The Missing Element – Good News and Bad News
I can confidently tell you this: wherever your greatest pain lives – whatever story that follows you around like a boring friend that you just can’t get rid of – therein lies the rocket fuel to get you to your purpose and wisdom. Your pain and your purpose are one and the same.
Wisdom of the Elders
A body of wisdom exists that is based on many ancient cultures. American Indians prayed to the Four Directions. Kabalistic Jews spoke of the Four Worlds. The Hawaiian Hula culture immersed itself in the Four Elements. Buddhists wrote the Four Noble Truths. And the Egyptians passed onto us their version of the Four Elements, which is steeped in astrology – the oldest science on earth. These people honored the land they lived on – not because it was a good idea, but because they were dependent on it for their survival and they had to pay attention. They operated with rocks in their pockets and wisdom in their hearts.
These cultures cultivated a long view of seeing the world, and used a distant “Observer” position to avoid becoming mired in the myopic vantage point we call ego. The elders of the American Indian and Chinese cultures looked seven generations ahead as they made their decisions. We have neglected such wisdom, living more from what will make us happy today, rather than what will bring peace to our great-great-grandchildren and their grandchildren.
Your Elemental Mission
I want to enroll you as an agent of change – and you’ll need two things. One is to become acquainted with the Four Elements as they exist inside you. The other is to cultivate the Observer’s position so that you can stand back and make change by altering the way you see and live your own story.
The Four Elements
WATER: For nine months we surrendered to the awesome feminine power of a womb filled with fluid. Herein lies the wisdom of silence and trust.
AIR: Air is everywhere – the universal source of breath and language. No one can live without breathing or communicating. Herein lies the wisdom of wonder and consciousness.
