"The way is not hard, but it is very different. Yours is the way of pain,
of which God knows nothing. Your way is hard indeed, and very lonely.
Fear and grief are your guests, and they go with you and abide with
you on the way. But the dark journey is not the way of God's Son.
Walk in light and do not see the dark companions, for they are not
fit companions for the Son of God, who was
created of light and in light."
A Course In Miracles
The world you see and believe in is the exact opposite of Reality in almost every way imaginable. And you suffer to the extent that you believe in the "rules" of this world of sacrifice, pain, sickness, deprivation and scarcity. You cannot reconcile these two worlds no matter how hard you try. Reconciling the irreconcilable is a waste of your time an energy - which you could instead be using to savor and enjoy the PRESENT moment exactly as it is and as it is not.
The Prostitute Archetype is strong with the humans. This archetype has nothing to do with sex but rather with what you sell yourself out to GET. The dark companions are like pimps who keep you from the joy of your life by getting you involved in sales and bargaining with your brother. Rather than focusing on the joy of creating and channeling your art, you get focused on trading it for food and money. Rather than focusing on the love given and received in the relationship you tend to focus on the logistics of your "needs" within the relationship, and on making tradeouts to provide a need in exchange for GETTING a need met. This is the primary way the ego sucks the JOY out of your entire life, one incident at a time.
You trust money more than God. You trust medicine more than God. You trust a marriage license more than God. You trust a marketing plan more than God. This makes you sad, lonely and afraid. And the path of the world you see is one of ever diminshing results. The ego strategies that seemed to work for you in the beginning now bring in less and less results the farther you walk with the dark companions. THIS IS GOOD. It should be the wake-up call that causes you to question that path. Instead, most humans simply double and triple their efforts within this unworkable plan.
Of course the Answer is to ABANDON THIS PATH, ABANDON THIS PLAN. Turn to the Light. Turn within. Come inside and abide with Him. To KNOW God is to dwell with. Relationship is born from time invested together. The Voice within you will lead you onto the Path of Light and take you on a journey without distance. There is nothing required but willingness, willingness, willingness.
Do you want to be happy? Do you want to be free? Do you want a peace the world cannot touch? Do you want true rest? Do you want JOY and laughter and love without limit? All of this the Path of Light offers you each and every day, every moment.
It starts with SURRENDER. Wave the white flag. Call off the search. End the audition. Fire your pimp and give yourself fully to the One Whose only purpose is your perfect happiness. No one is ever rejected. Everyone is accepted. No matter what you have or have not done in the past, you are welcomed home with open arms and gifts.
Begin now. Take a deep breath. Let your shoulders drop. Release your jaw and all the tension in your body. Relax your buttocks and sink down into the chair. Let all anxiety drain out your finger tips and the soles of your feet like sand thorugh an hourglass. There is nothing to do. Nothing to GET, or fix, or change. There is just YOU, returning to the Great Mother Tao, relaxing into the stream of Golden Light as it carries you effortlessly and gently down the stream. And as you relax, let everything go to the Stream. Give over everything that you have been carrying with you - everything that no longer serves you. And then simply LISTEN for the Voice within. Your Answer for today may not come in words but it will come - perhaps as a feeling, an image, a realization, a Divine Idea.