The Power in a Bad Example - Putting Forth the Energy You Want to Receive

There is power in the image on this page.  It speaks volumes about my upbringing; it gives a glimpse into the world that surrounds my mother.  Look carefully here - notice the facial expressions, notice the only one who is smiling.  There she is, content, while my sister, my father and I stare blankly at the camera.

Ahh yes, my mother; the master of image making in the moment-- in a social setting, putting forth for a brief period of time what she wanted people to see and think of her.  But the truth is that my mother was and is misery itself.  And in that, she makes those around her feel the same.  But, while this might have a negative connotation to some, it has served as a learning tool for me.  There is so much to be learned from a bad example.

I know now that I am much more like my father in the energy that I put forth in this world.  While I have my bad days, like all humans, for the most part, I know I am received, not just perceived as a positive, pleasant human being.  I say this not to brag or pretend to be better than others, but to expound upon the capacity of the energy that you put out into the world.  I say received, not just perceived because the energy I am putting forth is genuine and heartfelt.  You feel it, you draw it in and, if you are receptive, perhaps it will pull you up with it. 

Part of me has always been this way, part of this I learned from my dad, and oddly enough, part of it I leaned from my mother's consistent negativity.  Unlike my mother, I embrace contentment.  I feel it in the smallest things and I know that happiness is not the true pursuit.  Contentment is the baseline for everyone.  All other emotions fall above or below this line and to pursue constant happiness will leave you falling short and miserable.

It is so much better being a person people who others want to see, who people want to be around.  And we have all been around people like this, people who make you feel comfortable, who exude contentment and who help you to see your own.  I look at my mother and see a person who has been abandoned. She is alone in her negativity both literally and figuratively.  The energy she set forth in life now returning to her ten fold.  It is a sad thing to witness.  I feel for her, even though I know she has been the architect of her own fate.  I wish I could teach her what she has taught me, I wish she could become receptive to the energy that I put forth.

Because I believe in the power of osmosis.