Watching the Perils of Life Through the Lens of Documentaries
It is not necessary to go through bad experiences in order to evolve on this earthly journey, but for most people, painful experiences are the only path to redemption. For example, I have watched many documentaries about the lives of everyday people and how they deal with life's complexities.
I observed that most of these people only make the effort to enlighten themselves after a traumatic experience. Too many unnecessarily punish themselves due to ignorance, when wisdom could have saved them from disappointment and suffering.
When watching real-life documentaries, the wise thing to do is to put yourself in other people’s shoes and learn from their mistakes. Yet so few people have the will to do so.
It seems that the impact of someone else’s bad experience lasts only for that moment. Out of habit, many people simply go on with their lives, none the wiser.
Very few people improve themselves because of another person’s suffering. Yet life is full of disappointments and for many people the only way to make progress is to experience hardship themselves. However, hardship is not a bad thing in itself if we learn from it and are determined not to repeat the mistake.
Biopics give you the opportunity to observe other people's problems and their consequences from a distance. Wisdom can help you avoid the same or similar pitfalls.
For example, in one documentary a young beautiful woman who had once been a model found it difficult to settle into married life. She had a young child and husband who gave her everything she wanted, but she was craving more excitement.
To satisfy his wife’s desire for adventure, her husband took the family on a cruise. Then fate intervened. During the cruise, a handsome, charismatic male crew member flattered the married former model with lavish attention. She was smitten and easily taken in by the admiration he showered on her.
After the cruise ended, the wife and the crew member stayed in touch. He continued to flatter her, and she remained captivated by his charm. To make a long story short, she left her very young child, who was about three years old, and her husband for the cruise employee. She then went to live with him in Greece, and he later killed her.
Before continuing, I want to say that taking another person’s life is a harrowing misdeed, and that the perpetrator’s conduct is an abomination against the soul. It is etched into the chronicles of purgatory and will follow him throughout eternity, life after life, until the scales are balanced.
However, I am emphasizing the woman’s life more. It offers a profound lesson about the temptations of the world and how our decisions can lead to lifelong, even life-ending, consequences.
→ Just because you feel something doesn't mean that you have to do it. There's nothing wrong with being tempted and we are all tempted, regardless of how enlightened we may be, at one time or another.
However, we must use discernment, discipline, and wisdom in order to weigh the consequences of our possible actions.
→ We must pay attention to the signals God sends us through intuition. Many people have a hunch about a certain situation and then look back, wishing they had followed their intuition.
I can't say for certain whether the married woman in the story had a hunch not to continue with her adventure, but in all likelihood, she probably did.
Unfortunately, hunches or intuition are easy to ignore because, in most instances, they come in a flash as an instant knowing that something should or should not be done. This all-knowing feeling will not explain itself; it simply knows.
If you have a close relationship with the Creator, you won't be afraid to follow your intuition.
→ When we receive a warning or hunch, it is the Creator sending a wake-up call. Even so, God does not force anyone to heed His call.
Perhaps the woman in the story was not developed enough to distinguish honesty from flattery. If so, she may have had enough emotional control and awareness to recognize and avoid the deceit being placed before her.
Remember that, no matter the situation, there is always an inner guide calling us to do what will benefit us most if we look within, listen carefully, and follow it.
→ It can be very difficult to honestly examine ourselves and understand our true intentions, as well as why we feel a certain way or why we want to do a certain thing.
The young woman in the story was no longer interested in her husband but handled the situation in a regretful way. She wanted someone else to fill the void in her life, but this is rarely, if ever, a solution.
We must be true to ourselves in order to fulfill any emptiness inside us. If the woman in the story had first looked within with patience and wisdom her outcome may have been completely different.
Perhaps she would have still left her family, but she might also still be alive today.
The universe is always trying to bring about order and disruptive situations are the universe's way of bringing order out of chaos. However, if we don't realize that the universe is quietly performing these tasks behind the scenes, and if we don't try to align ourselves with those universal laws, the result is chaos.
The chaos in our lives is brought about by our mental state. Therefore, if we start-out in a desultory manner, in all likelihood if we don't awaken, the ending will be desultory as well.
→ The ego is always leading us down a dead-end alley. The world is not our home, and any promises the ego makes of eternal happiness and prosperity will end in disappointment and unhappiness, just as it did for the woman in the documentary.
The ego places a veil over the world and obscures its true purpose. We become hypnotized by its allure and make decisions based solely on appearances and vague feelings, which are often deceptive.
In truth, the world has very little to do with what you see. It's more about who you are and who you really are has little to do with the ego-personality which in reality only impersonates the soul.
→ Nothing and no one can save you in this world. Only wisdom and a close relationship with the Creator, or whatever title you choose for God, can do that.
Don't save your reason for difficult situations; use it to anticipate them. Difficult points require mature rethinking.
I recall reading those profound words in a book published in 1647 titled The Art of Worldly Wisdom by Baltasar Gracián. It's an excellent read full of insight and wit.
In the documentary it was the woman who ran away with her lover, but the roles could just as well have been reversed. The husband could have been the one who strayed from a devoted wife and ended up murdered because of poor judgement.
It's the overall story and its tragic ending that stir the soul. The essence of the story is profound and touching. By the way her husband had to travel to a foreign country to identify and retrieve his wife's body.
Life itself is a documentary with each of us playing our role on the world's stage. We can act through wisdom or live by chance, blind to the divine guidance that is always there whenever we need it, if we call in earnest.
What path have you chosen? Are you living in the world, believing that the way to happiness is to follow the ego-driven personality? Or have you chosen to live a life of wisdom, joy, and peace by becoming closer to the God?
You always have a choice. My advice? Choose wisely and draw closer to God. He is the only means of safety, joy, and peace in a world that can never truly provide them!
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