I have never been the best player of card games. I tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve, which means my ‘Poker Face’ is less mercurial and more merciful. Thankfully, through tons of missteps and rebirths, I have learned to be a much better player with the cards I am dealt by life! THANK YOU SPIRIT!
However, not everyone wakes up on a daily basis and looks at the cards that were dealt into their experience and thinks, “Heck yeah! I can win with this hand! Damn straight!” More often their inner monologue sounds more like, “Oh boy! Why me? What the heck am I supposed to do with this pile of crap I've been dealt?!” Sound familiar? I know I've felt that way more than a few times.
I believe one of the biggest differences between success and failure is how you choose to play the hand of cards/experiences you have been dealt. It's important to understand during our own Hero's/Heroine's Journey that we succeed because of our challenges NOT despite them. As Napoleon Hill famously stated, “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache brings with it an equal seed of benefit and opportunity.”
In fact, Joseph Campbell shared in his infinite wisdom, “The privilege of a lifetime is being who you are.” He taught the importance of seeing your EXACT set of circumstances as being the most precious gift ever given to each and every one of us. Because in the history of this world, NOBODY has been besought with the same set of challenges as you have been given. And guess what, your exact set of challenges will never be the same for ANYONE else ever again. That is how absolutely and completely UNIQUE you were created to BE. Kinda helps shift your perspective on your life's ‘opportunities for growth’ doesn't it!
One of my favorite stories from Mr. Campbell has to do with the Knights of the Round Table. Before this group of Medieval Superheroes awaited their next quest, they would surround a table full of food and drink and wait for a sign of where they were to go next. One particular such evening, the Holy Grail appeared above the table before them, burning with its light of majestic glory. And then, without warning, its image vanished. Each Knight stood up, ready to search for this relic of such grandeur! They grabbed their shields and swords and headed outside the castle and ran toward the massive forest surrounding them. The most fascinating aspect of their quest was that they each tried to enter the forest at its most DENSE space. In fact, the competition to find the space that was the most challenging to enter was fierce and combative. For these Knights knew that every great quest begins with the greatest of difficulty. They actually CHOSE to take on the toughest hand of cards that could be dealt to them. For they were aware of the great wisdom and knowingness that comes from pain and strife. That's why my definition of SUFFER is :
Summoning our
Ultimate
Fears &
Frailty
Encouraging
Rebirth
I was watching a story about the Saint Benedict's Preparatory School for boys last week in Newark, NJ. The school has recently become a sanctuary for the lost and wayward. The area surrounding this citadel has a high school graduation rate of less than 30%. Yet the graduation rate at St. Benedict's is 98%. Even though the majority of the students are underprivileged, the tuition rate is $10K a year. The majority of the students do not have the funds to cover their schooling costs, yet this spiritual institution somehow covers every students tuition in someway. Where there is a will there is truly a way!
There was a portion of the story that touched me so deeply that I have to share it. There was a 16 year old young man whose parents were both drug addicts and horribly abusive to him in their household. It was tumultuous enough that he decided to leave his house, and live on the street. A tough hand of cards for most of us to even fathom. Yet this purposeful young man had BIG plans for his life. Despite his numerous challenges, he decided he was going to play the cards he was dealt with a passion for success and a fervor for service and potential. So he started sneaking into the water polo after school practices at the school. For several weeks, nobody noticed that he wasn't a member of this prestigious academy. However, one day, a coach approached him and asked him why he was sneaking into the school's sporting practices. The young man said his parents were drug addicts and he had been living on the street for over three months. He knew he didn't have the tuition money to attend the school, so he decided the best he could do was take advantage of the extracurricular activities. When the young man asked the coach if he should leave, do you know what his response was to this brave individual. “BE HERE MONDAY!” And I thought, what a perfect mantra for our lives. No matter what challenges we face, or what fear and pain stand in our way, the most courageous way to turn our pain into PURPOSE, is simply to commit to BE HERE MONDAY.
What are the ways you can reframe the cards you have currently been dealt in life and turn them into a winning hand? Because, you were dealt these cards for a reason. And it is your job to figure out where there are opportunities for a deeper KNOWINGNESS through your challenges to assist you on your Hero's/Heroine's Journey! And in turn eventually share this knowledge for all of us to benefit from! Now that's a hand worth playing in anyone's poker table!!
Nerdmaste,
Jeffrey Louis Martinez
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