Have you ever looked on as an individual seemingly had the world, however large or small that world was at the time, by the tail? You know, that person that seems to stand out in the crowd… The one that everybody talks about? The one that everybody seems to really like a lot?
A famous actress or actor… A famous musician or artist… A popular politician that appears to hold great power… That guru or spiritual leader that seems to posses wisdom beyond the average thinker… The author that becomes a sensation almost overnight and rises to the heights of wealth, The Miracle Sports figure?… All holding what many would describe as a coveted position.
What is true popularity and how and when does one finally arrive at the pedestal of honor, especially with so much competition and so many many people to compete against on this planet.
There probably isn’t one person on Earth that hasn’t had some feelings toward the subject of being the center of attention for some reason or another. From childhood to adulthood, the elusive and sometimes purposely hidden emotion of wanting to be important has at one time or another become the intimate friend of every human.
What does it gain you?
I can already hear you… “Money” “Friends” “Love” “Power” “Respect” and on and on the definitions grow…
With those amazing bestowed energies upon an individual, what changes occur to improve the one in the lime light?
Looking at history, one can fulfill the question with a myriad of answers. Without naming names, look back on your knowledge of history and imagine as best you can the details of a particular life…
A powerful president assassinated. A famous actress dying of an overdose. A renowned actor contracting AIDS after exposing a secret life to the adoring public. An admired country leader turning out to be a world tyrant and terrorist. A wealth winner eventually losing everything they own. A spiritual leader being caught living against their professed values.
Not all who have stood in the center spotlight find the dark cloud enshrouding their dreams and hopes, for there are those who never lose their position because they managed to gain integrity as they ascended to the heights of their success.
When we compare our heroes, we find over time and experience that some fall while others only rise higher and higher… In time, as we change the model of the one we might wish to be, or at least emulate some of their qualities and incorporate those qualities into our own unique character, the realization emerges that popularity can be a fragile glass which requires great attention if preservation is the final goal.
If it were possible to see the light within every person alive past present and future and see it in such a way as to erase everything except the light they posses within, we might begin to see a commonality that all uniquely have within themselves.
People are eternal, that is, their essence or original core. Birth was not their miraculous beginning and death is not the extermination of who they are. This brief moment of Earth’s journey is the pressure cooker, the diamond pressure chamber, the rock tumbler, the polishing wheel where the inexperienced fireflies have yet to taste of this three dimensional life.
These eternal fireflies are the perfect example of innocence as to how a navigational experience with many other similar entities might affect the way they perceive themselves and others. And so the journey begins. No longer is their light so easily detected. No longer is their full potential made known to others. The playing field becomes ground zero as the big event unfolds.
Quickly and almost instantly the imbalances begin. One is born into poverty and another into instant wealth. One facing basic struggles of simply staying alive and another the demands of becoming the King or Queen. Firefly popularity becomes an extremely unfair proposal for those who might inherently deserve it or for those who by nature seemingly embrace the darkest of thoughts.
“The game is rigged!” one might say, when a closer look of analytical perspective is applied. But is it? The surface perception might conclude… The Star or the Slave became who and what they were only due to circumstance. Admittedly that representation of truth characterizes the majority of the lives that have walked this dusty path.
Wherein is the reason for spending 1 minute to 100 years of breath. Some miss the opportunity of long life and others endure a long life laced with joy and sorrow. The road is unpredictable… It is said… we are the captains of our own ship and have control of our destiny and yet opportunity finds a way of becoming an unequal distribution.
In that inequality, is a gift greater than some can imagine, you see this journey is only a fragment of the entire experience and the struggles and endowments are mere distractions to the real purpose of the stage of life.
If eternity which is immeasurable could be divided so as to reflect the portions allotted to the Earth walk, we would observe the second hand tick only once before the curtain comes down on this very play. The conclusion of Earth’s life may leave remorse, indecision, regret or a sense of missed accomplishments but the race though not availing the blue ribbon to all, is an accomplishment which will gift the participants more than any effort or gift of man could measure up to.
The simple truth is not always clear to see when walking through the night but as sure as the Sun rises, so do the spirits of man. You see, if there were only one person on earth who could fly, we all might wish to possess such a gift. So it is, when our last leaf falls and we find ourselves stepping into eternity from mortality, the true meaning of popularity is centered on the one who endured to the end and was willing to stay the course.
Can you imagine the very moment your shining light of Intelligence was invited to step into a beautiful spiritual body of light? The distance between those two dimensions of life holds as sharp a contrast as the difference between the earthworm wallowing in the dark of the sand and a butterfly dancing in the Sun kissed wind. Oh how the earthworm might desperately desire to be the butterfly if only he were aware of such a creature’s existence. Think how desperately a spirit being would desire the chance to grace this planet as a mortal third dimensional human. Sometimes we fail to recognize what a miracle it is to even be given the gift of a tangible mortal body.
Though we may not have every gifted dream we desire while sojourning upon this rock, we have the greatest gift any one mortal can have. The simple opportunity to breath, to touch, to listen, to want to be loved and to love. To serve another or to be served. To experience pain, sadness, loneliness, loss. To thrive in joy or self assurance. It all comes down to an amazing moment… The moment when we realize “This is Life”… The wealth of the gift is in the living no matter what our life is like… We could be the happiest person or the saddest person on Earth but we lived! We were the butterfly.
Though you may feel like a worthless horse out to pasture in this life, without your recognizing it, the master has been training you to be the best show horse that ever was. The haves and the have nots, become an expression only expressed as silence, for in the end of this journey, all are equalized, for the only measurement of success will be finishing the race.
When your candle’s flame finally burns out in mortality, a similar transformation yet again will take place. As the immense distance between the worm and the butterfly, so is the distance between a candle and the Sun. Mortal life offers the brilliance to mankind of a candle. Immortality so generously offered to those who have stayed the course of the Earth journey will be even a greater difference from candle to Sun.
How many candles if they could think and admire a hero, wouldn’t want to be a Sun.
The Earth experience is completely worth it. Diamonds are only made with heat and pressure and once cut and polished, rise in value beyond the understanding of a simple rock.
It doesn’t matter if you are the brightest firefly that all fireflies wished they could be like, for in the end all fireflies will be looking upon you as you posses the brilliance of the Sun. All healing from the injustices will be the gift for the rest of your eternities. Simply expressed… “Just stay the course”
[whohit]Firefly Popularity[/whohit]