There are many things about my physical body that I would gladly trade off for someone else’s. I have chronic tendon pain in my wrists and arms, chronic mid-back pain from my kyphoscoliosis, and chronic sinus problems of one kind or another. My hair is balding in the front and in the back, I almost always have pimples on my face (I have used creams, taken pills, and changed my diet), and my hamstrings are incredibly tight even though I stretch them profusely. I work on all these aspects of my health and appearance. Sometimes they get better and sometimes they get worse.
If I had the option, I would love to exchange a lot of my health and features for someone else’s. However, I LOVE my consciousness. This is what keeps me going even when all the other problems weigh down on me at the same time and helps me to rise above all that mess. I would not trade my consciousness for anything in the world. What is my consciousness, you ask?
- Is it knowledge? Well, not exactly, though it does include some of this. However, although I have a fair amount of knowledge in a lot of areas, there are still many areas where I know little or nothing at all.
- Is it skill? No, though there are many skills my sense of consciousness has helped to develop. However, probably the area I am most skilled in is music and there are plenty of people I can name that I could exchange my skills for and be much better off.
- Is it achievements? No. Achievements are all in the past and resting on my laurels, what few of them there are, does not constitute who I am.
My consciousness is my sense of identity and purpose. This entire blog for the most part is an outworking of my consciousness. If you look at the About Me page you will see the meaning of my name and my purpose statements. If you look at my Statement of Belief page you will see my journey in articulating my identity. Can I fully describe what I mean when I say my consciousness? No, I cannot. Ultimately, it is a metaphysical reality that must be experienced and only can be explained crudely.
Why is this? Well, it has its origin in the divine, the source of all energy, all matter, and all time. I was created with the capacity to know this person, and the pursuit of that connection is worth everything. I am infinitesimally important because He is infinite.
Find your consciousness. Find your identity. Find your purpose. This will sustain you even when everything else in life betrays you.