MORE ON LABELS

The more I meditated on Joel Osteen's message on labels the more  I realize how deep and far-reaching this message is.  As I started to become aware of more labels I was unconsciously carrying around, the more I also became aware of the labels I put on people!  It is a two way street my friend.  I could not, as a person who is seeking spiritual wholeness, not see the situations where I go along with a label placed on someone by a group, or groups or an individual or my own label based on my perception of that person!

What a marvellous leap forward in consciousness for me!  It's is just an amazing opportunity to observe myself and others and see how ignorance, ego, lack of selfworth cause people to put out damaging and sometimes damning messages.  I also see how lack of courage cause people who know better to standby, sit on the sidelines and go along with negative typecasting, inappropriate remarks and putdown of others. 

After my first post on labels I've  have had the opportunity to witness how quickly things can change when you have the courage to speak out and stand strong against the types of behavour that subconsciously oppress people.  I have seen peoples minds expand, suddenly realizing how offensive their remarks and lack of empathy and support is and seen them scurrying around offering help in unprecented ways!  Yes, were have the power to effect change, in ourselves, which then expands out into the community and the world around us.

I have been painfully aware of the difficult, uphill battle it is for people to break out of the "frame" others hold them in.  Yes, even you've grown and become a new person, the old piture in that old frame still rules the day, in the eyes of many.  For a long, long time I have been conscious of the fact that people really want to change their lives, they want to feel good, they want to get more out of life but many do not know how.  It's difficult for some people to change unless they are very determined, extremely strong mentally or leave their familiar surroundings a start somewhere else. The sheer weight of the negativity caused by the labels make some people to give up without much of a fight.  Others dont even bother trying, and some will pretend that they dont want to change because they cant picture a different way of being, or they do not want to face the pain associated with the labels. Mostly  the offender doesnt consciously discourage or putdown the other, it happens very subtly.  Other cases just show a sheer lack of confidence in the other.  Take for instance Jake (not the real name), who lives with his elderly parents. Jake was telling me that a friend of theirs who is a member of an organization Jake belongs to wants him to take on an assistant's post in the organization.  The mother perked up, "I told him not to take it, he cant do it, and his father said dont even bother trying, that would be a failure"! My response was Jake, you can do it, I sure you could do it, give it  a shot and see what happens.  Jake shook his head and said "thanks, at least I know I have your support". 

Here is another story that keep popping up in my mind as I thought about the repercussions of labels.  The story of the life of Jane (again, not real name).  Jane was the only daughter born to Gladys.  Gladys was a very ambitious woman, born into poverty in rural Jamaica.  She was beautiful, hard working and had dreams of a prosperous life.  She met and married a man in the capital city of Kingston and they started a business.  He did the technical part of the business and she was the face and energy behind it.  Business was prosperous and they provided well for their children.  The children went to a private prep school, and had driver take them to school.  Unfortunately, the dream came to an end when Gladys got cancer and died.  Jane was seven years old.  The children's world colapsed, the business floundered, life was never again the way the knew it.  Jane became quite a handful as a teen and there were many labels put on her over the years.  She couldnt get away from the labels, she tried in her own way but the labels were stuck. Jane died last summer, she got cancer, not the same cancer that killed her young ambitious mother but close.  She left three children, and boy, oh boy, I can hear and see the pattern of labelling by the family been transferred to these children.  It's something to watch.  Yes, labels go from generation to generations too!

 Some labels require extra effort, time and attention to peel off.  You know the kind - ever bought something at the store and tried to get the old sticky label off?  It's Easter, and I cant think of a better time to reflect on the ultimate label remover, Jesus Christ.  If you are a believe and is still being held back by old useless labels, why not ask Jesus for help, guidance, courage and strength in getting rid of them?

Let me hear your feedback, lets get the conversation going.

Happy Easter,

MissSam