We’ve seen various self-help instructions, from the physical bookshelves to the online digital sphere. And one SNS post says we need to focus on three kinds of activities in our everyday lives, which should keep you:
- Creative
- Healthy
- Wealthy
It sounds so secular, worldly, and carnal. Many commented about these three areas as “well-said.” And some pointed out the critical pathology of this (limited) perspective.
Our human history indeed consists of a series of struggles against:
- Predators
- Diseases
- Poverty
We have developed many great civilizations because of our human creative intelligence, which is at the unprecedented culmination of this twenty-first century. The necessity and obsession with being smart, intelligent, creative, innovative seem already part of our hardwired mindsets.
And our civilizations transformed our lives to the extent that our lifespan could be around one hundred and more without critical illnesses. We can gain the best part of both health and wealth through creativity. To be the member of our advanced civilizations, therefore, we must be:
- Smart
- Fit
- Rich
And we admire all those celebrity figures in various fields as our obsessive role models. But then, deep inside, consciously or unconsciously, we ask ourselves:
Are you sure? Are these things our fundamental and ultimate goals of life? Are they everything, and should there be nothing else at all?
God forbid.
Various ancient wisdom has kept telling us to be cautious about such self-centered traps. Despite the unprecedented advancements of our human civilizations, it seems that our learning has been stagnant ever since. The more we seek these carnal things, the more we suffer from the act of our obsessive carnal seeking as such.
Of course, the act of seeking to be creative, healthy, and wealthy alone does not mean evil and destructive at all. Our growth mindset should focus on these three valuable areas. We must increase our talents as God’s gifts as long as we live in this world temporarily.
We only suffer when we believe these things are everything and there should be nothing at all other than them.
We should study hard to be intelligent, live a healthy lifestyle, and work hard to be rich to some extent. And yet, we should know when enough is enough. We should know all things are temporary. Above all, we are lovable as we are regardless of these carnal efforts.
Love ourselves unconditionally so that we can also love one another unconditionally. That’s the way God loves us. And once we feel this love, which can truly set us free.
Image by Peggy und Marco Lachmann-Anke
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