Project
Love
“Whenever
you are about to find fault with someone, ask yourself the following question:
What fault of mine most clearly resembles the one I am about to criticize?”
Marcus
Aurelius (Meditations)
An old
friend of mine posted this quote on Facebook this morning. It’s a good one to
ponder going into the Christmas season when we’re attending lots of gatherings
and family dinners. But first, let’s recognize the wisdom of this quote coming
from an ancient Roman emperor who ruled from 161-180 AD. He captured the psychological
defense mechanism called “projection” in one statement. It was true then, and
it’s true now. Whatever punches our buttons in someone else is something we
need to ask ourselves about. Check the mirror for that reflection.
I don’t
know about you, but it’s a lesson I need to write on the palm of my hand and
read twenty times a day. We live in a society that is determined to blame
someone else for our problems, and not take responsibility for ourselves no
matter what facts are laid before us. We are conditioned to “project” from
birth, and it’s what has landed us in the divisive situation we’re in today. Our
motto may as well be, “If it’s bad, blame someone else.”
As we
enter the holiday season of Christmas and New Year, let’s keep in mind that we
are all flawed, and we are all holy anyway. Both things exist together in each
of us. We are the best and the worst that humankind has to offer. We are all
that is possible for anyone to be, yet we are less than we would like to be.
Everyone we know has within them the capacity for great love and destructive
hatred. We are equal in everything that is good and everything that is bad in
our species. The choice is ours to make, and when we fail to live up to our
best qualities, it doesn’t mean we are horrible people—it just means we are
human like everyone else.
This Christmas,
while you are stressing about gifts and food and decorations and family, just
take a second to reflect on how much you are loved and how much love you have
to offer. This season will come and go, and others will roll around, but you
will always have the option to share your heart which is the best gift of all.
Project that, and everything else will take care of itself.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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