Our own faults are the most valuable...

Noticing a single shortcoming in ourselves is far more useful than seeing a thousand in someone else. When it is our own: we can correct it...

It is so easy to see what is broken outside of yourself. People are broken, attitudes are broken, government is broken...everything is broken... broken families, broken promises, broken relationships...and on and on... For this reason many succumb to the victim's mantra, "If only everyone else was doing what they were supposed to, I'd be fine!"

The true value of noticing external imperfections/mistakes/problems, is null and void, for we have little or no ability to make the changes required to fix them. Why then do we spend so much time on this futile effort?

Ego...

Your Ego wants/needs/desires to be superior, always. That's how it maintains its importance. Finding fault at home diminishes its power, and so it tries to find ANY other cause for problems, frequently resorting to manufacturing stories and manipulating facts to suit its needs.

Even worse, the net result of  this constant external fault finding, this Ego "rationale," is it leads to an unhappy existence. The experience of Ego controlled people, is one where they are confined and locked in an imperfect world, that forces them to feel dissatisfied/powerless/unhappy. How often do you hear someone preface a suggestion with, "Well, in a perfect world..." See, it's all outside of them...

The good news is many of the faults are internal! And these are the ones you actually have control over! First and foremost is the fault of letting your Ego run the show. Changing this one fault will reap enormous benefits. It is your Ego for the most part, that has you living in psychological time, endlessly dredging up your past and reviewing the hurts/injuries/failures that caused you pain or setting up frightening scenarios in the future that must be guarded against and worried about. This activity alone sucks up most of your energy and removes you from the one thing, the one place where you would otherwise experience flow, fulfillment, Joy, Peace, and happiness... It takes you out of the present moment, the NOW...

So, how do you begin?

Become the OBSERVER. Observe yourself. There is actually a gap between what appears to be a continuous stream of thoughts in your head. Get into the gaps and you will begin to see there is time to choose your reaction to the things that would normally occur by rote. Change your unconscious reaction to conscious CREATION. Notice, "This is simply my Ego causing me to feel fear." " That I'm about to act rashly because my Ego feels slighted," "This event is not personal," and the countless unconscious responses you may be about to implement, and then choose a course of action that reflects WHO YOU REALLY ARE...

Today, begin by simply observing yourself. You don't have to do anything other than that. This simple AWARENESS is the first and most important step. From this alone, altering your response and perspective will follow....

Duffy