its wisdom to me, knowing this same wisdom lives within every human being on this earth, with no separation.
Brilliant Joel- shows us that we better not wait for one person to save us, but actually save ourselves.. ”It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created, that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is.” If it is not working, why do we try so hard to save it? Surrender is our key, surrendering to our heart, coming back to simplicity which is our order and origin.. And so we must free ourselves from all the harm we had chosen to life and accept around.. It is time to no longer turn a blind eye – but open our eyes, look up and see what there is and what is inside us – true power and clarity will be.
Joel, I love this piece of writing! It is awesome. What if, what if…. and I love how you cover so many angles of the way in which humans are to me, just lying to themselves because really they just want their own answers and not the truth.
How many of us are willing to see life in its raw truth and discard the filter of our choosing we adorn, through which we see and interpret a version of life?
I love this blog to me it calls the questions, how willing are we to put love before all else?
Man-made interpretation have so much to answer for.
‘It seems that we pride ourselves on being ‘right’ more highly than actually being right and are willing to gamble with our own health to prove it’ – So true Joel, and this raises a great question – if the world valued and appreciated their health more than being ‘right’, would we still engage in the same distractions, habits and pastimes or would these activities change?
When I’ve admitted that the choices I’ve been making have been wrong it has allowed the space to then choose differently. It means putting aside what I have invested in and so we free ourselves from that picture or belief.
Education, tests, exams – the whole system of right and wrong is instilled in us from such an early age. I am very aware of this as a parent and often contradict myself by praising my kids for getting something right but then also find myself encouraging them to allow themselves to be wrong – supporting them to see that there is nothing wrong with being wrong….or that actually there is no such thing as ‘wrong’ – which then contradicts the whole notion of being praised for being ‘right’! You can see the conundrum! But what clarity I do have is based around the fear of being wrong and checking that this isn’t stunting their expression, exploration and inquisitiveness. The perfect reflection of this is the expression “the only stupid question is the one that isn’t asked.”
This is great to explore in parenthood and the celebration of being wrong, as much as we celebrate ‘ticking the box’. the need to protect ourselves from the humiliation of learning, is a crazy concept but starts from such a young age.
A fear of being wrong stops us from asking the most important questions. And it is not that we don’t know…it is because we already know but just don’t want to face the answer.
History has and still is, littered with, my religion is better than yours… join or die. There are always places where various beliefs happily co-exist until extremists or fringe groups try to force change. These actions feel that one is better than the other. I have found a religion that is never about separation or better than others for we are all in the same big boat called humanity where we all sink if we are not one. The way of the livingness is just what is says on the tin… it is a way we live.
The other day I realised that friend was thinking that I was wrong about something and that she was somehow in the right. I was very tempted to enter into the debate when suddenly I just surrendered as I knew that would get us nowhere – all I had to do was keep observing and it was a blessed feeling to know that I didn’t have to be ‘right’ even though in this situation I felt I was! Who knows what glass darkly either one of us was looking through thinking we had all the data! There was only one true way to proceed and that was to keep observing and open and not enter into the field of argument.
When we invest so heavily in something and it brings us something back one of the hardest things to admit, or even see, as the truth comes along is that we ‘got it wrong’. It’s the investment that brings the entrenchment. Clarity of thought deed and action happens when we let go of our investments and see it for what it is.
It seems to me that it is about what we make our purpose in life. If we think life is all about improving our buildings, health and technology and that this will evolve us, no true effort will be put into taking great care of our bodies and being honest about its state of being and our responsibility in this. Yet if we make true love and harmony our purpose in life the world would totally change as then everything matters, our bodies, how we are with everyone, what is going on all over the world and not just in our own country. Then as you say being wrong would not be as devastating as we know it will bring more love and harmony to our lives and the world.
I remember someone telling me that if Jesus returned, we would not recognise him – we would look for someone that fits all the images we have of what a saviour or divine religious figure looks like, but in reality the man who has been the figure at the centre of Christianity for thousands of years was an ordinary carpenter. By looking for someone who fits our images, are we actually missing out on truth that is right in front of us.
I feel whenever I have wanted to be right, I can feel the ownership in that situation arise and it really has taken hold of me. The tension and stress placed on my body is crazy. Being right or perfect takes us away from the space to learn and evolve, which leaves us high and dry. Learning to let go and embrace the space that imperfection allows and not being right helps us move forward and gain a greater understanding of the world at large.
Until we recognise the still small voice is our inner Wisdom and the bossy brain is the deceitful one that has no care for the body it inhabits but an ultimate goal of recognition at the expense of our overall well being.
In my experience the gap between what we know and what we do is bridged by the body. When we choose to feel our body, we then can feel the consequences of any choice we make and, over time, modify those choices.
I love how you have said this Christophe – it nails the importance of listening and feeling to the body, the real marker of truth.
Beautifully presented Christoph. When we feel and listen to the body great wisdom is there for us.
The more I read the question that is written in the title and repeated several times while reading this stunning article, the more I smile. How wrong am I willing to be to get the answers I’m seeking? Boy oh boy can I feel a perfectionism, a shield, a protection, a mask towards the ‘outside’ world to pretend that I know it all. I don’t know is something I still find hard to admit. As if I don’t know means that I’m a fool, crazy, can’t be in this world. Even though I’ve allready noticed that within my work I don’t have a ‘plan’ as such, but just follow whatever is presented in front of me. And in that connection allow whatever is there to be expressed and manifested.
remembering it, it has been a stimulous for to be much more open and willing to admit being ‘wrong’. A great inspirational piece writing, thank you Joel.
It’s incredible how much our choice to invest in our individuality has created such a thick and sticky consciousness, that has us attached into thinking that what we seek comes from the world we create and control around ourselves, yet we never really seem to find ‘it’ and the restlessness continues. Whereas in truth all we seek is actually within us and is essentially and innately who we are. And as we have so heavily invested ourselves in this outward search we find it hard to admit that we have actually fooled ourselves. Our greatest path of mastery is not to conquer or control the world or our bodies, but rather to master living in connection to our Soul, with each other, allowing the impulse of our Soul to move us onward in togetherness.
Whether we like it or not we have got the ‘wrong’ part hands down no problem. The part we are not so hot on is the ‘willing to be’ part, such is our arrogance to think we have everything under control. The Way of the Livingness is slowly dissolving my arrogance, slowly chipping away at my notions of being in control and in its place is the growing awareness that true surrender is far more powerful, as we re-connect to the tender wisdom of God within our bodies and allow God’s Will to lead the way.
Yes it’s never too late to humble ourselves before the truth. This brings the blessing of harmony and healing.
This is a very valid Question to keep asking ourselves:”How Wrong are we willing to be the get the answers we seek”
It comes down to our willingness to see things for what they are, without wanting or needing things to be a certain way. Sometimes this can be very hard to accept and live with as there is much in the world that is not pleasant to see, feel and be aware of. But if we really seek the truth, then the willingness to see it is generally there and so too is the support to handle it all.
Championing our choices and not wanting to be proven wrong so that we won’t feel embarrassed or ashamed is a big one for most, and I know for me in the past, and sometimes even now, trying to be perfect saw me constantly not wanting to admit I could be wrong, although I am now getting used to the squirm and learning to stay with my body when the squirm comes on and not go into my head which can make the squirm less appealing to allow.
Great blog Joel, and a great question. When you look around and honestly appraise the state of humanity it is obvious beyond doubt that we have not been getting it right on so many levels. It would not take anything other than honesty to see this, acknowledge it and to change our ways. But why is so hard to be honest … is it because we are clinging for dear life to our ideals and beliefs no matter what? There is unbelievable freedom in letting our ideals and beliefs go and seeking truth.
We are conditioned form such an early age that getting things right is the only way forward. To stop and question whether we are caring enough to allow ourselves or our behaviour to be wrong offers so much to humanity. If we look at where we are collectively we would have to say we must be nowhere near where we could be.
There is SO much we can miss if we live close-minded and lineally; life is constantly reflecting back to us but if we only look to get the answers we seek it is impossible to truly see the world, listen to or understand it.
the more we hold on to ‘right’ the less open we are to truth.
Often our pride and our arrogance gets in the way of truth and we are unwilling to see things in another light. The Way of the Livingness never preaches but presents the truth for us to feel and to make changes if it feels right. This has worked for me and for many around the world and has allowed me to admit to being wrong in order to feel and live the truth.
It seems there are two ways that humanity can arrive at the truth – either the hard way via trying out and exhausting every other way until we are left with the truth, or the easier way of connecting to the truth which we know inside us and heading straight for that. So far in history we have mostly opted for the former and time will tell if this continues or if we change our approach.
“How wrong are we willing to be”? I wonder if the question is “how embarrassed am I prepared to be when I realise what the answer is?”
What comes to me after reading this incredibly revealing blog is how much Humanity has a massive investment based on a belief system that somehow we are here on this planet to dominate, control, and manipulate it and other people in order to obtain some kind of utopian vision, no matter what the consequences to Nature or the human body itself. Perhaps it will take even more intense illness, disease, and natural disasters to finally help us all realise how far from honesty and harmony we have really gone. Another route, which has helped thousands of people, is to look within ourselves and live life from our inner hearts, considering the whole of humanity with every choice we make, ‘The Way of the Livingness’ as offered by Serge Benhayon and Universal Medicine.
Hard lessons aren’t necessarily hard because they are difficult to grasp but rather the admittance of why we held off so long to the lesson that required to be learned.
Love it luke, hard lessons are hard because of what we learn but what we are being asked to let go of.
Awesome question – ‘So, how wrong are we willing to be, to get the answers we seek?” When we really ponder on this and look at all you have shared here Joel, Pandora’s box is truly open …
Joel i just adore this closing paragraph of yours: “If there was to be a teaching that would change life as we know it, it would be one that built bodies, societies and communities that are vital and evolving. It is a messianic approach in a way, but not because this message is carried by a single person who will save all others, but because it shows us how to save ourselves” – yes, and through the wisdom of the body we reach the wisdom that is true religion. That religion is The Way of The Livingness, available to all 7 billion of us without condition because we all have a body, and we all are from love, and one Fathering source. Then what happens to earth and life as we know it if all of us choose to live from this way/with this quality…
This is so awesome! Yes I can feel a lot of ouches when considering how much I’ve lost in losing investments and have crazily continued to invest. But here is a chance to admit these ways have failed epic-ally and will never recoup what has been invested no matter how hard or differently I try. What’s being presented is a new beginning, a fresh start which begins with honesty.
When I observe how so many of us live – becoming the master manipulators of our lives, I’ve pondered what life would be like if people put half the focus on their internal wellbeing as their external appearance. There would be a simpler and more harmonious flow onto everything we do from there.
The ability to not to just admitting being wrong but doing so without any shame or guilt but rather as a willingness to learn and making the next choice with an openness is formidable and worth developing. We need to get being false, not good enough, guilty, being a lost case out of the system as it keeps us from developing, so much to learn after most of what society taught us has made us ‘sinners’ or failures in some way or another, ie. an identification with what we are not in truth – we are all forever students learning life.
This blog so clearly shows the evil of separation and how normalised and rarely questioned it is. Through such belief systems we have developed a society which is made up of citizens that are deeply divided. We have developed societies that where people live by putting up with and passively living ‘at peace’ with the ways and differences of others.
Being honest brings so much more than being wrong or right but we feel uncomfortable with being wrong, we have loads of pictures about every aspect of our life and your question ‘How wrong are you willing to be, to get the answers you seek?’ aks me, us, to be honest . I must say I don’t have an open relationship with being wrong, making mistakes etc. Nowadays I am able to see how much I learn from being honest and to listen to the whispering voice and not wait till it screams but I must say I can be amazingly stubborn. I will revisit your blog Joel for sure (as I do with all the blogs you have written)
So often we do not listen to ‘the quiet voice’ because what it is telling us we do not want to hear the truth as the truth can be difficult and painful to hear. However, it is only through accepting and living from truth can a true, loving and harmonious life occur.
It’s so true Joel that we often yo-yo our health decisions and choose to change our diet, rhythm and way of life when something goes ‘wrong’, such as getting sick, putting on weight, not being fit enough to do an activity like a marathon instead of looking after ourselves all the time and enjoying how this feels and the support it gives us every day.
I know you proposed this point in the wider context Joel, “It seems that we pride ourselves on being ‘right’ more highly than actually being right and are willing to gamble with our own health to prove it.” But it has really struck home to me the futility of holding on to ‘right ‘ when in disagreement with something – for any emotion that comes in, is a disharmony that contributes to a state of declining health.
‘It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is.’ – I find it is quite common that when something is exposed as ‘not working’ we see it as a failure or having done something wrong, and it takes the courage to be willing to admit this and be open to make different choices, rather than trying to cover it up and keep going in the same ill behaviour.
I speak from my own experience, when I have sought to be ‘right’ rather than true it has been to mask, protect and invest in hurts, not wanting to change my life and not looking like I am wrong…”So the question remains, how wrong are we willing to be, to get the answers we seek?” An honest look at where we protect, uncovers many choices where we have dismissed the truth.
This takes the conversation a whole lot deeper, to the reason we might be willing to ignore the reality of what we see and feel. Something deeper we are protecting or trying not to feel in the first place.
In other words, how willingly are we to be humble? When we own our own mistakes and weaknesses, we give our selves an enormous opportunity to bring more of our true intelligence into the world, an intelligence that holds the whole of humanity in its palm and will never champion individual desires above our collective needs.
It is so true, Joel, how we look for temporary relief and solutions rather than addressing the long term underlying cause of any disharmony in our body or relationships. Universal Medicine goes straight to the origin of our ‘issues’ to reveal the responsibility we each have through the choices we make – this is not what everyone is prepared to face…
Reading this Joel is truly quite incredible, every fibre in my body knows that you are speaking truth, yet I know too well how often I myself still fight to be right, only to the expense of myself and others.
Society has the perception that we are progressing toward knowing more and more through our current developments in science and that although we may not be spot on today we will know more tomorrow but it neglects to think that it may have missed something very important before it even started on this foray and therefore all of the subsequent results are incomplete or only part of the truth leaving us without the understanding we are seeking, or perhaps even avoiding in our searching.
‘Yet how wrong are we willing to be, to get the answers we seek? ‘Some of us are willing to wait till our death beds before we stop to say how I am living is not working.
Why is it our nature to complicate something that is so simple? Why do we believe we can improve that that requires nothing?
We are by and large pretty unwilling to be ‘wrong’ about anything! And it is this very fact that keeps us in blind-folds from seeing the true truth before our very eyes. Everything is available to us, everything we need to be joyful, to be loving, to evolve – it is all there and yet we are hugely blind to that because of the arrogance and pride of the human spirit which we allow to dominate us. First step – let us be willing to observes life, really willing. Great article Joel
I love the possibility you present here Joel. That no matter how right we may be if we can’t live lovingly with others we can not grow / progress / evolve.
Nature and time certainly do have a way of showing us the truth; it is therefore our responsibility to listen, observe and act upon the truth that reveals itself to us. Being open to the learnings that come from mistakes and ‘wrong’ ideals and beliefs is a gift. Thanks Joel for posing this important and pertinent question; “How Wrong are we Willing to be, to get the Answers we Seek?”
“It seems that we pride ourselves on being ‘right’ more highly than actually being right and are willing to gamble with our own health to prove it.” That pride is a deeply arrogant avoidance of responsibility. Easier to stubbornly stick to the belief we are ‘right’ than to be honest and take responsibility for the fact we have been staunchly defending harmful behaviours and choices for millennia. So it may not be easy to be humble enough to accept this but it is simple.
‘How Wrong are we willing to be, to get the Answers we Seek’? This requires absolute honest about the choices we are making and the livingness of our lives. This is a great question, which invites us to stop holding back and be willing to put ourselves out there in life and to honestly keep checking in with the ‘truth’ that evolves from these choices.
In a gym the other day I heard one guy in the change room say to another, well this is what it (the gym work) is all for, so we can go out and get smashed. A great example of how wrong we are prepared to be.
It is quite ludicrous that we have invested so heavily in beliefs that we cannot even see the ‘truth’ when it is presented right in front of our face. This is the case with Serge Benhayon, here we have the world teacher amongst us and most of us dismiss him as just another teacher that has some good stuff to say others want to go further and denigrate him and his teachings.
I am and have been a part of this, “We pretend there is no effect, even commission research to prove some short term benefits, but nature (and time) have a way of showing us the truth.” We look at a part of the world for answers and yet completely ignore one of our biggest parts, nature. I am not talking about logging or saving whales but truly listening to nature and bringing ourselves back to how cycles work. From what I see we as humans are going against the natural cycles of life and think we can create our own. As Joel is saying here we can ignore the truth that is right in front of us or we will be shown as nature will do it’s things regardless of how blind we are or what we think. How often has nature bought us to our knees but have we learnt? I would see the answer as no and yet more and more frequently of late nature has pushed the awareness we need more in front of us. Why in a natural or any disaster do we pull together regardless of colour or creed? What are we being shown at these points that we then walk away from again? There is much we can learn from what is happening around us but not while we remain blinkered. Great blog Joel what is next?
There is a vast difference between what we know and what we do. How else can we explain seemingly intelligent beings making so many unintelligent choices? I sometimes think about all the other species of animals who are considered less intelligent than us. Yet they live in a way that is in respect of their bodies, the herd/group, seasons and cycles of life and the environment. This seems far more intelligent than the way most humans live.
What a brilliant blog, questioning the craziness of how we live and our righteous defense of that way of life. We are very attached to believing we are right and carving out a life that suits us. This requires us to wear blinkers to avoid seeing the mess this creates. As you say, the way forward is a life of honesty where we embrace what we are ‘getting wrong’ so we can keep returning to a greater harmony, vitality and responsibility.
What springs to mind is the consumption of alcohol. Pharmaceutical companies come up with products that ‘counter’ the effects of a hangover. Wouldn’t it be more honest to say the product is a counter to alcohol poisioning which is what a hangover is. The body is telling us that what was put in doesn’t work or belong in the body by giving us symptoms of vomitting, nausea, headaches, etc.
powerful example Sandra. the solution to problems that would not be problems if we listened to life in the first place.
‘….’but not because this message is carried by a single person who will save all others, but because it shows us how to save ourselves.’ This is the ultimate choice that takes our lives into the direction we go! A life where we can admit we have got it wrong and bring honesty to the equation and from there we can begin to ‘save ourselves’. Honesty is the first step and it is enormous!
There’s a lot in the very revealing blog, written with so much love. For today I’d love to comment on:
“For centuries we have tried to be the masters of our world, the masters of our own bodies. We propagate the notion that humanity is the smartest species on the planet yet we continue to demonstrate a distinct lack of intelligence. We have intelligent people that smoke, abuse others, slowly kill themselves with poor diets and sustain corrupt systems all the while professing how intelligent they are.”
The arrogance of us people is shown by the fact that for many of us life is first and foremost about money and taking care of the people close to them. As of course this is lovingly important, why is it, what is it that we’re completely numb (or emotional) to a bomb that hits a hospital in Aleppo (Syria) and the constant stream of refugees seeking shelter and a better life here. What is is about our intelligence that we do little care about worldy disasters. Imagine being a child, wounded and then suddenly you’re bombed. Imagine if our homes would be bombed, we would be in terrible fear and possibly die. Our long history has clearly shown us that the (inner)fights don’t support any form of wealth, security, union, harmony, joy, vitality, welness etc. So why do we accept on a global level such intellige to reign over us? What if we would raise our voice and start calling for a loving society, all around the world? I’ve experienced in my life that if I come from my heart, it feels awesome and people start to put of their masks and inner-fights. What if this would be daily topic, where we support each other. What if…
In a world where we champion intelligence, and are often rewarded for being more intelligent that another, it never ceases to amaze me how so many of us are still “willing to gamble with our own health”, ingesting “poisons” in many forms and pushing our bodies further than they are built to go; there is definitely nothing intelligent in this as far as I am concerned, so maybe it’s time to admit we have been very wrong and to feel into, what is true intelligence, maybe then we will find those elusive answers we have been seeking.
“Wrong wrong wrong wrong. Maybe I’ll eat that for dinner? Wrong? Maybe I’ll travel there to see that person? Wrong.” We tend to view our life and everyday events as a series of multiple choice answers, a test which we can either succeed or can fail. But what if there is no wrong at all, except for judging ourselves this way in the first place? What if we saw life as just a series of reminders of truth, a number of nudges helping you, to stay true to the Love that is inside you? What if we dropped this whole idea that we are competing animals who should fight at all costs to succeed? Perhaps then we would see how lost we have been always trying to be the best. In this constant polarisation of life Joel, we are surely causing ourselves strife.
Ask a man for directions and he can’t even say “I don’t know”!!
The killer is the judgement that we bring to being wrong. We are so deeply invested in being right (because of what that protects us from) that the notion of being wrong comes laden with such gigantic baggage; embarrassment, pride, guilt, self-doubt, judgement etc…As you say, imagine the liberation if we embraced being wrong as the opportunity for evolution that it actually is.
“The religion of the future is one founded on the willingness to be wrong (i.e. honest) ” Joel – you deliver pure gold every time you write. This is awesome – yet every single religion spends its whole time trying to prove itself right to itself, and to its congregation.
Ah! Those whispers that continue to whisper and our stubbornness and willingness to not listen is the big OUCH here! There is so much that you have shared Joel Levin about the realness that we are choosing not to live and the forms of medicine we choose to hide with once again.
We do so much to arrogantly avoid the pain and hurt we feel – and yet it is us who has created it by our arrogant ways!
So true and so very inspiring Joel… “It is a messianic approach in a way, but not because this message is carried by a single person who will save all others, but because it shows us how to save ourselves.” We are all here to save ourselves, in responsibility with all others.
You have nailed humanity’s arrogant and wayward ways Joel… we will do anything to avoid the truth and defend the pictures of how we want our life to be, and we choose to be completely blind to the fact that what we are truly seeking is the love, joy, truth and harmony already residing within us… so really it is quite fruitless waisting all this time and energy defending and avoiding!
How much more devastation has to come to expose our need to live the lie stemming from the consciousness of of being right or wrong, rather than beginning the return in aligning to our divine essence by acknowledging our mistakes, disparity and huge gaps with the Ancient Wisdom Teachings that we all know to be true deep within.
We do need to be open to that don’t we, open to accept that we may have been chasing the wrong rainbow, that we might have been running the wrong way. That would mean we had to be fallible though and that is a hard one. The world doesn’t tend to reward fallible, so it is not something we champion but when we look around and see what a mess we have made and are continuing to make of relationships and the planet, we may need to just consider we have been running the wrong way and searching in the wrong spot.
It seems to be quite difficult – if we adhere to a religion, we are in many cases asked to accept something that is difficult to accept as true. If we consider ourselves not religious our life has a deep issue with a lack of meaning.
The search or belief in a messiah is the ultimate lack of responsibility – it’s basically saying I am not willing to love, take care of and look after myself deeply, I’ll wait till someone else comes along and tells me or does it all for me.
The question ‘How Wrong are we Willing to be…? really confused me in the beginning but the more I explore it the more I like it. It opens a completely opposite approach to how we normally think, contemplating on what we consider to be free will and what kind of not so intelligent intelligence we actually use – a real mind opener or ‘intelligence squeezer’ that can be applied to any situation and choice.
Yes, it is quite amazing to contemplate how often we are wrong and the damage it causes hanging on to this wrongness.
“There seems to be an inner battle going on. There is one part that innately knows about our well being and that something about our current relationships with each other and with the world is not working, and there is part of us that only wants to change our current understanding of life, just enough to avoid anything too painful.”
This seems to be an inner battle that I am observing very much lately – a part of me that knows and is ready to take the next steps and then another part of me that fights it and does not want to move forwards and is digging the heels in making things rather slow and laborious. It is crazy how we can allow such antics to go on. And I know it comes down to a choice – a choice of what energy we want to have running us. That simple – the energy that knows and is willing to take the next steps or the energy that wants to stop true change.
This is a beautiful article asking us to look within and take responsibility for our lives and the world we live in by simply this .”This quiet voice is there, it never goes away – it is often simply not connected with or listened to enough.” What a difference this allows and how great to offer the teachings of The Way of The Livingness for us all in full and questioning rather than accepting all that is wrong and make changes for ourselves from this place of knowing.
Thank you for this multi-layered piece of wisdom, Joel. We are asked a question and thus lovingly smacked in the face to wake up out of our comfortable sleep of arrogance. Much needed.
Owning up and admitting something is not right after living it perhaps for most of our life can feel extremely uncomfortable and vulnerable but on the other hand it can be one of the most liberating moments in ones’s life. Being truly honest with myself and taking responsibility for the way I choose to live is the only way to know God, myself and the world so that I can live in harmony with everyone and everything.
Joel, this is a great question, ‘how wrong are we willing to be, to get the answers we seek?’ I observe that from young there is a pressure to get things right, that making mistakes and celebrating the learning from these is not necessarily encouraged, there is a lot of pressure at school for children to get things right and not make mistakes and rather than it simply being an ‘Opps’ when children make mistakes and they learn from this, it can be upsetting for the children and they can feel like failures and these feelings can be carried into adulthood, with the result being that we do not want to make mistakes and to be honest when things are not woking because we feel like we have failed and are wrong.
What a cracking line Joel “If we got excited about being wrong because it simply meant that we could now live a deeper level of harmony.” Ahh how gorgeous to see life through this lense, this is absolute gold. Another top blog.
We are so enmeshed in the web of lies that we ourselves have created we cannot see the light that is there, shining truth for all to see.
‘There is a vast difference between what we know and what we do’. Very true. We don’t want to give up our comfort and take responsibility for our choices. It is often only when a crisis occurs that we make substantial changes to our way of living, and for some not even then. Or after the crisis subsides we return to our previous lifestyle. Yet if we truly loved and appreciated our bodies we would listen to them and honour what they tell us. Is it easier to blame things seemingly beyond our control rather than truly take responsibility for our way of living?
We have lost touch with our worldliness and our sense of caring for what is around us, human beings have become very self centred and live against what is truly healthy for themselves and the all. Truth is always knocking on the door, who we truly are never goes away, it only takes appreciation of the fact to see.
‘We only need to look at cities that quickly decay once humans no longer inhabit that space, to consider how simply and quickly nature is able to re-balance itself. Humans love to shout into the storm, to feel powerful and in control, yet live oblivious to the fact that in another part of the world it’s not even raining. It seems we waste enormous amounts of energy to sustaining ‘our version’ of life, a version that does not seem to work.’ We do indeed Joel waste enormous amounts of energy to sustain our ‘version’ of life –we bury ourselves and nub ourselves with that very busy work we do! If I just put my head down and do do do then all will be well. Our crucial step is to become aware of what we are doing to ‘not know’ what is actually there in our face, and then move from there.
I agree Joel, it is in our best interest to listen to our body and to what nature reflects to us, ‘the world and our bodies are screaming right now.’ Our bodies are calling out for us to return to harmony and bring balance back to ourselves. Once we all embrace this responsibility, the world will naturally be in harmony too. The state of our planet reflects the state of our bodies.
So what you speak of Joel is a deep humility and willingness to question life at its core. Needless to say not enough of us do that ,and thus why history has a habit unfortunately of repeating itself – over and over and over again.
….”If we got excited about being wrong because it simply meant that we could now live a deeper level of harmony” – wow what a way to encourage ourselves towards honesty, or being honest and not hiding this. More honesty means the potential for greater harmony, and that, is in no way a ‘sign of weakness, or failure’ i.e. admitting when we have something ‘wrong’ and avert from honesty to become dishonest. Averting from honesty, is to avert from harmony.
The greatest gift we can give ourselves and humanity is to be open to the possibility that we may be wrong. To always consider that this is a possibility, then we know that we are open, open to seeing things as they truly are, not just how we would like them to be.
Brilliant Joel, we are very good at living a lie and if enough people do this together, we call it normal.
Fact, the world has deteriorated since I have been alive on so many levels; in terms of our health, the health of our planet, the way we treat each other, what we consider to be normal behaviour is actually so far from normal, it’s scary. Serge Benhayon is sharing with humanity how things really are, what’s truly going on and how we can return to our natural way of being, loving, joyful and harmonious. At the very least, that’s worth a listen and some consideration.
‘there is a vast difference between what we know and what we do. Which suggests there is something we are getting wrong’, …… when someone chooses to have a cigarette they know it’s ‘bad’ for them, there is no question as to whether it’s doing them any good. However, in that moment they feel they ‘need’ it so much that if they don’t have it they will be far worse off. We conveniently put aside the reality of what is actually happening to our lungs ‘one more cigarette won’t hurt’, however, the cumulative effect is that every cigarette does matter, but what matters most is why we are choosing to do something that we know causes life threatening diseases. When we allow ourselves to be honest and answer these questions, then things start to change. As we commit to taking responsibility for all of our choices, those choices become much more loving and over time having that cigarette would be like walking under a bus, not something we would ever choose to do.
So brilliant Joel, a question that reveals for us all why we are choosing to avoid the responsibility of truly knowing the answers to all that we seek. As the answers are within us all already, yet our willingness to explore this truth is not present through which we instead choose to hold tight onto the pride, the ownership, the individuality of thinking we know best. How willing are we to be honest with ourselves? How willing are we to honestly allow ourselves to feel how our bodies are faring from the beliefs, ideal and picture that we image ourselves on and follow? As when we are willing to let go of being ‘right’ and surrender to being true we will discover that it is the Light of our Soul that will guide us to embrace, embody and live the Divine wisdom of our Love, in honor of us all living, learning are growing harmoniously together.
There is profound simplicity in what you are invoking here Joel for all to consider — for at present the life we champion en masse drives us to the ground. There is a simple way of living that anyone can access because it is innate to who they truly are, to the harmony our bodies know and long for. I would live no other way, and the glory of this life now that i live I cherish every single day.
I like the idea of a religious way humble enough for us to admit when we are wrong, for it seems our religions that dominate don’t have the quality of humbleness and instead operate from a foundation of arrogance, which is a pretty unsteady base if you ask me.
It is so true, we are constantly seeking to get an answer for all our woes, but so many forget to look at the essential source of it all. Our inner struggle against the harmony we are asked to live, listening to our body is the greatest thing we could do to find a way back to the harmony we are supposed to live in.
All I could feel was the incredibleness off surrender. If we become willing to be wrong the expansion within would be felt, as all that holds us closed would be exposed for the self created imprisonment it is.
How wrong are we willing to be to get the answers we seek? Such a great question to be asking Joel. It seems we are very selective as to which answers we are looking for, and only interested in those that don’t ask too much of us. How much longer can our arrogance prop us up and how much longer can our failing bodies and world keep running in the current way we choose to run them? The signs are everywhere for us to see, yet we still will not go there it seems. It really does beg the question, are we really all that intelligent?
Brilliant and very supportive blog Joel. It is great to ask the question because even though we know many answers to our woes most of the time we do not truly commit to them and make the changes that are needed. A great point to ponder on is why don’t we choose to live the answers we deep down all know.
What a great question Joel Levin “How wrong are we willing to be to get the answers we seek?”. It took me three or four times reading the same question before I ‘got’ it. Am I wanting to admit that there a lot of pockers within my life that are not full of love and care? Just simple honesty. No, I’m not. There’s a lot I do to avoid feeling pain or misery and indeed I’ve found out that this game I’m playing actually serves me to not have to take (more) responsibility. So great, great blog to ponder on deeply.
“If we got excited about being wrong because it simply meant that we could now live a deeper level of harmony.” This is a beautiful reminder that honesty is the key to being open to change. When we put aside the need to ‘be right’ we open ourselves up to an endless array of possibilities and wonderment. Being ‘right’ caps us, it is a defiance that holds us where we are.
“Imagine if we put as much effort to finding every aspect of our lives that did not contribute to harmony, vitality and productivity as we did following our favourite sporting team. If we got excited about being wrong because it simply meant that we could now live a deeper level of harmony.” Wow that is a great analogy Joel, the effort we put into holding back love and living as ourselves requires enormous effort as we are fighting our natural state.
What a cracker of a blog Joel. Just the title alone is enough to sit with and consider. If we’re not willing to be wrong then we defend our position, actions, beliefs, etc and then there is no room for anything else to be considered.
There is a simple revelation to life and that is its about evolution. For it to be a truth for you, for all, it is defined for all equally.
the age old adage of sticking our head in the sand to avoid see that which we do not want to see – be it the fact the earth is round and not flat, or the reality of the fact humanity is not as intelligent as it would like to think it is, given the statistics on illness, disease and suffering in life. An easy example is how we can often dismiss or ignore physical symptoms of illness in a hope they go away, not wanting to admit what it is we are feeling/seeing – but in how much of life does this way of behaving translate?
“How Wrong are we Willing to be, to get the Answers we Seek? Well Joel, ‘dead’ is the answer that comes to mind.
It seems like we are playing a very risky game with ourselves, gambling life with ll the ways in which we know we could be making better choices but put it off until we are forced too. As if our arrogance stops us choosing in full what supports us and others. We have got a world with far too many comforts in food, entertainment, religion education ect – and yet we all go along with it, but for how long can we keep this up until it personally impacts each and every one of us. And even still, do we truly learn?
‘We pretend there is no effect, even commission research to prove some short term benefits, but nature (and time) have a way of showing us the truth.’ I love this, we can’t get away from our choices (as much as we may try) as they show up sooner or later whether we like it or not. The more we honour choices that support our bodies the louder our bodies speak and we are able to address what is needed rather than leaving it dormant only to reappear later with more ferocity.
I love this Richard “unavoidable and un-evadable – but maybe not undeniable” – it captures so simply the craziness of our approach to trying to deny the inevitable.
Are we becoming the can’t be bothered world! Will I just let someone else do it for me? Do we not want the answers? We have rediscovered the water trough that is filled with the harmony we have temporally forgotten about, all we have to do is choose to drink.
Great title and subject matter Joel, “How Wrong are we Willing to be, to get the Answers we Seek?” a great way to ask the question of ourselves “How honest am I prepared to be about what I am choosing?”
Will it take another World War to admit that we are doing something wrong? Will it take illness and disease occurring in every single person to make us admit that the way that we are living is wrong? What, in fact, will it take for us to pause long enough to know that humanity is in deep trouble.
Being wrong or being seen and thought of as dumb was always something I struggled with, in fact it’s not something that I have totally cleared. Because of this I give away my own power to those with a perceived greater intelligence. But really we do need to ask about this intelligence too. One that is not willing to be wrong, that needs to be seen to be right all the time. The true power as you have said Joel lies in being honest, with ourselves first which naturally flows onto to all others and the more honest we are the less attachment we have and therefore investment in needing to be seen to be a certain way. In fact we take so much pressure off ourselves, when we are simply honest.
I have struggled with this too Jennifer….needing to be seen as being right because of my investment in not getting it wrong. In this, there is no allowance for learning or mistake making, but instead enormous pressure put on myself to look the part. Instead; being honest with where I am at, allowing for subsequent learning, and letting go of what others think is a far more honouring process. Being wrong to get to truth is a far more glorious way of looking at ‘the being wrong’ conundrum.
Yet again you’ve issued a huge challenge Joel, shedding light on the obvious and not so obvious ways we stubbornly refuse to look truth in the eye and admit that we are on the wrong track. I love how you suggest that we could embrace being wrong as an opportunity to evolve – much better than beating ourselves up or digging in our heals in stubborn refusal.
Joel, I love that this question is being asked – “How wrong are we willing to be, to get the answers we seek?” For it exposes how we have been so dogged in being ‘right’, we have forsaken what is true. Big ouch for humanity.
Being willing to see how wrong we may be supports us to remain humble with ourselves and also with each other.
I could honestly say I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like to be right! But a you say “How wring are we willing to be to bet the answers we seek? There will be a time when we all wake up to just what we are doing to ourselves and the rest of Humanity, just because we want to be right and this will scare us to really appreciate how important being and living true love, joy and harmony in this world. I will return to your blog again and again, thank you Joel!
‘We seem to play a game of brinkmanship with our well being – convinced that we know best and are able to stare down the forces of nature in the hope to prove nature wrong. ‘ …. are we really that arrogant? It would appear so. What if we don’t know best, what if our bodies are actually far wiser because they don’t play games, they’re not interested in being comfortable, only the truth. They want to be well, vital and joyful ….. that’s a voice that’s worth listening to.
“It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created, that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is.” What a great statement this is, one that I feel is incredibly true. How many people would rather defend a way of life that is clearly not working. But as you call out, we defend what we call intelligence, but true intelligence is listening to the body, something we have moved a long way away from.
Well said Joel – we are indeed defending a version of life we have created that may appear to be functioning but is far from healthy… and we are suffering in our stubbornness to continue in ways that contribute to our woes rather than empower ourselves, take responsibility and make changes before it is too late.
‘Humans love to shout into the storm, to feel powerful and in control, yet live oblivious to the fact that in another part of the world it’s not even raining.’ I love this analogy. It speaks so powerfully to the wayward arrogance we live in.
Great central question Joel. Yes, we are so in denial as a human race that we champion the things that do not serve while our world collapses around us. I suspect it will take increasing amounts of devastation to wake us up.
There does seem to be an enormous pride that humanity has which results in us ignoring the obvious facts of what is really going on, in favour of our own version of events, which is actually preventing us from the honesty which will lead to the real answers to life’s dilemmas and problems.
It’s so true, Joel, it is apparent that we will do anything to defend and preserve the picture or version of life that we have decided is going to serve us the best, even if it makes us behave irrationally.
‘It seems that we pride ourselves on being ‘right’ more highly than actually being right and are willing to gamble with our own health to prove it’ – This is so true Joel, we will go to great lengths to prove our ‘rightness’, even if only to ourselves because sometimes the only person who still believes our story and can’t see the truth (and poison) of our choices is us.
“Imagine if we put as much effort to finding every aspect of our lives that did not contribute to harmony, vitality and productivity as we did following our favourite sporting team. If we got excited about being wrong because it simply meant that we could now live a deeper level of harmony.” It is true Joel we still put much more interest into things outside of us than looking more closely to what is happening in our own lives. As you have shown Joel we need to question our lives a lot more and not accept the status quo that so many of us live by. ,We have accepted peace as being the best we can get, yet harmony offers a way of life that is so much richer deeper and more connected to everything around us including ourselves. I now welcome being wrong much more than I ever used to, as I can see it offers me an opportunity for evolution and to change some very old patterns in my life
Joel, this is such a great article, reading it I can feel how society is struggling, there is so much illness and disease and mental health problems and yet we continue to drink alcohol, smoke, eat unhealthy foods, get angry, fight, the list goes on, these behaviours have been accepted as ‘normal’ in society and if you speak up or live differently it is usual to be seen as odd or wrong, there is much to ponder on and change and discard in society and being honest and admitting we may have got it wrong is a great start.
“We propagate the notion that humanity is the smartest species on the planet yet we continue to demonstrate a distinct lack of intelligence.” Thank you Joel for exposing our bizarre arrogance that is slowly and very assuredly killing us. I too have found that the Way of the Livingness is the only real religion that asks us to own up, exposes our arrogance, calls us to resume full responsibility and basically ‘Wise Up’ big time. And boy oh boy, do we need to wise up as the rising tide of illness and disease, war and environmental damage sits poised to overwhelm us, are we really willing to own just how wrong we have been in order to resume our true intelligence, vitality and harmony so that we can sort out this ginormous mess we are currently fuelling.
Defending our version of life rather than taking responsibility – I can relate to this. Deep inside we know what feels true but try to deny even to ourselves, because we enjoy the comfort even if it makes us ill on occasions. This doesn’t make us a very wise or intelligent species. Someone once asked the question ‘ what would love do?’ There would be different choices made then I’m sure.
Joel whilst it can be a hard thing to admit, when we look at the facts – which for me was a body that was not coping let alone feeling vital and alive, there really is no way to go but to see and admit that the way I was approaching life was not it. Or at least you would think so but I had managed to setup a way of coping, a way of managing life yet it has only been since getting honest, admitting that most if not all of how I had setup my life was not true that I have started to actually start to enjoy life and transform not only the way I feel but the way I am in nearly every situation.
If we believe we already have the answers and are ‘right’ then there is to evolution, no new things to discover, but instead we look for confirmation of our beliefs and defending them against any challenges. For the vast majority of people and societies this in truth is what they are doing. Even though I thought I was looking to expand my awareness I came to realise that that was what I was doing for most of my life. It was not until I encountered the Ageless Wisdom presented by Serge Benhayon did I come to realise how ‘wrong’ I had been.
Stunning blog and one for that has to be come back to to digest it in full. This made me stop ‘Many people consider themselves open minded,’ and realise I’m one of these when in fact I can be very closed off and shut down to people, in the same manner I see other people behave in the world with judgment and arrogance. I know what I live is true, but that does not mean I judge others for their choices, for I am far from perfect and can make unloving choices and am the same as every other person on this planet. We are all looking to find our way back God, even if we don’t know it. One person can choose to mask this with alcohol and emotions, another with new age work, sport, studies or another with arrogance. But in truth these are all one and the same, a form of disraction and delay in returning to God and truth.
I agree Joel, we should listen to that tiny voice that tries to guide us, it would save us from so much grief, illness and avoidable disasters.
Although our bodies are screaming loud for ages that the way we live is not working, up to now not many have listened to this call and have been collectively dismissed through the adherence to the self created belief systems. As a gift from heaven we now have The Way of The Livingness, a religion that is not based on doctrines but is in full support of us humans and to our bodies and assist us in restoring in us a way of living that is in honour of who we really are and for me the way I have chosen my life to be dedicated to.
Very powerful blog Joel and thank you for the repeated question you ask. There is a humbleness that can come from being wrong about something, that is if it comes with a sense of being a student of your own life and a willingness to know we’re always learning. Sometimes it can feel too painful to see what we have been wrong about or perhaps blinded by and of course the implications of this on our lives and directly upon others too, yet with this same humbleness we have an opportunity to bring understanding to ourselves too and to accept all that we knew or perhaps were aware of at the time such choices or beliefs were made. Being a humble student of life does come with a responsibility to know that we don’t have to be right and don’t have to know all the answers and it is with these such tools that we can reawaken ourselves to the innate knowing that we’ve always carried, which to me is the real intelligent way to be.
Very powerful blog Joel and thank you for the reported question you ask. There is a humbleness that can come from being wrong about something, that is if it comes with a sense of being a student of your own life and a willingness to know we’re always learning. Sometimes it can feel too painful to see what we have been wrong about or perhaps blinded by and of course the implications of this on our lives and directly upon others too, yet with this same humbleness we have an opportunity to bring understanding to ourselves too and to accept all that we knew or perhaps were aware of at the time such choices or beliefs were made. Being a humble student of life does come with a responsibility to know that we don’t have to be right and don’t have to know all the answers and it is with these such tools that we can reawaken ourselves to the innate knowing that we’ve always carried, which to me is the real intelligent way to be.
Thought provoking Joel, there’s a lot to comment here, but first off your line here: “there is part of us that only wants to change our current understanding of life, just enough to avoid anything too painful” – massive Joel, and massive ouch of truth, this measuring we do is so relatable and has got me thinking of the times I do ‘just enough’ to ‘get by’. And although it feels ok to a point, and you think you’re getting away with it, it’s absolutely nothing when I do venture and go ‘all the way’ staying with [exposing] the hurt I might be experiencing, and then afterwards, like a gush of water, feel the flow of the waters, the spaciousness and fullness.
Thank you Joel, there are many astute observations in this article.
For a seemingly intelligent species, humankind make some pretty dumb choices.
The answer is really quite simple and it’s within us all, the way of the livingness.
There is a part of us that is wayward and arrogantly thinks we know all the answers and will never admit we are wrong. But there is another part of us, like nature, which naturally harmonizes itself. This is the battle that we carry out with ourselves every day of our lives, it is a balance we are heading back towards. So which way do we listen to more? Which direction do we choose?
Working in the media industry, it is very common that we know what is good for us in terms of lifestyle choices, we write and share about these topics as more and more readers are interested in finding ways to support themselves. What we write about though are we living ourselves? Is knowing the same as standing by what we say? Does the supremacy in word as expressed through this industry truly carry weight when we talk but do not walk, because choosing to work in the rhythm of this industry only allows us to just touch upon the surface of what we say, enough to have a taste, but never to truly embody. What then is the media industry really saying? And why would the public listen when this authority is within ourselves?
Awesome reading – if only we can get our pride out of the way the answers are not too far behind.
Yep pride and ego – sometimes a tough pair to nail…however once we do, each time gets a bit easier, the difference it makes is so worth it!
We choose what we are willing to see – in what light, how much and even set out to see from the start with an image we already have clearly within our sights. And just to add more inaccurate vision to the mix – we then interpret what it is that we do so and when we can’t see, we blame our eyes rather than explore why it is that our vision may be declining or impaired. When we open our sights to true vision, all manner of the Truth of life will be received and dispel the many pictures, images and eye candy we have favoured for so long.
We live in the illusion that we are in charge of our lives, including our health, wealth, happiness etc but I am seeing on a regular basis no matter how in control and set up in life you think you are, the lesson by equal measure will be there to teach you otherwise. We are here to learn another way not based on creation, but with responsibility, honesty and with purpose to return to our natural expression and essence. I celebrate these lessons as its another layer of illusion being lifted and a deeper clarity of the connection I reflect, in my evolution and return.
Great contribution, thank you. It feels like we are very willing to be complacent, apathetic even, and hide behind our shored up comforts that we then use like a bulwark against a world we continually contribute to with our lack of responsibility.
Thank-you Joel for another insightful blog. Deep within we do all know the truth so why do we keep the blinkers so firmly in place to the extent that our bodies and the planet have to react as you say scream at us before we are willing to pay it and each other any attention and then usually only for relief until we start feeling ‘better’ only to have a similar illness or circumstances come up again and again, which has been proven happens throughout history obviously proving we are not even near ‘getting it right’ just going around and around and around. It is time we admitted that we need to accept responsibility for the way we live in every way and the effect that has on everyone and everything and not keep blaming it on ignorance, circumstances, ‘bad luck’, another country, religion or race. This responsibility begins with living in harmony within ourself first. It’s time.
An excellent question Joel. We can and often do knowingly justify our choices and decisions in order to get the outcome we desire, answers we seek or in order to see what we want to see. I’m sure that many drug dealers, thieves and criminals can justify their decision to commit a crime, and no differently do we sell a story to ourselves and others that makes everything ‘make sense’ according to our point of view.
What is obvious to see is how the religious teachings we have are shaped by what suits those in control of them, the reinterpretations that make same sex relationships a sin, or that women should be subordinate to men as two examples. Yet religion whatever the bastardised script actually originated from love, pure love and anything that compromises on this is surely not religion but just a way of controlling people through. If you look at the catholic church as an example, it is so cold and unloving, anyone can see this, feel it and that is borne out with the corruption at its core, it is rotten. Yet do we pick it apart and say it is not suitable for humans, unfortunately no but it rules with great power and has a hold over our ways of living we are not yet ready to say no to.
An amazing blog with some very important questions asked, in our determination to not be proven wrong, are we willing to overlook and ignore the truth – being selective in what we see and the truth we are willing to accept.
“If we got excited about being wrong because it simply meant that we could now live a deeper level of harmony.” This line, amongst many on which you share with us Joel, provides much for the reader to think about. For so many of us, being wrong is akin to walking the plank. We try to avoid it at all costs so we spend so much time wanting to be right and get things right – which causes no end of issues in our world. I for one, am embracing more and more being wrong so I can let go of what is not right and live for what is.
Hello Joel Levin and how funny is this blog. You are right though imagine if God or his representative came ‘down here’ to us and spoke. I don’t think there would be many current religions that would listen. They would compare his word to what they knew and I could imagine some type of government test being carried out in secret on him. In other words we may treat him like an alien, that is how far we are removed from God’s true word. I love the way you ended this, “If there was to be a teaching that would change life as we know it, it would be one that built bodies, societies and communities that are vital and evolving. It is a messianic approach in a way, but not because this message is carried by a single person who will save all others, but because it shows us how to save ourselves.” Nailed.
Hear hear – great expression Ray, and you are right – with that sentence it is truly ‘nailed’.
I can relate to what you share about when you get sick and notice a pattern and go ‘right, I am going to change that’ yet when your body is recovered you let it slide again. We only need to look at examples like this to contemplate deeper why we allow this to happen.
What a great question Joel – we hold back from bringing all we are out to others often in fear of being rejected (or wrong) according to the preferred picture others hold. But what if we take this opportunity and the result is ‘the truth’ which exposes the untruths that are currently holding us captive – wow how amazing would this be. I can feel that this question is one that could sit very neatly in our back pocket and be pulled out numerous times during the day when we are pondering the choices available to us. What a way to change a world living in illusion. ‘How wrong are ‘WE’ willing to be?’. Thanks Joel.
“It seems that we pride ourselves on being ‘right’ more highly than actually being right and are willing to gamble with our own health to prove it” . . . Yes! Yes! So true! I know, I and most of humanity, have this running. You have covered it all Joel! Oh My God! Indeed . . . “So, how wrong are we willing to be, to get the answers we seek?” . . . is answered by humanity at large with the ultimate obstacle of growth and that is human pride and human arrogance. To think that we are even wrong identifying ourselves as being only human when we are in fact so much more, that ‘more’ we only allow the world teachers such as Buddha, Christ, Mohamed etc to be even though when they are amongst us telling us that we can live this also we scorn, ridicule and crucify them for speaking the Truth. Totally bazaar behavior by a self proclaimed ‘highly intelligent ‘race who fight the Truth at every turn to protect themselves from ever being found out to be wrong even if it means suffering to the very end only to find it didn’t ever need to be this way. A bit of a comedy tragedy really.
There are many ways that are chosen to remain in disconnection and numbed out from the body to prevent us from feeling and discerning the truth. As you say Joel, it is all poison and eventually all those tiny tensions and pains that have been ignored for many years and pushed through to keep doing and being busy, do eventually catch up with us in the form of illness and disease.
“Yet for centuries our bodies have reacted to poison in the same way, regardless of what we call it – arsenic, caffeine, emotions etc.
Yet for centuries we take the same poisons. We pretend there is no effect, even commission research to prove some short term benefits, but nature (and time) have a way of showing us the truth”.
How willing am I to be honest with myself and let go of the ‘me factor’, to support my part in truth and harmony for humanity? This is possibly the biggest most important question I’ve asked so far and one that impacts on all I say and all I do. It matters how my next foot-fall feels to the earth, it matters that I care how this feels. ‘The Way of the Livingness’ offers an understanding to how all of our livingness connects to everything and the ‘what we do and are’ makes a difference.
Joel, this is a classic scenario that we fall for as a society: “For example, have you ever changed your diet when you were sick, only to revert back to the previous diet once you got better again? We often like to change things enough to make the pain stop but not enough to make it never come back.”
Brilliant blog Joel. Our unwillingness to admit that we are wrong comes with an arrogance and stubbornness which stops us from seeking truth. In contrast, our openness to accept that there could be another way, a way that exposes our unloving choices and inspires us to take responsibility for our life and our choices is very supportive. The Way of The Livingness, has supported me to be willing, open and transparent at times when I have been wrong, this then brings forth clarity to seek truth and express truth.
Joel, this is such a great exposure of our arrogance and absurd ‘need to be right’, as well as an undismissable call to honesty and responsibility. Thank you.
We do avoid being wrong, but from my experience the very admittance that I have got something wrong – for example – dogged beliefs about how I should eat, do lead to evolution and I witness growth and change in me that then naturally offers inspiration to others. Evolution is about living in a way that brings the highest good to all and therefore we have to admit or be willing to see that what we are doing is not working to effect true change.
As usual, another BRILLIANT piece of writing Joel. It’s a much needed question, and I can say for myself, that I’m willing….but not 100% of the time. I still like to defend some of those less than loving choices, purely because there are times I don’t wish to be responsible…but I can also safely say that I suffer the consequences with each choice I make that is not true to who I am, but rather a choice driven by an outcome that turns out to be more of an illusion than anything else.
I love this Joel, so much to take in it will bear revisiting time and again. For this time I take away “We only need to look at cities that quickly decay once humans no longer inhabit that space, to consider how simply and quickly nature is able to re-balance itself.” We are not as all powerful in the physical/technological sense as we would like to think and nature is constantly showing us this. You offer us another way with your invitation put more effort in to live in a way that is supportive of harmony within and with all. Which isn’t actually an effort once the choice is made, but more so a loving commitment.
‘We often like to change things enough to make the pain stop but not enough to make it never come back’. Brilliant statement Joel. Too true indeed! Where is our responsibility in maintaining a consistently truly healthy body?
That is a great question too Elodie -“Where is our responsibility in maintaining a consistently truly healthy body?” Me thinks it’s to do with these insidious ‘thought monsters’ we keep hearing about…great to keep an ear out for them and catch them before they start to influence us into behaviour we know is not supportive of our well-being.
The question could also be: Are we searching for love? Or are we searching for distraction to not feel the lack of love?
Good question Felix, how many things do we do to just escape that feeling of lack in love …
This is so superbly written and deeply insightful Joel. Thank you. You clearly show how that saviour we do tout as true in conventional modern religion is not the one that is going to save us from our own creations for that is us, all of us in fact and not a single person less that can do that.
At any point we are messenger of God when we connect to our inner-most and follow The Way of our heart. This voice is The One we listen to save ourselves.
A great question to ask Joel, as I personally know how I at times cling to what is familiar in the fear to get it wrong or to make a mistake. It seems I hold a strong belief that making a mistake is unacceptable, so I won’t risk it even though I know my current behaviors are not working, but to take the risk and try something new means I have to admit I was ‘wrong’ plus there is a learning curve with new ways as they need to be tested and tried out and that again means I could and I most probably will make mistakes. Therefore to have the acceptance that we get it wrong at times and that it is okay is very valuable.
Following on from my first comment, I reflected how valuable it is to bring up children in a society where there is no judgment over what is ‘right’ and what is ‘wrong’ and how this would look like as we obviously still need to set clear boundaries as they otherwise do not learn how to behave. To confirm a child whilst being firm with what it can or cannot do is a parenting skill that needs to be learned in this regard.
To re-define being ‘wrong’ as an act of honesty instead of a failure pitted against an idealised ‘right’ our openness, willingness and ability to learning and changing would be exponentiated enormously – an attitude of being a forever student of life and oneself takes away a lot of struggle with trying to be a certain way, to be right, to be protected, to be better etc.
I love this Alex, – “… an attitude of being a forever student of life and oneself” – you are so right, this could make a huge difference how we hold our selves in all areas of our our lives, no more comparison or anything, awesome.
With extreme arrogance we persist in pursuing these paths we have trod a million times, hoping for a ‘slightly better’ outcome. We have made all of our life about getting ‘the right answer’ being a ‘success’ and passing every test. But what you show Joel is that if we ‘failed’ in everything we did but openly made our life about understanding not achieving then we would see that every issue lives a learning, every dilemma a chance for us to be discerning, to look to truth free from pride and prejudice.
I would love to be able to see where I would be and how I would be today, if I had taken notice of all the whispers that my body had lovingly sent me.
Joel I was one of those people who considered themselves to be “open minded, even interested in the meaning of life, love and religion” and yet looking back I can see that this was an utter illusion. I felt that I was choosing freely what to think and feel but as I now know, our thoughts are pre-selected by the way that we move. The only way to change our thoughts is to change the way that we move.
A powerful blog and reflective writing Joel, with many points to re-consider where I am / we are choosing to live irresponsibly and play ‘Russian Roulette’ with my /our bodies by continually overriding its innate wisdom.
“It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created, that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is”.
Awesome Joel, it’s seems ludicrous the extent of what we hold onto in order to be right, even at the detriment of our health and our general well-being. Some days I can really feel the extent of disregard we buy into at our own expense and for what… it makes no sense.
I love it Joel. “It is a messianic approach in a way, but not because this message is carried by a single person who will save all others, but because it shows us how to save ourselves.” What a wonderful simplicity you have offered. Are we willing to keep our eyes open with honesty and see the signs showing that we may be wrong? Are we willing to be responsible?
A profound piece of writing Joel – it is indeed interesting how we have learnt that it is ok to make choices that are in fact harming our bodies e.g. with the foods we eat, what we express, what we don’t express, the quality in which we do everything we do… the list goes on.
Yes that list goes on -so we can now choose to truly reflect on all we do and have an honest look at where we are making harmful choices and where we have moved on from them; the difference that will make in everyone’s life could be awesome…
What a silly battle we start with ourself’s, over our pride, to not be seen as being less in the eyes of others! Have we become rats in the maze we constructed and only know one path and refuse to see anything else? We are not the masters of the universe but are the masters of our self once we start to feel how we are a part of everything and does not need to be fixed or improved on.
I enjoyed this on so many levels, Joel. I particularly enjoyed recognising how wrong I can be for as you say “there is a vast difference between what we know and what we do.” So-called intelligence should not be in disregard of the whole it lives in and is an integral part of, yet time and time again the arrogance of the human spirit thinks it’s somehow superior to what the body has to live and endure….for how is it intelligent to denigrate that which you live in?! It’s like defecating all over your home rather than in the toilet. No wonder humanity is up to its eyeballs in it! Thank you again Joel, for an awesome read.
Joel you have really highlighted here our beliefs may very well be our own worst enemies and the barriers that may very well be hindering us from connecting to brotherhood – a quality that unites us all.
Yes, our approach to date has shown us that we are not a very ‘intelligent’ species at all.
A society that is unwell, corrupt and without decency and care for thy neighbour with greed, war and unrest, that deliberately partakes in abuse of our bodies and each other is not a truly progressing, evolving society…and it could be said is operating well beneath our loving and limitless potential.
Another outstanding article Joel. What I feel is that as I get more and more honest that my life before Universal Medicine was a mess and I was stuck in my emotional ideals and beliefs. For me honesty has been a key to start unlocking the door to find the answers I seek. Having started to seek I am finding that most of my life was wrong and I am willing to admit that fact.
What a great question – “how Wrong are we Willing to be, to get the Answers we Seek?” Over the years I have learned to say the words “I am/was wrong” without thinking that I am the worst person in the world for making a mistake. Sooner or later we are going to have to look at the mess that we have created within ourselves and amongst ourselves and admit that we have gotten it all wrong. Only then will we be able to rebuild.
Joel, this is an amazing article, you present responsibility with no holding back the truth, that our world is in a place of deep disregard, and to return to any semblance of true unity, that responsibility lies divinely at the feet of us all.
What a huge wallop of a question Joel. It took me ages to read this and take in the enormity of what you present (to the best of my ability). Our willingness to be wrong is a great asset, not the weakness we have been led (chosen) to believe.
From my experience of living with this insatiable need to be perfect, it was very difficult to cut through this and to learn to be wrong. I am so glad that my life journey lead me to Universal Medicine. For living the perfectionist left me with much despair and depression in myself and what I saw around me. Learning, and continually learning to deeper levels that how I live is a constant refinement, so there is forever another thing presented that I do that is wrong, when I consider my souls voice, is the greatest gift I have ever received.
Leigh same here, I would do anything to not be wrong and always wanted to be right but in that never felt like I got there. It is only when I put truth ahead of everything that life changed for me. Yet it was a challenge to do this as everything I had grown up with was to be right. However it meant I would not speak unless I thought i was right, I would be fearful of choices, decisions etc.. etc.. basically the only truth I got to understand is when I started to admit how wrong making life about right or wrong actually is.
Another deeply profound blog Joel… and a question I have never heard asked that way before. Being ‘wrong’ is definitely something that acts as a major hindrance to our ability to see truth, even when it is right before our eyes. Understanding this about the human psyche is vital… if we ever want to turn around the mess we have created here on earth and find the common denominators we can all live to. There is a heck of a lot of wrongness to admit to along the way… and essential we start to see the discovery of being wrong as an opportunity to deepen the love we can live, rather than something to be ashamed or embarrassed about.
“There is a heck of a lot of wrongness to admit to along the way… and essential we start to see the discovery of being wrong as an opportunity to deepen the love we can live, rather than something to be ashamed or embarrassed about.” – this is gold Jenny. The humility that finally arrives, after we have tried every permutation, that has not worked.
We go round in circles when we concern ourselves with right and wrong – what puts a stop to the lies and harm is Truth. So the question is are we interested in Truth (Love) or is something else more important for us?
I asked myself this morning ‘What if I accepted the fact that I have chosen to live a lie?’ ‘What if I accepted that these seeming straight jacket situations I find myself in are actually tissue paper thin?’ Because the experiences I have had from listening to my body is that those strangleholds and issues in life, when handed over to the body get dropped in an instant. There are no ‘I can’t’ in life only ‘I chose not to’ and yet I wanted to write that I’ve held on for so long and to let go is something I am not ready for, but is that true? because that feels like an identification with the part of me that wants to be ignorantly ‘right’. It’s like you’ve shared Joel “that the answer to all we seek lies in how we live and what aspect of ourselves we give more power to.” So it comes back to – how willing am I to be wrong?
Thank you.
A couple of days ago I stood in the middle of a very bust railway station and felt the people automatically moving and in turn being moved from place to place. I could feel so clearly that what Serge Benhayon teaches is so true and that is that when we are not in connection with ourselves, we are open to an energy that is not true, running our bodies. Joel, all of the woes that you have highlighted are initiated by the one impulsing choice and that is to not be with ourselves. Therefore there is one choice and one alone that will support us to correct all of our ill ways and that is the choice to be connected with ourselves. By being connected with ourselves, we are then able to make decisions on behalf of ourselves, without that connection it is not us that is making the decisions.
Very pertinent Joel, what has struck me recently has been watching politicians and leaders, and how much they are in it for themselves, and how this corrupt system is one we have all created, that we actively take part in whenever we accept something as ridiculous as an esteemed person making bad lifestyle choices. But what if we stood up each and every time we saw something in our own lives that was non-sensical, then we would start to change our own house. And that is all any of us must do, not get overwhelmed with what is wrong, but give ourselves a chance to be leaders of living lovingly. The world needs those kinds of leaders right now, and the Way of the Livingness is the support for the change in this regard.
Indeed Joel, we seem to invest a lot of energy in things that create disharmony and imbalance and yet harmony and balance are natural state of being. To admit that we got it wrong though is a very hard pill for many of us to swallow especially when we think we are the intelligent species.
So true Jenny. I am just on the train observing life, hearing conversation etc and really feeling how much we have all created a life that just seems to be about revisiting situations, fixing mistakes, addressing issues and putting out fires. I ask – why is life not about expanding, appreciating and confirming our glory and then and then working on expanding projects together from there with a joy in our hearts. Two very different scenarios.
It’s so true. Our own bodies are telling us what we need to know and we don’t listen. Why then would we listen to anyone else? We have the power to save ourselves.
What you share, Joel , is so awesome. I find myself hanging onto and justifying my comforts in some areas of my life So I deeply appreciate your reminder, that i need to call out the wrongs which are often just cover ups for the messages coming from my body!
Joel, I love reading your blogs. They’re insightful, philosophic and offer an opportunity for the reader to ponder on what you’re asking – and this blog is no different. “So the question remains, how wrong are we willing to be, to get the answers we seek?” It’s kind of like the billion dollar question that actually costs nothing. How honest do we want to be – how ‘right’ do we want to be – how much recognition do we want to have? It really is an exposing question you pose and one I’ll be asking myself all day. Thank you, Joel.
A superb blog, thank you Joel, deeply inspiring and and asking the right question to wake us from our century long slumber of thinking we got it all figured out.
Yeah – ‘got what figured out exactly’ I ask myself. So the right questions as you say Esther, can wake us up if we so choose to.
I feel you are being really lovely giving us (humanity) an resounding ‘F’ on our report card. From what is going on in families, communities, society and the world I think I would give a ‘U’! You are spot on with what you have said here ‘there is a vast difference between what we know and what we do’. You explained this so simply with ‘For example, have you ever changed your diet when you were sick, only to revert back to the previous diet once you got better again? We often like to change things enough to make the pain stop but not enough to make it never come back.’ A bit of an ‘ouch’ but it’s true we want things ‘our’ way not the true way and flow of divine order in the Universe. It is clear to see ‘our’ way is and has not worked for eons hence the clearing the earth needs to do with fires, earthquakes etc to rebalance what we have been living. For me this says it all ‘How Wrong are we Willing to be, to get the Answers we Seek?’ Great question and definitely something we could all do with really pondering on. It exposes our arrogance beautifully.
You have highlighted so many points in this blog Joel. I know I will read it several times. Much of what you share has made me reflect on my choices and my frequent need to be right. The cost of my choices in terms of the impact on myself and the people I come into contact with. This line is so true – ‘We often like to change things enough to make the pain stop but not enough to make it never come back.’
I love when you say “For example, have you ever changed your diet when you were sick, only to revert back to the previous diet once you got better again? We often like to change things enough to make the pain stop but not enough to make it never come back.”
This was very much what I use to do in the past, just ignoring or not willing to look at if the food I was eating was appropriate or not as long as I had my fix with sugar, my favorite desert or snack even, which I still do at time in a more subtle way.
Awesome blog and question Joel and here’s to getting ‘excited about being wrong because it simply meant that we could now live a deeper level of harmony.’ It’s amazing how stubborn we can be and how much I, for one, can react to being in the wrong but through being open to The Way of The Livingness teachings I am embracing more openness to listening to the quiet voice within and taking responsibility for looking after myself so that I can be of service and not a drain on others.
How wrong are we willing to be? There is an internal struggle going on between our head and our heart …. how much longer are we prepared to let our minds dominate and dismiss the wisdom of our bodies – where everything is felt from every choice we have ever made. Our head convinces us that everything is ok, ‘look at everyone else, we’re doing just fine’ …. it is desperate to stay in control and will use the utmost manipulation to do so. However, if we’re all hovering between 1 and 4 and we could all be living at 10, being at 3.5 suddenly doesn’t look that flash anymore. As soon as we start listening to our bodies and truly wanting to take care of ourselves, it’s as though the fog we’ve been in starts to clear and we become so much more aware and engaged with how it is to live with responsibility, with life changing results.
Being right is a real trap and keeps us stuck. We defend the way we have set our lives up because it is comfortable and familiar. Getting honest can happen when we experience something traumatic or get a serious illness. Why do we wait until then? And as you share we sometimes revert back to our old ways once we are better.
Joel I loved reading this, for me I have been obsessed with being right yet the greatest growth in my life has always come from being willing to be wrong as then I am open to truth. It is inspiring to read your blog as I feel a whole extra level of freedom about being wrong and what great opportunity this lays open in front of me in so many ways. The question for me is am I willing do to this is certain areas of life or my entire life.
Honesty has so many layers, I realise once I’m ready to be honest about one thing it opens the door to see that there are many more layers to go.
‘It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created, that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is.’ – touche, Joel. This is exactly what we do, why do we hate ‘being wrong’ so much, maybe because then we have to accept that we’ve based so much of our lives on a lie – a version of life that isn’t true. We are proud, arrogant even, and we don’t like to be caught out. If this is the case, why extend the lie, why not embrace the fact that we were wrong and start living a life that supports us, instead of exhausting ourselves by trying to live our version, which is like trying to swim upstream, it goes against the divine order that is meant to be, which is why we are in such a mess.
‘Imagine if we put as much effort to finding every aspect of our lives that did not contribute to harmony, vitality and productivity as we did following our favourite sporting team. If we got excited about being wrong because it simply meant that we could now live a deeper level of harmony.” Joel this phrase alone turns around the way we live completely on its head and offers a whole new way at looking at life.
This is an absolute stunner, Joel. What you present here conceptually is so simple yet it is a paradigm shift that would be a revolution unlike any other in history. All other revolutions have benefitted some people and disenfranchised others. This revolution enhances all equally, the planet too and it has already begun with the religion of The Way of The Livingness.
Another awesome, thought provoking blog Joel, so much in it. One thing that resonated strongly with me is the ‘urgent” thing that needs to be done now. I know I can often dismiss what my body is telling me or the true impulse of what’s next because of needing to ’urgently’ get something done, as if the end of the world will occur if it is not done now!!!
Thank you Joel, you have nailed it. The world is living in an arrogance that will be its undoing. Having been presented with the Way of the Livingness I now realise that I have been living most of my life as a lie, wanting to control my environment based on my expectations of how I would like others to behave and how I would like my life to be. Truth doesn’t work like that however, and calling out the lie and beginning to take responsibility was my first step in being willing to admit how wrong I was, get real and honest and by doing so reflect to others that love for ourselves and others is the only way home.
Great article Joel, I love this ‘ If we got excited about being wrong because it simply meant that we could now live a deeper level of harmony.’ I can feel in society that there is so much pressure to be right and to not make mistakes, I have observed this at schools, from my experience getting things wrong and learning from this and seeing this a positive thing is not hugely encouraged, I see children getting upset because they made a mistake of got something wrong rather than seeing it as a learning and as evolving.
Whilst we champion ‘being right’ there will never be the space to evolve. By being willing to be wrong, we create the space to surrender and then it is possible for us to make change.
I love the title Joel,. The question for me is in the willingness to be wrong and this is something I can s still overrule. I know for me I can bury my head in the sand if I feel the need to be right, and this is very constricting and shuts out any other possibility , The need to be right over rules any possibility of truth.
Ah, more sage words from Joel Levin, I love it – “there is a vast difference between what we know and what we do”. Just this simple sentence could inspire a study of human behaviour from a different perspective, bringing an honesty to the table that would expose the many many contradictions in society, like the doctor who smokes or drinks alcohol.
Yes – I wonder how many would be willing to go to that sentence with the honesty this requires to get a true reflection …
Amazing Joel a brilliant sharing for humanity showing clearly how come we have got it all so wrong. “It would seem part of us is far more interested in defending the version of life we have created that is not working to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is.” Whereas The Way of the Livingness is founded on truth responsibility and love by the way we live. There is so much here to be read and reread and to revisit.
When we get honest with ourselves in how we are truly living and admit the discontentment and the disconnection we feel with ourselves and others, only then can we start to choose differently, only then do so many more choices become available. Getting real in other words getting honest cuts the illusion we have been living and indulging in and from that space we can slowly take responsibility for all we have created in the knowing we can create differently.
Once again Joel another earthshattering revealing blog for humanity! I have thought wrong to be the ultimate no no and it was to be avoided at all costs. Dramatic belief, yes, and along with it came lots of hurt and not wanting to be rejected and looking for recognition from those closest to me. Now, even though I can’t say I completely relish in seeing what is wrong all the time, I can say that when I do let being right go and my investments and open to seeing what is wrong – boy oh boy it’s like having a fog lifted and the wool from in front of my eyes. There is a clarity and an unwavering truth that cannot be denied.
It is a messianic approach, but not carried by a single individual… that was never the point. One person may realise a different way of living, a deeper understanding of how to live, but the whole point is that this leads to the many others evolving as a result and so the upgrade spreads through humanity and lifts us as a whole to a new level. That is evolution.
Thank you Joel. An opportunity to ponder our willingness to be honest with ourselves. Are we here to control and disregard the planet and nature or are we willing to learn from all that it teaches us to live in harmony with ourselves and each other? While we live with the arrogance that we are intelligent we are not willing to see that as individuals we fail but in brotherhood we find truth.
Many unanswered questions Joel about how we choose as humanity to not say we’re wrong and prefer instead to stubbornly stay as we are and feel affronted when offered another way. What helps me understand this craziness is recalling myself at one stage in my life when I too found it difficult to accept I was wrong
If we look for a messiah to take us to heaven, then it means we as humanity have lost trust in one another and with ourselves. You have given a great documentation of the inner battle that is going on, which is reflected in our world.
Great article Joel. Defending and justifying the way we live out of comfort contributes to our personal ill health, let alone a country’s with its soaring rates of disease and obesity. We prefer comfort to responsibility.
In a way it’s like asking how deep does our arrogance go – and how much does it take us away from living the love that we are, a love that is found in the power of our humility.
Getting things wrong i.e being honest, and how honest are we willing to get. The way mankind in general lives at the moment and has been living for eons is just a big joke and not a funny one. It’s a good thing for us that God is not judgemental (even though some religions say he is) for if he was he would have ended it long ago. Imagine if he had looked down from above and said well they don’t love themselves and they definitely don’t love each other, they spend all this money and resources on trying to destroy each other and the planet they live on. ‘Angels fetch my lightning bolts its time for a bit of the old fire and brimstone’!
Cool comment Kevin. It is our judgement of ourselves and each other that gets us in such a pickle. Gods reflection is simply an observation, something we could well learn from.
“We often like to change things enough to make the pain stop but not enough to make it never come back”…. “but nature (and time) have a way of showing us the truth.” Completely captured Joel, the games we play to avoid the inevitable fact that it is our bodies that have the upper hand – and not our short term desires or solutions.
And the games we play to not see the path or choices and the effect they are having on our bodies at the time – while we are so called well but slowly on the path to making ourselves sick.
It is amazing how much we can override what we feel for a ‘short term’ so called gain. We arrogantly think we can get away with things when we carry with us all of our choices. Something I am learning more about is consequences – every action has a consequence and sooner or later they catch up with you if you keep trying to ignore them.
Retracing the steps of years of investment in trying to carve life is not such an easy task. Yet, at the same time is fairly simple. What requires, in my experience, is to be genuinely open, to come across something that ‘talks’ to every cell of the body in a way that leaves no doubt that there is something to explore further and to not override that what you felt so clearly. I see no other way.
There is no other way. Something I have found challenging is quite how many pictures I have created about the way things should be or look like. Renouncing these and seeing the falsity behind them is not always easy but the more I do the more simple and less stressful life becomes. It is like I let go of wanting or needing something and suddenly I have that and much more!
Yes the choice to not override what we feel has a profound effect on the body and leaves one with the choices to bring a deeper level of understanding to where we are at and what we are choosing to live with.
“If we got excited about being wrong because it simply meant that we could now live a deeper level of harmony.” Since studying with The Way of The Livingness I have become more and more excited about the moments where I get it wrong because it was just saying I was worth more love, more joy and harmony in my life and relationships. The acceptance of me doing it ‘the hard way’ was often the bigger pill to swallow but feeling the increased love, joy and harmony helps swallow it.
Wow. I had never considered honesty as a willingness to be wrong – and I can feel where we kind of back off not willing to go all the way to bring a real change to the way we live as an individual, as well as a community on various larger scales.
I know what you mean. Honesty is a willingness to being wrong it is a willingness to say ok I made a mistake but I will learn from it. I know how easy it is to be stubborn and defend myself when I know I am in the wrong!
Honesty is just that ability – to feel and recognise what is true and what is not of truth. To be able to willingly able to say ‘I fell for that untruth’, ‘I realise and feel this truth now’ and or I am claiming the truth of …
I can totally agree with this wisdom Joel: “It would seem part of us is more interested in defending the version of life we have created, that is not working, to avoid taking responsibility for how life actually is”. In fact, it seems to me that the majority of humanity appears to spend so much of their very precious energy, and sadly at the expense of their bodies, fighting the truth that, at a very deep level they actually know; time to wake up the innate sense of honesty that we all naturally have and own up to how our lives truly are.
Insightful article, Joel. Reflecting on my own choices, it feels as if I often can dull my awareness of the truth I know within me. The answer to all we seek does lie in ‘how we live and what aspect of ourselves we give more power to’. Your article highlights for me how I contribute to the version of life that is not working, when I choose not to listen to my own body and what it is revealing to me.
It’s awesome how our bodies are constantly revealing to us, confirming supportive choices or providing us with a tension to feel to let us know about our unsupportive choices. Just the other day I allowed myself to deeply feel what my body was sharing about particular choices and in that got to feel how many games, facades, images, beliefs that intertwine our human existence, when not one of these falsities lives in the inner-heart.
The name says it all “The Way of The Livingness” – how we live in every moment of our lives facilitates the connection to ourselves, others and God.
funny how simple the concept it, it’s the application that we make complicated.
Yes so true – it is a name that lets us reflect all the time if we choose to do so …
Profoundly insightful as always Joel.
I trust I will be re-visiting this blog in the near future. Many gems to be read and implemented into our lives.
This is filled with gems – I agree Luke. The title itself offers much to ponder.
What is it about being wrong that we as human beings hate so much? I know for me, I get stubborn and want to own things, own the answer, be right, prove the point, rebel, push back, indulge, do things my way ect…. But how wrong are we willing to be?
Ironically, in all this fight, I am gone, I am owned, I am conforming, not rebelling or evolving, I am solving, not healing, going round a door that revolving, concealing, when in truth our power and light could bust through the ceiling. Transparency is key, to embrace responsibly.
…. But how wrong are we willing to be?
Do we need the sea to rise, armageddon to come as the ultimate surprise? The sun to burn through the atmosphere of the sky? Global warming, how many more warnings are needed…? How many deaths, diseases, pleads, quakes, aids, mistakes are willing to admit that we make, before we drop the act, the fake reality we create ?
Well, I want to start, the art, of being willing to admit, I have lived a lie, willing to drop and stop the fight and allow my light to shine out, so thank you Joel, again and again, for leading the way with this my friend.
Powerful comment Sarah, so honest, transparent and real. The hardest part I am guessing for many people is to admit perhaps they are living or have been living a lie. But for me, realising I myself have been living a lie was the most freeing and empowering realisation. Because once I was willing to see this, it confirmed everything I had felt and I was able to give myself permission to choose differently, to choose to live with truth which my body was calling out for, instead of continuing the pattern of living the lies, I was choosing to be blind and ignorant to truth which created huge tension and dis-ease in my body. Now, embracing and choosing to live The Way of The Livingness, my body feels light, vital, and strong. I too am willing to drop the fight and allow my light to shine through.
Sounds like the lyrics to the next awesome song you will be singing Sarah! I too love Joel’s points made to lead the way, and I love your spunk and sense of humour when it comes to admitting our mistakes! Thank you!
Absolutely Sarah I was one of the people who did not want to stop until I dropped!
So true rap it out Sarah!
I find it interesting the looks you get from others when something goes wrong and you just say ‘Ops, I messed up”! I claim it and move on, the transparency leaves nothing behind but truth. Gone are the old days when the joke that was not too far from the truth, that a good manager always has someone to blame for their mistakes. Does that remind you of anyone in your past?
Thank you, Joel and Sarah, for showing us the corner in the room we have painted ourselves into and the door that was always just behind us that we refused to see!
Love it Joel! There are so many awesome points raised here – including why we hang onto beliefs and ideals at the very expense (& often contradiction & outright arrogance!) of what our bodies are clearly showing us are not working to promote our true health and well-being.