Marie Curie was born this day in 1867. I was aware (somewhat) of her incredible contributions to humanity through her science work, but I came across this quote today, attributed to her:
“You cannot hope to build a better world without improving the individuals. To that end each of us must work for his own improvement, and at the same time, share a general responsibility for all humanity, our particular duty being to aid those to whom we think we can be the most useful.”
We continue this work today. It’s the human condition. We come to Earth to learn. We do not arrive perfect and we do not leave perfect. The “better world” will never be complete. As long as humans are being born, we will always be working on our stuff and making a better world.
If that sounds somewhat pessimistic, well, I can understand that. It’s not, though. From my perspective, this is acceptance of the way the world works. I don’t have to fix the world. I just have to help. I help by working on myself and by doing my best to help where I feel I would be of the most help.
It’s hard when you see so much need in the world. It gets overwhelming. Homelessness, poverty, child welfare, elder care, violence towards women, abuse of any sort, the school system, the healthcare system. Endless sources of need. I’m sure there’s more. These are just some of the few that get under my own skin.
That’s just the way the world is.
So, Law of Attraction says to focus only on what you wish to see manifest in the world. So, if I am choosing to help women healing from domestic abuse, when I focus on the domestic abuse, that will actually NOT help. The focus on the abuse will magnify the vibration of abuse which will, without fail, magnify in my life somehow. This has kept me frozen from taking action, I am ashamed to say. I am learning to forgive myself. That’s a whole other story.
Focus on what is wanted.
So instead, when I choose to focus on women healing from domestic abuse, I focus – consistently – on the healing aspects. On lifting them up. On showing them the light. Not on feeling the pain of the abuse or the effects of escaping from the abuse.
I used to feel incapable of being of any help to this population, fearful of feeling too much of their pain and not knowing what to do with that pain. I do have control over how I react to what I see in my life. There is always a choice in how to view anything. Anything. As horrible as some stories of domestic abuse are, we also have a choice in whether we are going to keep that same story going. At some point, we have to make a decision to not allow our sad stories to rule our lives. It’s vital in the healing process to have our stories heard, but it is detrimental to allow our stories to take on a life of their own and thus rule our present reality. Because the past is past. The pain lingers, but we have to work through it and allow the painful experiences to transform us. As we transform, we allow the world to become better. Not perfect, just better.
And then we keep at it.
It has been said there is great joy in realizing this way of being. Some days I feel it, others, not so. Keep improving yourselves. You ARE perfect the way you are. Perfect in your imperfection. Just like the world. Always room for better.
Happy Birthday, Marie. Your spirit lives on.
