OTIS by The Durutti Column

There is a way to live this life and KNOW what it is all about, for yourself.  You do not need to explain it to anyone.  You do not need to define yourself through a display of beliefs or testify in front of the haters.

All you need to do is collect goodness for yourself.

How do you do it?

It starts with filtering out the opposite of goodness: (badness?), more like, evil.

Lies.  Deceit.  Negativity.  Gossip.  Denial.  Narcissim.  All the typical things you hear about life’s warnings.  They are real.  We take these evil concepts and actions for granted, thinking that it’s not so bad if we hurt someone once or take advantage every now and then.  It’s all the same.  It’s all evil and it adds up quickly.  When it adds up, we feel stressed, drained, weighed down.  We feel as if we are on “the wrong path.”  Well, it’s because we ARE on the wrong path.  Denial will tell you differently (lies to oneself – the worst kind of evil).

Evil acts, no matter the scale of how evil, harden the heart more and more, making us less open to believing in the good and less open to supporting others who do good for themselves.

You must collect goodness and believe in it to truly enjoy life’s fruits to the max.  THOSE ARE THE HAPPIEST PEOPLE!  Free of worrying about what others think.  Free of even thinking of combating the haters.  Free of being infected with the annoying weight of the everyday evil.  When you are this free, you are DETACHED from the world in the healthiest way possible.   Those who are careless about their actions (willing to do evil over good), will do the following to you when you are on the path of goodness:

• Judge you
• Criticize you
• Make fun of you
• Doubt you
• Interrogate you
• Manipulate you
• Try to control you

Remember – if someone wants to do good, they will learn to do it on their own.  You do not have to waste your energy teaching others how to be good or how to do good.  It’s simply an act of choice.  The world is full of examples on how to be good and take in goodness, so the resources are already there.

 

You are your own teacher.

If you want to collect goodness for yourself and just don’t know where to start or are in a rut, here are some simple steps for getting the good light going:

Step 1:  Enjoy nature and take it in – allow yourself to speak to it, listen to it, cry with it, keep it, love it, take it home with you.

Step 2:  Do not be jealous of others, or want others to affirm your goodness; affirm it for yourself and remember: “to each his own”.

Step 3:  Be honest with what you want out of life no matter how ridiculous it seems.

Step 4:  Seek dreams that preach to only good and wholesome values within.

Step 5:  Pursue dreams that rejuvenate you instead of deplete you.

Step 6.  Edit your dream if it takes advantage of your own inner peace or takes advantage of others.

Step 7:  Rid yourself of your pride – life is not a race or a competition.

Step 8:  Validate others as they rise; Be specific with your compliments for it to be from the heart, otherwise, you do not mean it at all.

Step 9:  Listen to your prayers, writing, and the silence; break down your own patterns of denial.

Step 10:  Collect physical pictures of family and friends that bring you peace, or souvenirs from places and/or nature that light you up internally with love and grace; surround yourself with them to keep you honest when you look in the mirror and to self-rejuvenate when needed.

Collecting goodness is a real thing, and the more you do it, the more you can give it to yourself and to others.  No one can scale how good, GOOD is.  It’s like soap, it’s self-cleansing, and a little goes a long way.  Ignore the haters who criticize how good you are or where you rank in this supposed competition of goodness.  Those who think goodness is a competition are already at the bottom of the barrel, having a hard time rising.  Let them stay at the bottom and enjoy knowing that you are just having a blast focused on YOU.

It’s as simple as that.