Post by vajramukti on Dec 12, 2008 16:53:08 GMT -5
10. THERE IS A HELL, AND IT STARTS EARLY.
People create their own personal hell with moral shortcuts, regrets about lost opportunities, resentment, and guilt. Then they add jealousy and envy, and they’ve paid the toll to enter Hell’s suburbs.
What toll do they pay? They give up their peace of mind, and sometimes their self respect.
They trade it for short-term pleasure.
Those who avoid doing anything that requires effort - physical exercise or forgiving or doing something for someone else - grow more narrow and less flexible day by day. Stunted ambition strangles their dreams and their enthusiasm dies. By the time they enter “downtown Hell” they’ve got a bad attitude about most things in life. They complain and criticize because “life has let them down.” The truth is life didn’t let them down - they quit trying.
Pretty soon their immune system gets the message and then their physical afflictions begin - their relationships are desolate and life becomes an ordeal. They start looking and acting older than they really are.
When these people look ahead, the future looks just like the past. Stretching on and on, day after unhappy day.
And that is truly Hell.
People create their own personal hell with moral shortcuts, regrets about lost opportunities, resentment, and guilt. Then they add jealousy and envy, and they’ve paid the toll to enter Hell’s suburbs.
What toll do they pay? They give up their peace of mind, and sometimes their self respect.
They trade it for short-term pleasure.
Those who avoid doing anything that requires effort - physical exercise or forgiving or doing something for someone else - grow more narrow and less flexible day by day. Stunted ambition strangles their dreams and their enthusiasm dies. By the time they enter “downtown Hell” they’ve got a bad attitude about most things in life. They complain and criticize because “life has let them down.” The truth is life didn’t let them down - they quit trying.
Pretty soon their immune system gets the message and then their physical afflictions begin - their relationships are desolate and life becomes an ordeal. They start looking and acting older than they really are.
When these people look ahead, the future looks just like the past. Stretching on and on, day after unhappy day.
And that is truly Hell.
Those who wish to join may introduce themselves here.
