Are You Up to Your Destiny?

I spent the morning typing up my outline for Tuesday's book club discussion on The Power of Myth by Joseph Campbell, and I thought maybe I would share a nugget or two from his book in class this week. My problem though has been trying to figure out which nuggets... I've practically underlined or *** every other sentence in this book?!

Yet, I keep coming back to this one passage that ties in so nicely with Surrender. I've been sprinkling surrender into most classes this month since it is Sacred Thread's theme of the month and my personal focus for the year. So, Campbell states that your life is the fruit of your own doing. The problem is not to blame or explain but to handle the life that arises. To "love your fate". Perhaps most crucially, he says that if you say no to a single aspect of your life the whole thing begins to unravel. Whoa.I know. I can hear the argument now - "how can you say that XYZ terrible thing is MY own fault?" I get it and I would never say that to anyone. But, can you see how quickly we look for a way to assign blame for the yuckiness in our lives and how quickly we take credit for the good in our lives? How much additional suffering does this cause - this constant need to blame or take credit for?Can you imagine, just for a second, how it might feel to let go of the need to assign blame/credit and just be with what IS? To say yes to the good and the bad equally for the sake of living a fully experienced life. I'm not suggesting that this is easy but is it a valid exploration? I'm going to argue that yes it is and I'm inviting you try it out one day this week. When that thing arises that we immediately start to blame on someone/something else, can we open our mind & heart to this experience of our life and be with it? Surrender to it. Be soft enough to accept the moment as it is without needing to change it, and be strong enough to interact with the moment with integrity.Thanks, Joseph.