386. A Better Human

You’re bad at being human. There’s no point in denying it because it’s obviously true. Anyone with a brain can see you aren’t doing it right. The only reason they don’t call you out is because they’re just as bad at it.

Your problem is that you have too much power and you don’t know how to use it. You can see more than an animal is supposed to see. You can examine the past, the present, and the future and see how they’re connected. You can reflect on your past actions and plan your future actions.

These powerful abilities cause you to develop all sorts of intentions. There are things you want to possess, things you want to avoid, and a whole range of beliefs that you have about what is good and what is bad.

It’s your intentions that get the better of you. You easily become attached to them, so much so that you build your whole life around them. You allow them to manipulate you into doing harmful things. You produce enormous suffering for yourself and the people around you. You make pain that has no purpose except enabling you to reach your goals or confirm your beliefs. All of this is unnecessary and it hampers your ability to thrive.

Of course, this isn’t your fault. You didn’t ask for this power, you had it thrust upon you. But you have to work with the lot you’ve been given. You have to learn to live in a way that doesn’t produce so much pain and suffering.

That might sound complicated, but it isn’t. All you need to do is pay attention to what’s happening in and around you and you’ll figure it out. But as it turns out, you’re not so great at paying attention either. You let your attachments pull you away from the things you need to see. Instead of absorbing your experiences fully, you jump around from this to that, learning very little about what is needed and necessary.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. You can free yourself from all of this. You can create a life that is empty of suffering and full of joy. You have everything you need to see more clearly. It’s up to you to actually use it.