Reading time: 3 – 4 minutes

You’re Already in the Best of All Possible Situations

I have recently finished reading a birthday gift that I was given it is called “Bonds That Make Us Free” by Terry Warner. I enjoyed the book even though at times it was a bit too repetitive for my liking. Hey who is perfect! I’m the first to put my hand up to say that I’m a work in progress model – and there is a lot of room for personal growth. This book reminded me of concept that you are currently in the “Best of All Possible Situations.” While the saying goes that the other farmers grass is greener is always greener I think we must look for the balance and be grateful for all that we have.

I believe that the concept of appreciating where we are now can be retraced to Søren Kierkegaard’s parable of The Two Artists:

” Suppose there were two artists, and the one said, “I have traveled much and seen much in the world, but I have sought in vain to find a man worth painting. I have found no face with such perfection of beauty that I could make up my mind to paint it. In every face I have seen one or another little fault. Therefore I seek in vain.”

On the other hand, the second one said, “Well, I do not pretend to be a real artist; neither have I traveled in foreign lands. But remaining in the little circle of men who are closest to me, I have not found a face so insignificant or so full of faults that I still could not discern in it a more beautiful side and discover something glorious. Therefore I am happy in the art I practice. It satisfies me without my making any claim to being an artist.”

…the second of the two was the artist.

Touching on our forgiving the offenses we sometimes take from friends, family, and co-workers, the book’s author Terry Warner puts it this way:

“Unless we change in our hearts toward the people we struggle with here and now, we are condemned to struggle with whomever we may find ourselves associating with.
…
It doesn’t say that our situation could not be better. Many of us have serious needs, like too little to eat or broken health; even those of us who are fairly comfortable could benefit from positive changes in our circumstances. What the principle says is, in matters that affect our happiness, we are in the best of all possible situations.
…
We cannot be liberated from our burdensome feelings toward certain people unless we forgive these very people; without this, we leave unfinished the task by which we ourselves can be transformed. For wherever we go, we will remain accusing, self-excusing individuals who, fantasizing, think a change of circumstance will make a fundamental difference. Instead of leaving our problems behind, we will take them with us.

When happiness is the issue, the best possible situation for us is the one we’re in now, and the people around us are the best we could be with.”

The journey of personal growth and development is like riding a rollercoaster one minute way up high and then the thrill and excitement of shooting down to raise again. So lets pause and be grateful for all that we are and have.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, November 6th, 2008 at 4:47 pm and is filed under Gratitude, Personal Development, Self Help. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.