Spooks in our lives

When I saw a photo that my friend  took and  innocuously posted on his blogsite. I thought I saw something spooky in the photo.  So I jokingly commented that I saw Casper, the friendly ghost.

 

Photo of a light bulb by Mitchell Hegman

 

Today being Halloween in the United States, I thought about how we are spooked and often because of our own doing. Here are some forms of spooks:

 

Ego. This is the mother of all spooks. Many relationships end up in the graveyard because of the Ego.  Complaints like "she didn't communicate with me today" or "he never takes me out to dinner"  are mostly ego-driven.

 

Judgment. We cannot avoid judging, some say.  While that may be true, a big mistake one makes in judging is to assume that one's perception is valid and immutable.  A friend practically laid out a booby-trap in her relationship when she commented that her partner MUST have a deep-seated subconscious distrust and resentment of women because his ex-wife divorced him after 35 years of marriage  despite his many attempts to save the union.

 

Fears. Most of our anxieties are about the future, something that has not yet occurred.  "I can't have a relationship with him. He has no money. Our future will be miserable" is something I often hear from both men and women.  My take?  Trust! Have faith in the Universe's intention for our overall good.  There is both comfort and hope in the saying "just do your best and let God do the rest."

 

Imagination.  Imagination is the knife that cuts the limits of what we know or are capable of.  It is the mother of creativity and invention. But when imagination is used  to build a set of assumptions, as if they are facts, imagination can be very damaging.  A friend accused her boyfriend of sleeping with another woman solely on the basis of her rather wild imagination.  Well guess what happened to her relationship?

 

Procastination. When are you going to say "I love you" to your spouse or partner or your children, your friends? What are you waiting for?  If you are out of love, you are like an amputated arm or foot -- separated from the body called "us."

 

Without our realizing it, there are many spooks in our lives and they surface everyday, not just on Halloween.  Sadly, more often than not, we only spook ourselves silly!

 

Enjoy the once-a-year Halloween madness. But remember: when we have a lot of spooks in our lives, Halloween becomes real time 24/7. And that is certainly not fun!  

 

Posted with Aloha!

- ARIEL MURPHY