About Us Humans

Tag: life

  • On Karma and the notion of eye for eye

    On Karma and the notion of eye for eye

    I’d like to add a thought to the notion of karma – that bad actions translate to the exact same (bad) experience coming your way. I believe that the universe (God) is smarter and more benevolent than that. Let me give you an example.

    In the book “Life between Life”, Joel Whitton, a regression therapist, describes the life circumstances of a man who, in a previous incarnation as a roman soldier, haunted and then tortured jews to death by riding over them with his horse. Now you could think that he in turn would reincarnate as a minority member and be tortured to death by someone else, but no. The solution is more elaborate than that.

    In his current life, which is linked to the incarnation as a roman soldier, he in turn is a jew and working as a surgeon. As a jew living in the 20th century, he is not haunted, but he is denied access to the working place where he’d like to work because of his origin. So he is having the experience of the minority member who is discriminated. And now, as a surgeon (a job he sometimes dislikes), he is mending broken bodies, thereby making the world a better place AND balancing out the destruction of bodies that he has comitted in his previous life. Once he learned about this, he could better cope with his sporadic aversion to his job, because he now saw sense in what he did.

    So see. If he in turn would simply be killed, he would have payed of his debt, but the world at large wouldn’t have been much better off. Now, by having the opportunity to balance out his karma through the positive actions of working as a surgeon he is helping his fellow people and thereby positively impacting the world around him. A much better solution in my opinion and a prime example that karma is more than just “eye for eye, and tooth for tooth”.

    I can attest to this way that karma works by my own experiences. You have to face consequences, but these can be laid out in a constructive way so that the net result is worth more than simple “revenge”. It’s more like learning from your past actions and then – hopefully and with help from above – taking a turn for the better in this life. Ultimately, using your free will, you steer the chariot and decide which way you want to go and how you want to deal with your karma.

    I am not saying that it has to be this way all the times, but it can be and has been.

  • Trust your gut – as seen on Quora

    Trust your gut – as seen on Quora

    This is a short, but still important post for a change. I previously wrote about the importance of your gut feelings, because they show you the right way in your life.

    In sync with this and as a confirmation, I came across this beautiful statement about the same principle (found on Quora).

    If a business deal feels bad, I don’t do it – even if it shines on paper. If a person seems deceptive, I don’t trust them – even if all the rational evidence seems otherwise. On a positive note, if something feels absolutely right – I dive in 100%.

    Julie Gurner

    If had more than a share of these bad experiences myself. Only a few of these people were really deceptive. Most of them were very kind. But still, often my gut was telling me that the outcome would not be quite right.

    In some business meetings for example, my gut told me that one of two persons sitting in front of me would be a GOOD match. Whereas my gut told me, that the other person WOULDN’T be such a good match. And his gut probably also told him the same.

    And this tricky combination then turned out not in favor for all of us. The result was quite some hardship and stress.

    So please. All of you out there. Spare yourself these kind of struggles. Instead, follow your gut and listen to it when it longs for something else!

    It will lead you to a more peaceful life – just keep going in it’s direction. And you will feel that things can and will get easier over time. There are many people who feel that way and have experienced it.

    Good luck on your journey and comment if you like.

    Sebastian

  • The beauty and necessity of new beginnings

    This is a personal story, but one that doesn’t only relate to me, but to many of us. So I think, it’s rather important to share it with you. Because only if we open up to the world – meaning the right people, please don’t open up to strangers who might hurt you – can we start to heal each other and make our journeys easier.

    So, here’s the story: I’ve been running in the corporate “hamster wheel” for about 15 years. Close to the end of this period, my body started shouting louder and louder that there was something wrong – our body talks to us, we just have to listen.

    I had some people in my life who pushed me further along this hard road. This was important for some time, but then I ran into a brick wall.

    My body shouted S.O.S. on many channels. Not over night, but steadily increasing over the years. The pains got stronger and stronger and finally I ran into a standstill – too many of them to explain here. Finally too much to handle them on my own.

    Then, luckily people came into my life – some of them were already there, thanks to those who I mean 🙏😘 – who showed and reflected to me that I was under way too much pressure and stress. This sort of “mirroring” is essential … so, listen to the people who point you towards your “issues” and please, don’t ignore them. As I opened up to these people, I slowly but steadily understood that I was in a situation that just didn’t serve me any longer.

    So, thanks to the advice of my experienced general practitioner, I went into psychoanalysis (thank you Mr. Freud and more importantly C. G. Jung – they did important groundwork in the field of psychology). In this therapy setting, I finally found a place where there was NO pressure… What a relief, I can tell you. With the wise and caring old lady, who was my therapist, I could simply be myself; with all my perceived flaws. And she started to show me the way towards freedom.

    I mean … depression (from which I suffered at that point) is not a flaw. It’s a desperate cry of the soul, signaling that it suffers from to much pressure or wrong circumstances which drag you down. So please, don’t judge people with depression. They first need understanding and then HELP to get out of their situation.

    Don’t get me wrong, too much understanding doesn’t serve them either. They need to show some effort, too. Things don’t happen on their own. But the meaning of depression, is – at first – simply that … “Get out of the pressure” .. de – pression.

    So a couple of months into therapy, I told me therapist that everything I ever wished for was vanishing. I was really desparate. Then she told me something very import and hope instilling that will stay with me forever:

    Sebastian, yes, your old dreams are falling apart …. but – when you keep going in the right direction – (see my post on the importance of gut feelings) then new dreams and hopes will appear.

    The wise old therapist lady (thank you, dear helper in dark times)

    Back then, in this phase of darknes,s that sentence was an important lighthouse for me. And she was right. After a challenging but worthwhile journey, I got stronger and stronger by the years. The darkness started to fade away and what my therapist told me … became truth. 😊 New dreams – ones that I didn’t even had in mind back then – started to appear and still do.

    The inspiring author and teacher Rebecca Campbell writes about this in her book “Light Is the New Black“. She hit a similar – but different 😉 – brick wall and also after a journey, could let go of the stuff that kept dragging her down.

    And Rebecca is absolutely not the only one. There are many, many more on this planet (lot’s more than you might think … you are NOT alone). This pattern of crisis and then finding hope, is a very common life pattern among us people. American author and spiritual writer Richard Rohr perfectly describes this pattern in his excellent book “Falling Upwards“.

    He also says, that when you slide into a crises, it’s time to leave the bad stuff behind and let the good stuff come in. So the downfall – in reality – is not a failure of yours, but a necessary phase which want’s to show you (big time): “Hey please wake up my dear. There’s bad stuff in your life that no longer serves you! Let it go!”.

    Richard Rohr says, that when you get rid of this junk (which doesn’t happen over night, but it does, when you keep at it), then new and helpful things will start to come your way.

    So please, if you are stuck, seek help and keep going in the right direction. There’s hope and a better life – full of new dreams – waiting for you!

    Trust me. I myself have been through such challenging times. And this is why I feel the need to share this story with you. Because, owing to my journey, I now know that there’s help available and better times are possible. You just have to walk your path. Trust your gut, it will guide you.

    Yours, Sebastian

  • God totally loves atheists, too!

    God totally loves atheists, too!

    Somewhere I picked up that God loves atheists, too. Because, remember this: His main concern for people is that they are good to themselves and then to others. Because only if you can accept, value, appreciate, and love yourself, you can then truly love (and accept) your fellow human beings. So a loving and thus caring atheist serves God better than a narrow-minded religious person who doesn’t respect others.

    So this message of “self-love” (and acceptance) is rather important to remember for all of us. This is because this message should remind us of the following: You shouldn’t force other people to believe in God, Allah, Manituh (or whatever name is your favourite).

    Care about yourself first – not in a self-absorbed way, but in a tender, accepting way. Radiating from inner love within, out to others. Then you will truly find God. Because he first wants and needs to talk to you. Go within, first.

    Taken from here: https://www.pinterest.de/pin/211880357448402764/?lp=true

    Thus, all of us should remember that this journey inwards is highly individual. It totally depends on the person in question – everyone carries a different “essence” so to say. I have written on the topic of diversity and indiviuality here before. See this or this post (or click the “diversity tag” on the right).

    So, if you then consider that each person (and his journey) is different you could also then realize that many people – quite more than you might think, to be honest 🙂 – have already found God.

    They did so simply by seeing that there is some kind of order and driving power in this world. They just may use a different name for it than you do. They could call it “universe” (my ex-spouse does so), “universal power”, “balancing force” (as above so below), or maybe a completely different name.

    But such kind and caring people have noticed that there’s more to this universe than we can grasp. It’s like electrictity. You can’t see electricity … BUT you can see that your lightbulb lights up, your refrigirator keeps humming along, your stove gets hot, etc. You get the idea, right?!

    So please, please, … relax and focus on the good in you and your fellow beings.

    Namaste 🙏 …. Sebastian

  • Let your life be a message!

    Okay, this is gonna be a rather short post for a change, but something just clicked. I found the following quote on Facebook and it resonated deeply with me. See the quote picture below.

    Image may contain: sky, outdoor, nature, water and text

    It’s taken from BrainyQuote’s cover photo – which can be found here – and let me share with you what I thought and wrote down in response to it.

    As if I were asking for it, another fine message comes along. This is why it clicked for me. My intended life message so to say.

    I want to inspire people around me. Being an example rather than a bossy leader. I don’t like bossy people, who boss other people around and treat them badly.

    Your life message is likely a different one. Reason being: everyone is a unique human being – see this post on human diversity – and thus has something different and valuable to contribute.

    Your gut will show you the way to your contribution. See this previous post on the importance of following your gut and why this can lead to an easier life.

    So, please, let this sink for a while – or a couple of years 😉 – and get in touch with me if you want to know more about this idea. Maybe I can share some helpful thoughts with you.

    Take care 🙏, Sebastian

  • How life fucks you in funny ways

    Excuse the explicit language. If you have kids, tell them to look away (unless they are interested … it get’s easier with the following lines =D …).

    So let me tell you what I mean by “life can f*** you in interesting ways”.

    Today, I was sitting on the train again and two things happened. First, I left my sunglasses behind (let me get back to that later). The more important thing was, that I totally missed to exit at the train station where I should have exited.

    A couple of stops later I noticed that I was misdirected and got off the train. As I already had lots of “funny stuff” going on in my life in the weeks previously, I didn’t panic and paused for a moment. I then went into the station building, got myself something to drink and eat and flagged a cab to drive me back to where I needed to be (There was an appointment waiting for me and notified them that I might be running late … everything okay).

    Now the interesting thing about this situation was – and this is exactly how our universe works (if you are open to its magical ways) – that I felt drawn to the cab driver. He had arabic / turkish roots and I find the arabic culture and its religion (mostly Islam) to be very fascinating.

    Don’t get me wrong, I totally don’t subscribe to the extremists in the east (ISIS etc.). They got something fundamentally wrong. God or Allah is about love … not the hate and holy war that they are preaching. But take it easy and don’t blame them … not only they got this wrong. Christianity also – in large parts – thinks that they got the “holy grail” and everyone else is wrong. Oh geese …

    So we (the cab driver and me) chatted and exchanged some interesting ideas. Did you for example know that even the Jews in the old days referred to God as “Allah”? We booth had goose bumps during our chat (a heavenly sign and confirmation that we were on “the right track”) and we parted in the thought that we might meet again.

    To cut a long story short: There’s a reason for everything that’s happening. And once you understand that, accept it, and go with the flow … magical things start to happen. Trust me!

    Oh and regarding the sunglasses. 😎 I was planning to get some new ones anyway. So I thought “Okay, someone will be happy to find my left-behind sunglasses” (and I don’t need them anyway).

    And so I went to the sunglass shop right that afternoon. And not only did I find exactly the sort of sunglasses I was looking for, but I also got to know the lady who was selling them to me. We clicked, exchanged contact details and also parted knowing that we might (and will) meet again.

    So, please … relax when life f***s you and then try to discover the hidden messages it tries to convey to you. I know, I know … this is absolutely harder than it might sound. But once you get the hang of it, life starts to get really exciting. Sometimes too exciting for my taste, but hey … at least it’s not boring 😉

    In this spirit … Take care and – as always – feel free to share your experiences and/or thoughts.

    Sebastian

  • The richness and caveat of Pisces

    The richness and caveat of Pisces

    Okay, so this is gonna be my first publich dip into Astrology. If you are not a fan, bare with me and let me tell you – there’s more to it than meets the eye. Even the 12 sun sign distinction can give you some insight into what’s happening in your life and what your character is about.

    But take it easy, give it a try if you want to, otherwise simply move on. In earlier years I had my share of reservations against Astrology (in particular the seemingly simplistic) sun sign system as well. So I understand if you shake your head in disbelief 😉

    For a start, I am gonna keep this simple. If you find this foray interesting, just let me know. Then I’ll see when I can come up with some new ideas and insights.

    So what I was pondering about is the complexity of my sun sign Pisces. I was scrolling through the weekly sun sign forecast and even if the lines about Pisces resonated deeply with me – I also found myself in some aspects of the other signs (rather more than I would like to to be honest, being Pisces seems challenging).

    I previously heard about the notion that we as a soul and human being – over multiple reincarnations – want to find out how it is like to be each specific sun sign. And that in culmination we then incarnate as Pisces. I don’t know whether this is true, but I can’t deny the feeling that there is something about this …

    So, considering this idea, when we finally incarnate as Pisces, our essence already carries all the qualities of the previous sun signs (Pisces is the 12th and final sign in the Zodiac). These combined qualities might be more subtle, but they are present.

    A quick check on Google brought me this page, where it says

    The last sign of the zodiac has a universal element about it. It is the culmination of all the signs and it is something more than the sum of it’s parts.

    Edward Cannell

    So I am not the only one who has this feeling. And let me tell you, “more than the sum of it’s parts” is exactly what I feel right now. It’s not 100% but a lot more .. and this is sometimes hard to handle. What I mean to say is, I don’t think Pisces is superior to the other sun signs. It’s just different – with its share of up- and downsides, quite a challenge in my opinion.

    Do you feel the same? What are your thoughts about sun signs or Astrology in general? As always, I’d love to hear from you, if you are brave enough to share your experiences and thoughts. 🙂 I won’t bite … I promise.

    Take care and goodbye for now, Sebastian

  • The intended journey of life

    The intended journey of life

    Okay, this is gonna be an important and sort of deep topic, but don’t be afraid … I’ll try to put it in as simple words as I can. What this post is about, is the meaning of life. In other words: What’s our mission (so to say) during our lifetime.

    When you ask different people about their understanding of the meaning of life, you’ll get different answers. Some say it’s “Family”, others say it’s “Love”, maybe for some it’s having a career (I plead guilty ;)). A good friend of mine says, life is about growing spiritually. I know this might sound like fairy speak to some – it certainly would have to me a couple of years ago … so let me paint you a more tangible picture.

    So even now, as I subscribe to this idea of growing spiritually, I prefer to phrase it a bit differently. I would say, our mission here on earth is to get closer to the core of our being (our soul if you might want to use that word).

    Because this core essence of our being wants to shine. And it’s direly needed in this world of turmoil that we are living in. The soul has its purpose and this purpose (which we can only recognize as we go) longs to evolve … and thereby reach higher planes of existence and happiness.

    As one of my favourite authors, Ulrich Schaffer recently said:

    You are the sum of all of your experiences, but you are so (!) much more.

    Ulrich Schaffer

    So don’t cling to phases of your life that have served it’s purpose. This may sound harsh and hard, but once you get the hang of it (and this might take years or even decades of practice and necessary hardship), it get’s way easier.

    So we should be steadily trying to recognize and unearth our potential. This doesn’t need to happen every day, so don’t push to hard. But when you get the feeling that you are stagnating and your life circumstances are dragging you down … then you should seek to go deeper within – and thereby ways out of your situation.

    You don’t have to walk this journey alone though. You are not the only one going through this. And there’s people who can help you. People who have been through the storm of change and who know that there’s a safe place waiting for you. So reach out to them and keep walking towards a brighter life.

    The trouble and effort is worth it! Embrace the change, don’t fight it.

  • Trust your gut. It’s your compass

    Let me tell you a short story on the importance of following your gut. Many people – like me for a long time – are caught in their mind and often have difficulties making decisons. Or sometimes they make decisions that are not in their best interest – and/or their fellow human beings.

    Very young kids don’t have this problem. They have a very strong inner compass that tells them what they like and dislike. You can easily see this, when it comes to food. They tell you right away “More, more!” or “F*** off, I won’t eat this!”. And that’s not simply a mind thing, but their body telling them, what they need and what not.

    Very often, harsh education and upbringing teaches us humans to disregard our inner compass and instead follow rules that are imposed upon us by parents and society. In the first years of our lives, these people are mainly our parents and other attachment figures. Thus, we – unfortunately – start to disregard our compass and instead tend to satisfy other people’s expectations. Not very good, I can tell you.

    These – often enforced – expectations and rules are then internalized and we start to follow such “programs” which are then engrained in our heads. Rather than following our gut …. and that’s when the troubles start.

    I was caught in my head for decades and I can tell you this is tiring. Luckily, I started to unearth my gut feeling again (with loads of help from others) and now I can say that my compass is very strong. It is guiding me safely through the turmoils of life. I still need my mind though to counterbalance my sometimes strong emotions.

    As the saying goes:

    “The mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master.”

    Old Asian Proverb

    See this article on it for some more, short, but valuable information on the balance between feelings and the mind. I wish you all the best for unearthing your compass and then steering through the journey of life. Once you get to the balance of gut and mind … life can be fun! Trust me 😇