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C.L. Harmon Posts

Mindset: Free Will Is A Choice

Mindset: Free Will Is A Choice

The concept of free will is simple in its definition, but baffling to many of us since the choices we make do not always lead us to the outcomes for which we hoped and believed. How is it that some make choices to pursue specific goals and make similar choices as others to attain those goals, but do not the achieve the goals while others do.

I believe this is because of the choices we make with the actual freewill we are given. One of the greatest gifts we can give our Creator, who gave us free will, is to trust him so much that we give it back to Him. This action tells Him that we believe so much that His choices for us will be greater than any we could have chosen for ourselves.

However, as a result of this, we are led on a journey that is often blind and appears to make no sense. Others who choose to keep their free will and guide themselves often do reach their goals, but will not attain the greater gifts and understanding in this life He had set aside for them.

It is our choice to trust in our Creator or to only trust in ourselves. This is true free will. However, we cannot serve ourselves and the Creator too. Perhaps the greatest gift He gave us was the opportunity to give our destinies back to him, instead of leaving us to battle the world without His guidance.

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Mindset: Happiness Is A State Of Acceptance

Mindset: Happiness Is A State Of Acceptance

It’s often said that we are responsible for our own happiness and that we simply choose our internal strength and will of mind to help us find comfort and joy. I don’t believe this to be completely accurate.
Although I do believe that we are responsible for our own happiness to a degree and that choice is a contributing factor in our happiness, I also believe that others play a key role in how we feel as well.
Human beings were not created to be alone or to exist in solitude. We are created to learn, live and love with others. Though it is true that we experience love from our Creator, it is only through others that we can experience intimate love with another, trusting love with a friend or the pure love that is raising a child.
Each one of these types of loves brings happiness and a sense of joy that is unmatched anywhere else in creation. The absence of them will most certainly cause us to feel sadness, depression, and pain. We can only learn to accept this absence with grace and a belief that there is a purpose in that absence. But true happiness only comes through our connections to each other, our will to seek happiness and the choice to make them one.

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Mindset: Whispers In The Wind

Mindset: Whispers In The Wind

So many actions we do, words we utter and situations in which we are part of are seemingly of no significance at the time which they occur. Often they are as a fleeting thought, gone almost as quickly as they came. But to someone, they have an impact. It may be one that we never even learn of, but someone was affected by that action, word or the situation that occurred.

It is as though a cosmic pulse is formed which travels far into the subconscious of creation itself and the consciousness of those within this creation. It knows not the bounds of time and space. It lives in memories, in bones, in soil and in decisions made by all of us from the onset of that action.

Would our choices matter more if we understand that each one is like an echo heard far beyond reaches we can’t even fathom? That they live in our hearts as hate or love, in our minds as prejudice and equality, in history as brutality or kindness in philosophy as dark or light and in eternity as peace or torment? One seemingly insignificant action can be one thread for someone to hold on to in desperation or one thread unraveled from a blanket of security.

Nothing in life is insignificant. Everything is whispers in the wind. No word, no action, no situation is without cause and effect. Understanding this is how the world changes, one word, one action, one situation at a time

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Mindset: Exit The Madness

Mindset: Exit The Madness

The heart does not lie, judge or justify action. It only asks for that which it desires and then leads us to those yearnings without fear and apprehension while offering us no control over where it chooses to lead. It is our minds which must follow our hearts and our will which must make them do so. Reason can destroy our dreams and squash our desires if we follow the mind, which is capable of judgment and justification.

The world in which we inhabit is often corrupt and embroiled in confusion. We think about methods to survive the madness allowing our thought processes to guide us through the chaos. We believe reason can free us from what we can’t control.
But in doing so we allow the part of us, which is capable of judgment, justification and even deceit to make some of the most important decisions in our lives.

Do we truly want to make those decisions without the benefit of complete truth?
When we follow our hearts, we are led to places that fulfill us and we are never led astray. In fact, we are actually led out of the madness which consumes our thoughts and into the safety of true understanding and reasoning.

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Putting The Pieces Together

Putting The Pieces Together

My mother once told me a story about a successful man from whom God took the use of his legs. I don’t remember all of the particulars but the gist of it was that the man had made choices in his life that led him to financial success. Apparently, God had other plans for him. Modern medicine could not find the cause of the man’s inability to walk and so the man writhed in bed from mental anguish as all he had worked for slipped away. He was helpless and in despair as nothing improved his situation. Depression set in and grew as weeks turned into months and the man became suicidal. Although not a religious woman, his wife called a priest to speak with her husband and talk him out of such thoughts.

While in the man’s bedroom, the priest noticed a very unusual carving on the dresser. He inquired as to its origin and the man said that he had carved it as a boy. He explained how he had loved to carve as a child, but his father had forced him to put away such childish hobbies as they were not a method in which to make a living. He had not carved any since. The priest, in awe of such a creation, persuaded the man to begin carving again as therapy. Miraculously the more he carved the more use of his legs he regained.

There are two ways one can interpret what happened to this man. One is that it was coincidental and the man would have regained the use of his legs anyway. Or, there is the one in which God took away the use of the man’s legs for not doing what He wanted this man to do. Since I don’t believe in coincidences, I shall focus on the second scenario where God took away the use of his legs.

I believe that we need to revisit a part of my last blog when I write about doing what God wants us to do, according to His plan for us. Perhaps the Biblical phrase “Thy Will Be Done” comes to mind here. God does not create a universe and not retain at least, a certain amount of control over it. The problem it seems is that others, especially those who love us, often do not understand the amount of control these desires which God gives us impacts our lives. Just as the man who lost the use of his legs, his father believed that working with carving was not what was best for his son. He was wrong.

Although the father’s intentions were good, they were not God’s intentions for the man. I believe that creative people struggle with this more than any other type of people. I think it’s a fair statement that most creative people struggle financially, often for long periods of time, while attempting to use their talent to make a living. It’s a very difficult road to take and one that is often very long before reaching the destination we desire. What we must all understand though is that we didn’t choose to be this way any more than a person chooses to have cancer or limited intelligence. It was given to us before we were born for a purpose that is not disclosed to us.

We are beholden to a desire we did not ask for. And yes we do have a choice to not pursue that desire as did the man who lost the use of his legs. It is doubtful to me that God goes to such drastic measures with all of His children who do not follow the desires given to them. But I do believe that He keeps a sense of happiness from them, a sense of fulfillment even. It is that happiness which we seek above all else. And so we are only content when we are pursuing those desires.

Walls that are constructed and broken bridges are not to keep us from those following our hearts and from reaching our desires; they are instructions informing us that we must turn and follow another direction to reach what we seek.  What others may see as failures or mistakes we have made, God knows to be directional logistics. We should always listen to others as God provides direction in many ways, but we should never follow the words of those who do not understand that God sets a course for us based in faith and not in logic.

That pursuit is our journey. The failures, the triumphs, the losses and the gains are all part of what our desire is to teach us. Remember always that it is not others who must understand what we are doing. What God desires for us is not a riddle for others to solve, it is a puzzle that we alone must assemble in order to discover the meaning of who we are meant to be.

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Cracks In The Distance

Cracks In The Distance

Distance is of varied sources and it is what separates one from another. However, it is usually words, not miles that brings about the greatest distances. One word, one sentence or one misunderstanding is all it takes to make us step back, separating people and making them enemies. When we truly think about this, we must recognize just how close we are to creating a lasting negativity at any given time.

We all say and do things without realizing the ripple effect of those actions. They seem harmless enough at the time and so their result seems inconsequential. But this is only to the person responsible for those words or actions.
To the other person, they become a small crack in which understanding, forgiveness, and compassion slowly seep out altering our perceptions of that person and theirs of us, creating space between us. Initially, we are completely unaware of these changes and yet they still grip a part of us.

When we eventually realize that we have been affected, then we must use a kind word or action to help others understand what they’ve done and then forgive them. Otherwise, we allow that crack to widen to a point that it drains us and them completely separating us to a point that we can no longer see the other at all.

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The Cellar Door

The Cellar Door

It is to be locked inside a cellar. There are noises on the other side of the door; voices and sounds of which most have familiarity. Sometimes there is laughter and other times only quiet. The silence though is most of what rings in this angular and hollow room. It is as an old friend who never parts from my side. It is the noises and the voices from outside this room that are guests at my door, never knocking.

I stretch my imagination to match up voices with faces that I have not seen, adding new features each time the voice utters a word or laughs or cries in the house which I do not see from my closed and locked room. It is to be kept company by what I imagine to be on the other side of the door. It is the hope I think that can only be known to those who understand that isolation has a place in every soul. It is a way of life in this cellar.

Footsteps from above and below on the opposite side of the door are directions on a map that allows for a layout in my mind of what the world beyond this locked door must be like. Each footstep is a marker in my mind as I hear them tapping the floor beyond the corners, on stairs, and down corridors. Some are soft as though made by tiny feet, while others thuddish and louder as though made by giants. There are faint images from the crack at the bottom of the door, but they are only shadows pierced by the light beyond them when others stand outside the door.

There is artificial light in this depth, but it is void of sunlight. There is little warmth from it. It is to be tempted with what is true and then tested with what is false inside this cellar of stone and repetitive echoes.  On certain days from windows outside this room, the truth does shine in as slivers from the gaps around the jambs. As minute as are the rays, I can still feel the warmth from them inside. It is far from me, but still, I know it holds no artificial properties. It is foreign and yet longing.

There is only outside and inside from this perspective. A door made of steel, wood or even cloth that separates one from another, one world from another. There are those who walk the rooms with both artificial light and sun and those who stand at locked doors imagining what that must be like. There are those who see a world that is with these bright lights. And there are those, who with candles in their minds, only imagine it with a flicker. This is what it is to know to a crowd can be a haunted place. This is what it is to feel a sharp wound from a dull knife. This is what it is to know depression.

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The Way I See It

I have written a lot about life. Some have been positive as in reflected in most of the Mindset columns I have published over the years. Other works have been sarcastic, funny and even angry. I have done so, in part, in an effort to try and understand it…make sense of it somehow. I haven’t figured much of it out yet, but I have formulated many theories over the years through my experiences, the Bible, my upbringing and the impact others’ experiences have had on me. I thought I might write about a theory or two in this blog. Now before you get all ‘kitty has claws’ on me, remember that I am not a prophet or the Oracle at Delphi but just a person who has a few ideas. What I am though is honest in what I write. This is not to say that I am right or wrong but honestly based on the information available to me.

Is it possible that great effort does not equal great outcome? I believe so. In other words, I don’t believe that the amount of effort put in always produces the same amount in results. Nor do I care for the idea that others try and sell the concept that it does it as it’s some precious commodity. One of my irritations is going into just about any corporate setting in the US and seeing one of those framed posters with a beautiful natural landscape and a word like BELIEVE or DREAMS or some other positive word with smaller text under the big word explaining how the implementation of these words can get you to where you wish to be. Trust me on this, Look away! This is BS! Effort does not equal outcome.

Let me tell you why you should not give any credence to these types of signs or listen to others with the same mentality to get inspiration. They are false prophets. Not because they are entirely wrong but because their message may not apply to you. Taking inspiration from something or someone that is not meant for you is like taking medication that is not prescribed to and that you don’t need. In other words, it does more harm than good. If an Olympic swimmer tells you to jump into the ocean without a life jacket because it’s a good way to learn how to swim, would that be good advice? Just because something may work for someone else, does not mean it will work for you. Drowning is not what I would consider good advice.

In addition, it seems to me that people always leave out the most important part of our earthly excursion, God. Remember God? He is the one who made you and the earth and universe and your pet and the moon, the flu, rats, flies and everything else in existence. Those of you old enough may remember the line in the Jethro Tull song Bungle in the Jungle “He who made kittens put snakes in the grass”. Yeah, that God. Before moving further, let me ask you a question? Granted you had God-like powers, how likely is it that you would create an existence full of life and then just leave it to its own devices? Would you really be okay with just letting the chips fall where they may?

Seriously, would you not have some plan, some purpose in mind for your creation after its completion? Now keep in mind that it is not forced control over your dominion that you want, but voluntarily submission to your will. Slavery and forced will upon your creation will not bear the fruit of love, which is what you truly want as the creator of your human experiment. Obviously, the first action you would allow is free will to your creation. This way, you know that they willingly choose to serve you without fear from your wrath but out of a choice to do so.

Now consider what would be the one thing that you could give back to the Creator that proves you are completely willing to serve Him? Of course, it’s the only thing you actually have to give…your free will. Now here is what I believe happens with free will; a person can serve God or one’s self. If one serves him or herself, then that person is choosing to take God out of the equation. They are choosing to live a life without God’s interference and not according to His rules. With freewill God allows them to remove Him even though He has a plan for their lives. They are now the master of their own destiny. They can pursue money, fame success or any other desire without interference. They can believe in God and acknowledge His existence, but this does not mean that they serve Him. Both Hitler and Stalin believed in God. I doubt anyone with any intelligence at all would say these men were serving God regardless of what name they may call God.

Back to the point, I believe that by giving back one’s free will allows them to now be used by God for HIS purposes. Now let’s read that again, for HIS purposes. I believe that it goes without saying, but I will say it anyway. If you don’t know how to create a universe, then you are never going to understand the mind, heart, and will of the one who does. God can and apparently does give blessings of wealth to those who do not work for it. He gives health to those who commit unspeakable atrocities while giving a failing heart to an eight-year-old child who has never even had an evil thought. And why, you can bet your ass, will never be made known to you in this realm. And even if it were, you probably wouldn’t have the brain power to comprehend it anyway. These injustices are allowed for HIS purposes which He doesn’t feel a need to share with the rest of us.

Remember as you read this that there are no answers here. There is no right answer for you in this blog or on one of those stupid posters in a corporate office or in the stars or the formations of clouds. You are a lock and God is the key. Only He has the answers and He decides if and when you get them. As angry or upset with God as you may become, you will not get those answers if He does not want you to have them. If you don’t believe me then read Job in the Bible and find out what God told Job when he was pissed about the way God had allowed him to suffer.

Here is what you should walk away with after reading my theory, God does exist. You cannot serve Him and yourself. He doesn’t like that, so it’s either Him or the highway. If you choose the highway, He will let you go your own way even into a dead end. Don’t expect your desires to be the same as God’s. He doesn’t need money, fame, success or security. He will give you what you need according to what He wants you to have, not necessarily what you want. Be prepared to fail in your endeavors. He will allow you to fail one hundred times while allowing others who do not choose to serve Him, success with minimal effort. You will suffer. You will do so because it is proof that you choose Him even when it seems He doesn’t choose you. Your dreams are not guaranteed. There are no contracts with God. As such your desires are not a promise written in your heart. And lastly, positive thinking and word posters in corporate offices are not signs from God. They were a marketing plan to make money and encourage employees to work harder so the owners can make more money.

In the end, it’s all about free will and the God you serve; the God you create within yourself or the God that created you within Himself.

 

 

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Lost Meaning to the World

Mindset

When we think of our lives, our place in humanity and our world, we tend to think of it on a broad scale that encompasses all that we do and experience as an ordinary ritual of sorts. But what if that world we focus so heavily on each day causes us to lose sight of so much more.

Consider that all life, each individual entity, is a world all its own, made up of countless functions and processes in constant motion. We must realize that life is happening in each ability, every talent, each characteristic—every second. Examine them as though they are the only thing in your world. See them as a sole entity, full of energy and vitality and become enlightened as to the extraordinary genius of your creation.

Within each thought that becomes an idea, every ability that becomes a creation and each characteristic that brings interaction with others, there is an opportunity to discover that perhaps the meaning of life is simply that life has meaning. The hours we are given to live are our opportunity to find that meaning in each and every aspect of our lives.

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Mindset: The Will To Have Freewill

Mindset: The Will To Have Freewill

By C.L. Harmon
The concept of free will is simple in its definition, but baffling to
many of us since the choices we make do not always lead us to the
outcomes for which we hoped and believed. How is it that some make
choices to pursue specific goals and make similar choices as others to
attain those goals, but do not the achieve the goals while others do.
I believe this is because of the choices we make with the actual
freewill we are given. One of the greatest gifts we can give our
Creator, who gave us free will, is to trust him so much that we give
it back to Him. This action tells Him that we believe so much that His
choices for us will be greater than any we could have chosen for
ourselves.
However, as a result of this, we are led on a journey that is often
blind and appears to make no sense. Others who choose to keep their
freewill and guide themselves often do reach their goals, but will not
attain the greater gifts and understanding in this life He had set
aside for them.
It is our choice to trust in our Creator or to trust in ourselves.
This is true free will. However, we cannot serve ourselves and the
Creator too. Perhaps the greatest gift He gave us was the opportunity
to give our destinies back to him, instead of leaving us to battle the
world without His guidance.

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