| Being real doesn't cost you a single
cent From the editor | by Tim Miejan In 1970, when Coca-Cola introduced itself as "the Real Thing," it seemed to be a stroke of advertising genius. By calling itself "real," how much more genuine could it possibly be? Could there be any question as to its authenticity? The question, of course, remained, "Real what?" The real sugared, carbonated, caffeinated beverage, as opposed to the ones that say they are but really aren't? In the world of marketing, products are sometimes one incredibly good slogan, advertisement or commercial away from being multi-million dollar winners. It's what people on the street say about the product, and more importantly, it's what people perceive the product to be. That's why we won't accept anything less than name-brand shoes and pants and shirts and department stores and soft drinks and name-brand everything else. Whatever company is hot has us in its hip pocket. Many young Americans today want to acquire the best that our shopping malls have to offer. Their dream is to live the good life, surrounded by luxury, reminiscent of the life they see portrayed on television and in the movies -- and even portrayed in their neighborhood. Young boys dream of driving Corvettes and Lamborginis and Vipers. They don't envision themselves working in a fast-food restaurant when they get their first job. They want big bucks at the entry level. They idolize basketball players and football players and baseball players who play sports and live like kings. They act as though everything should be handed to them on a silver platter and they understand all there is to know. Well, don't they? As mirrors, they are incredibly good at reflecting what their society is telling them. And that message is one emblazoned with the dollar sign. Everything is about money. The media screams about million-dollar deficits and million-dollar election campaigns. The almighty dollar bill has been replaced by one million of them. In God we trust. Oh yeah? What does that cost these days? Let me tell you. It costs your willingness to focus on something other than buying the latest whatever just because we're told that we're nothing without it. It costs your desire to prioritize your life and stick to the goals that make your soul content, not your ego happy. It costs your commitment to spend time in communion with God, every day, not just on Sunday. It costs your love to share your life with family and friends, rather than your possessions. I could go on and on, but my point is, to achieve true happiness in this lifetime, now, living in this society, it costs your dedication to what is real in your life, as opposed to the illusions of grandeur that we all share. And I'm not the first person, or the last, who will tell you that it seems to be an uphill battle to accomplish that. It has always been a challenge -- for every single being who has ever lived on this planet. Do you think it was any easier 10 years ago, 25 years ago, 100 years ago or 1,000 years ago? What about for the Buddha or for Jesus or for Mohammed as they all walked along the same path, leaving crumbs of wisdom for us to find along the way? Absolutely not. The grand experiment was for our souls to enter a thick fog of amnesia in which we forget our true nature. This fog would blind us and confuse us and convince us that we are doomed to suffer and are unworthy and incapable of succeeding. Time and time again, challenges in our lives come at us to trip us up and push us down. But being a resilient folk, we don't give up that easily. We keep getting to our feet and moving on. Sometimes we do so well, and seemingly profit so handsomely, that we think we have won it all. And then another lesson brings us to our knees and points out that we are not who we think we are. The goal in this experiment is to reconnect inseparably with the Divine and know ourselves as having been formed in the likeness of the Divine. Whenever I wonder why I wanted to return to this most-challenging of incarnations, I sense a brief reconnection with the Divine. Then, I know that even though the task at hand is most daunting, the reward will be the most magnificient experience one could possibly imagine. That's what keeps me getting up when I stumble. Some people just get up out of habit, without really knowing why they do it. Others give up altogether. The other day while walking my dog in the park, I thought about how we take the same route through the trees and around the pond every day. Sometimes more than once a day. And I wondered how my dog, Ghandi, can be so excited to see the same thing over and over again. And then it dawned upon me that he doesn't see the walk the way I do. For him, each walk is like being there the very first time. And then I understood why I chose to have him in my life. He is mirroring the path of innocence that allows us to be in absolute awe of life, and to be grateful for each moment. With that realization, I hugged my dog, letting him lick me on my face, and enjoyed it like I never have before. And the cost of doing that was truly priceless. And it was the real thing. Tim Miejan is editor of The EDGE. Contact him at (651) 578-8969 or e-mail editor@edgenews.com Copyright © 2003 Tim Miejan |
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