Priceless Reward
Benjamin Teixeira de Aguiar by Eugênia-Aspásia.
You feel awful. You are lost, anguished, left without knowing what to do. But there are always new alternatives. The pain of remorse for not doing more and doing better leaves you in pieces. But learning is inevitable, cumulative and revolutionary. There comes a time in which one can no longer keep the same standard, and it is then that the breaking of paradigms occurs. This time can be now! In this supreme instant inner structures are broken, and happiness is made possible in broader parameters of safety and peace.
Once these quantum leap moments have happened, one should not fear relapse, because it becomes virtually unviable: that is when you know that it is impossible to go back, because it would be an act of violence against yourself.
Today, my friend, focus on the higher plan of virtues, ideals and principles that sustain you. Remember that there will be temptations to cheat, betray, and evade this higher plan, with sophistries and disguises so subtle that very few people notice. Keep in mind that the cost for giving in to these temptations, in betraying yourself, is too high. The escape from yourself never pays off, because there is really nowhere you can hide.
Of course, there has to be flexibility, so that prejudice, in the form of rigid rules, does not obstruct the flow of creativity and vitality of your soul. But this flexibility should not imply moral laxity, condescendence with unjustifiable distortions of behavior, and finally, consent for the establishment of evil in your mind.
Use your sadness for having found yourself in relapse to convince yourself of how you should no longer persist in the same error that hurts you. Peace of mind is a priceless treasure. The world may be against you, but if your conscience is on your side, God will also be. However, if you do not count on the protection of your soul and the tranquil feeling of fulfilled duty, the whole universe seems to conspire against you, your peace and your happiness, even though you are showered with the applauses of the crowds.
Keep that in mind and follow your heart and the path of your ideals and your service. Nothing is more precious; nothing pleases more than to be attuned with your deepest self and aligned with God’s the plans for you.
Think about that the next time you feel inclined to condescend with your least civilized and humanized aspects of being. A little effort and sacrifice – very little, in fact – are worth the priceless reward of happiness that follows as a result.
(Message received on December 29, 2000.)