Saturday, April 10, 2021
I recently heard my own voice on a recording, and I winced. I dislike the sound of my own voice. A few days ago, I was projecting something on a screen with a high-definition document camera for a class, and I got a glimpse of my hand on the screen. My hands looked so aged, wrinkled, and spotted. Again, I winced! I suspect many others have a distaste for their own physical and personality traits. But why? We certainly didn’t create the sound of our voices, or the shape of our bodies, or the character of our personalities!
It’s easy to think the sound of your voice is “yours,” or that your body somehow belongs to you. There are so many aspects of your physical reality that are fixed, meaning they cannot be “fixed.” What good do you bring into the world by fixating on the unfixable? I cannot think of a thing. You didn’t make you, and you didn’t make the universe either. You didn’t make your fellow humans nor do you control their behavior, so why hold them in continual contempt? Release your fixation on the unfixable. There are so many more helpful things that you can actually fix, like – your attitude, your focus, your attentiveness to the needs of others, your habits, and so on. Your created form is what it is. You’re only in that form for a short period of time anyway. You might as well appreciate what works, and improve on the interior aspects of your emotions, behaviors, and attitudes. Fixate on something worthwhile, like helping others, and encouraging them to do their best. Fixate on the things that never die – love, peace, charity, and kindness.