Today Is Mexico’s Independence Day
And It Is Still Permitted To Be Optimistic
I grew up in a very strict and exclusive religious group that didn’t give room for patriotism. Only we counted. But that was then. I have been ideologically free for 12 years. Recovery is very slow, but it is absolutely possible.
I mention that just as background, to say that I did not have a normal upbringing, so I am raising my own self now as an adult. I am the parents, the supportive siblings, etc. I have been teaching myself many things. It is very exciting to be free to learn anything and everything where your heart leads you.
Today, on Mexico’s Independence day, I find myself reading about how Mexicans, by virtue of their brutal conquest, internalized the erroneous idea that they are not worthy; that they are inferior; that everything foreign is superior, and this despite the super abundant proof of Mexico’s extraordinary beauty, and natural and cultural riches.
Last night I was texting with a New Yorker friend who said he may swing by to visit me in Monterrey, Mexico, where I currently am living. He looked up the place and said “it is not near the ocean; what is special about Monterrey?”.
This, sadly, is representative of the lack of knowledge and lack of appreciation that exists in great abundance in the world, — and curiously it would seem more so, in our neighboring country, the well loved and admired U. S. of A.
Who is to blame?
Who cares.
Let’s not spend time on the thought of “who is to blame”.
Let us instead wake up to our inherent curiosity; our natural need and love for learning. Learn about Mexico; learn about everywhere and everything, but about Mexico in particular. Let’s focus on Mexico because Mexico has been a repressed country whose many extraordinary gifts have been suppressed, unknown, untapped, and we all have suffered for it.
Listen, I had not lived in Mexico in 34 years, and every single time I go to the mountains, (I see them from my house every day on three sides), I think: “oh my God, if these mountains were in the U.S., — or in any number of countries with a different infrastructure, any single one of these mountains would be the emblem of that state; and here, we have hundreds of them”.
Some of them get lost in camouflage because there are layers and layers of them; and, if you don’t look carefully, you can easily miss an entire mountain; it is beyond-belief-beautiful.
Compared to 34 years ago, today there is a great deal of hiking and scaling which makes me very happy.
There still are problems and a lack of development and control in the area.
The folks that go in the morning go for the glorious joy of being in the super potent presence of such natural majesty, to bask in it, to run, jog, walk or meditate in it.
And the folks who go in the afternoon and early evening, tend to be driven by a different kind of appetite: they like to drink beer, to play loud music, etc. You get the picture. The evening vibe feels and looks out of harmony with the mountains who patiently put up with it.
I digress though.
Mexico, pick up the books.
Start reading. (Not novels, and not caricatures).
Find joy in learning about our country; not what the history books tell, but the real stories that have been hidden; they are out there.
Look, any people would have been squashed and freaked out by what happened to their ancestry; there is trauma; there is healing to do, so let’s do it.
Open your minds, open your hearts.
Be honest with yourself and with everyone.
Stop seeing yourself as inferior, as ignorant, as lazy, as a drunkard, as unworthy, as ugly. We are our thoughts, so think differently. Learn this and many other growth-conducive things. It is all available for free everywhere, so look for it.
I have no competence to speak on the drug problem, but I know that it can be surmounted. “Hay males que duran cien años si el enfermo los aguanta” (there are illnesses that last a hundred years because the patient puts up with them); so stop putting up with it. But it’s got to be YOU; and me.
There is a small key that opens HUGE gates.
It is not widely known; it is like a secret key. Without that key it is impossible to make progress.
That key is:
Stop judging so much.
That’s it.
Stop judging so much. That is the key.
Why?
Why is it so powerful to stop judging so much?
Because judging so much takes up a lot of energy, and we don’t have infinite attention or energy. So stop judging so much. Accept people and things, and focus on what we can actually do (like never litter and pick up some trash everywhere you go).
Our opinions as opinions are worthless, it is only when the rubber meets the road that things happen.
In summary:
- Feel yourself worthy
- Feel yourself intelligent
- Feel yourself clean
- Feel yourself valuable
- Pick up a good non-fiction book and read it
- Pick up trash and never litter
- Enjoy the incredible natural beauty that surrounds you
- Be kind; to yourself, your body, and to everyone else.
Call to Action:
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