Focused Freedom
The worst thing we can do to ourselves is to hold onto resentment toward someone else. Not because it justifies another's actions or excuses wrongdoing but because carrying bitterness is like looking through a lens smudged with negativity; it distorts everything we see.
True happiness is walking in the freedom of the soul, allowing life to unfold rather than resisting it. As Eckhart Tolle reminds us, the primary cause of unhappiness is never the situation but your thoughts about it. Like a camera, our minds filter the world through a chosen perspective, and we have the ability to adjust the focus.
A camera does not judge the scene before it; it simply captures what is. The photographer can place the focus on the pain or step back to see the bigger picture. Similarly, in life, we can fixate on grievances or shift our focus to acceptance and peace.
Heaven and hell are not distant places; they are states of being within our minds. We create them through our thoughts, perspectives, and attachments. A person with discontent and resentfulness lives in a personal hell, regardless of their external circumstances. Meanwhile, someone who surrenders to life and flows with what comes can find heaven even in the simplest moments.
God is not separate from us nor confined to an unreachable realm; God is the land beneath our feet, the ever-present force that holds and sustains us. When we align with the natural flow of life, we stand on sacred ground. When we resist, we cast ourselves into suffering. The choice is always ours.
In Don't Chase Your Dreams, Allow Them to Come to You, I explore the Taoist principle of flowing with life rather than grasping at control. Chasing, resisting, or forcing only leads to struggle, just as trying to hold onto a fleeting moment distorts its natural rhythm. When we see life as a series of images, each valuable but brief, we walk within our authentic selves, free from the weight of what we cannot change.
Life, like photography, is about presence. It's about seeing clearly, framing each experience with intention, knowing when to press the shutter to capture what matters, and then surrendering it to time. True freedom isn't found in controlling every scene but in trusting the unfolding of life, knowing that each image, whether cherished or forgotten, has shaped who we are.
Clicking the shutter is an act of release, a silent acknowledgment that this moment has come and must pass. We don't need to hold onto every image from our past, just as we don't need to carry every emotion with us forever. Some moments are meant to be remembered, others to be learned from, and many to simply dissolve, making space for what comes next. The soul finds peace not in gripping but in letting go.
