Anyone who regularly reads my column knows that I’m a huge fan of the works of the 13th century Persian poet, Rumi. In this column I want to take some of Rumi’s most salient words and add a wee bit of commentary.
Yesterday I was clever, so I wanted to change the world. Today I am wise, so I am changing myself.
In these days and times so very many are downright terrified of both the future and the present. I’ve never had so many therapy clients say, “I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop,” or “I don’t know what I can do that’ll even matter anymore.” Be the best version of yourself you can be. Change yourself and you will change your world, and your changed world will change the worlds of others.
A friend once said to me, “The first step in change is misery.” Rumi wrote:
These pains you feel are messengers. Listen to them. The moment you accept what troubles you’ve been given, the door will open.
One of the great mythological themes is called “the hero’s journey.” It is the common struggle of all to eat our way out of our cocoons and soar on our butterfly wings or fall lifelessly into the abyss. It is the choosing of our paths, as Robert Frost wrote:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the road less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
There is no one universal prototype for living. In the movie, Rust, Alec Baldwin’s character, Harland Rust, said, “Every man chooses what he is.” Every choice we make determines who we become and I believe that the spirit within us knows if our choices are the best for us or not, and when we make poor choices that same spirit says to us, “That probably wasn’t the best choice you could have made, but now that you’ve made it, let’s see what we can do with it.”
Rumi wrote:
I have been a seeker and I still am, but I stopped asking the books and the stars. I started listening to the teaching of my Soul.
Your heart knows the way. Run in that direction.
If light is in your heart, you will find your way home.
We carry inside us the wonders we seek outside us.
We explore the universes of the stars. We dive deeply under the waters of the oceans and seas in search of new wonders. Do you, do I, give enough of our energy searching within? There are vast galaxies just waiting, yea, pleading to us to be known.
One Rumi quotation I love so much that I had it tattooed on the inside of my right forearm is “What you seek is seeking you.” Those words ring deeply in my soul. They bring me hope in my darkest days and serve as a North Star to me.
It’s your road and yours alone. Others may walk it with you, but no one can walk it for you.
This Rumi quotation reminds me of the old spiritual: “Jesus walked this lonesome valley; he had to walk it by himself. Oh, nobody else can walk it for us;. we have to walk it by ourselves.” (Public Domain)
One of Rumi’s primary spiritual influencers was another Persian poet, Ibn Arabi, who wrote, “I follow the religion of Love: whatever way Love’s camels take, that is my religion and my faith.”
Finally, Rumi wrote:
Be drunk with love, for love is all that exists.
Love is the bridge between you and everything.
Fellow travelers, John Lennon was right. All you need is love. Love is the most powerful force in all of creation. You want to change the world? Love yourself and love others—even your enemies. That’s how we change the world.
…and that’s the View from The Balcony
Randy Weeks is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Board Certified Telemental Health Provider, Certified Shamanic Life Coach, ordained minister, singer-songwriter, actor, and writer. He seeks to live a life of gratitude and love.
