“What prevents us from seeing ourselves as we really are is the human game of playing it safe. We will never wake up by playing it safe. We must persistently venture outside our circle of pseudo-safety to where our notions can be battered by reality. You learn how to steer a boat in a storm by entering the storm.” -Vernon Howard
We all sense we are not living up to our true potential, and then let a confused part of us dominate our minds. We remain stuck and just do enough to convince ourselves and others that we are sincere. Vernon’s paragraph poses the question of our non-development, and then bluntly states the way out. This is the path of non-flattery, and this need for peer approval is so dominant and overwhelming that we have little chance of escaping the nuthouse (The nuthouse is our own mind). There exists another life that is peaceful and nice. This life is within every individual, but must be personally discovered. Nobody can save you, and this world is thick with people who will tell you how to be free. Thousands of distractions to keep you busy doing nothing to bring you peace of mind. Against all odds, it can be done by not playing it safe. Thank You, Vernon Howard for the escape plans!!
Yes! Thank you for the escape plans Vernon!
The storm being the vibration inside me when I don’t react with my usual reactions – the retort back, the opposing opinion, the quick answer to any problem I have.
Daring to not know what to do, and stay there.
It’s very uncomfortable! But I see it’s the only way out.
The uncomfortableness is what directs the light on what has always gone on unconsciously. This attention (Light) exposes what has always been there, but unseen. The shock is seeing how wrong we have been in believing things were a certain way. Talk about fun, this is discovering reality. Once you get a taste of what is true, you want more, for this is the safe harbor you have been seeking. It becomes all yours! Only an individual can wake up, no groups allowed.
Vernon talks about the “human game of playing it safe”. I can see how everyone, including me, has their own version of this. Everyone gets excited and “happy” when finding their own game of comfort. There are countless possibilities to choose from, yet they all have one thing in common. They are all familiar, comfortable and known. Anyone can do that. Everyone does that. It’s a miracle for anyone to see that any and all games/tricks we play can only end up in misery. Seeing that can be a fantastic start in another direction. Giving up our games, we can go in the direction of the unfamiliar, the uncomfortable and the unknown.