Don't Give Away Your Power

In recent years, companies have marketed Buddha in a Box, Goddess in a Box, Teen Spell Kits, Books for Dummies, Complete Idiots Guides to whatever.

I know some of you may be wondering what's wrong with that.

Look at it this way. If you get a little box with a statue, a candle, a stick of incense and an instruction sheet, that does not really give you a good understanding or appreciation for that spiritual path. These marketers are saying "you don't really need to understand a lot of stuff. Just take the goddess out of the box and light your incense and candle. Don't worry about why we chose this goddess for the box instead of one of the other ones. It's not important."

Marketers have been dumbing us down by proffering books that imply that we don't really need to waste time researching subjects by going to different sources and comparing texts. It is as if they are saying "you don't have to waste your time on all those other things. Just take this one book and it will tell you everything you need to know."

It's like the kind of news that many have settled for where we are presented with a minute or two of this and a minute or two of that, and we are going to try and understand important events and changes based on those minute glimpses into what's happening. Or we are presented with shows where people with more opinions than facts yell at each other, as if that will help us understand important decisions and their ramifications.

In order to make the best decisions for ourselves, we have to be able to gather information, digest ideas and decide for ourselves what makes sense, what works, and what we want.

See how the information feels for you. Consider whether the information makes sense to you. Notice how you get comfortable with your decisions and whether you feel that you can live with them.

Be skeptical about these things that come prepackaged. Your most satisfying practice of spirituality might be found in using a little bit of this and a little bit of that.

Your greatest understanding of the news and important decisions facing us might be a result of a combination of your own experiences, your observations about how things work, plus some research to find out what you don't know. Takes a little more time and effort to do things this way, but it is well worth it.

Don't give away your power. Take the time to use all your resources and claim your power to live your life in a way that makes sense for you. The best answers to a lot of our questions will come from the extra thought we put into it, the feelings we consider, the extra listening and looking we do, rather than from what we are being presented by the marketers.