Abandon the Lodestones Attached to your Spirit

Abandon.

The word holds many negative connotations. A parent abandons a child. A husband abandons his wife. Somebody wreaks havoc with "reckless abandon". When a situation appears impossible to overcome, one abandons all hope. When life takes an unexpected turn, people abandon their dreams.

Yet, other things may also be abandoned.

One day, I headed outside of the wire. While traveling to our destination, we encountered five IEDs, each with a secondary device. Once the math is done, that equates no less than ten bombs that were meant to kill us. This was not the first time we had gone outside of the wire. This was not our first encounter with deadly IEDs. We knew how to react to them and mitigate any damage they could cause. We abandoned our flight response, leaving only the fight response. That saved many lives that day.

You can abandon the negative things that will hold you back. You can abandon what you know to be poor responses to whatever happens. You cannot abandon fear. If you do that, you won't have your early warning system that keeps you safe. But you can abandon acting in fear. You can abandon being a victim. You can abandon helplessness.

You cannot abandon heartbreak. I would not suggest abandoning that or grief. You need them. they help you to learn and grow and understand the world. But you can abandon hatred. You can abandon all the fighting and bad times. You can abandon thinking it was your fault that something lasted as long as it was meant to ended. Feel the pain. Learn from it. Abandon what caused it. It is over.

You can learn and move forward. You can abandon your past, once you have taken from it what you need. The past is meant to be left behind. If you hold too tightly to it, you will be left behind by your own life.

In my own life, I have learned to abandon many things that would hold me back. I had to. I have Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from the war. If a deep spiritual search hadn't led me back to a path seeking enlightenment; I would be lost in a very dark place. I had to abandon much of that darkness. It was filled with screams. It was filled with gushing blood. It was filled with the stench of death. I still smell things like a steak cooking on a grill and flash back. But I have learned to abandon the hold those memories had upon me. The flashbacks are no longer as frequent. They are no longer as frightening. When they come about, I abandon those feelings and feel Here and Now.

Sun Tzu wrote that when things do not go as planned and all appears lost that there exists a way, in each situation, to turn it to your advantage. To do so, you have to have courage and determination. You have to abandon concession and defeat. This goes with everything in life, including death.

The only negative emotions are anger, greed, hate, envy, and jealousy. Abandon them. Leave them behind. If you act in anger and hatred, you will end up hurting somebody you will regret harming. Fear has its place. You cannot let it conquer you. but it is there to warn you. Love is a great thing. Lust can be as well, as long as it goes hand in hand with love. Grief comes from losing something or somebody you love. It shows you care. It is a way to remember that love; not that it ended but that it exists! In that, grief is very beautiful.

There are no hopeless situations. Abandon that thought.

There are no ordinary moments. Every moment is special and beautiful. Look for the beauty. Abandon the ugliness.

We are all connected. Harming another should be a last resort. Hating and hurting others hurts ourselves and those we love. Harming another should only be done to decrease that pain when nothing else will do so. Abandon hatred. Abandon revenge. Instead, embrace unity and compassion.

Normally, I am against littering. However, when it comes to these things, dump them on the side of the road. Toss them in the river. Flush them down the toilet. These negatives are trash that will weigh you down. Don't carry them. Abandon them. The laws of metaphysics dictate that they are 100% biodegradable.