- No one will give you an exhaustive answer to the question of how to be happy and successful. The Internet is full of articles giving advice on achieving happiness and success in business. Some of them are even based on real stories very deserving people. But not a single such article, not a single course guarantees that the methods and methods outlined will work for you personally. Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all recipe.
- Not always the best easy way is correct. We are told from all sides that we need to do only what the soul lies in. However, the most pleasant activity is not always the right and useful one. It is better to do the right things slowly than to quickly and happily engage in nonsense. The path to the goal often lies through impassability and potholes and does not at all look like a pleasant trip on the freeway.
- The opinions of others can be destructive. No, don't completely ignore people, but don't let him uniquely shape your mood and agenda. Just take note of it, but no more.
- Your inner circle can make you strong or drown you. No matter how strong, intelligent and strong-willed a person you are, you will not be able to achieve much without support. Reread the biographies of great people, and in the shadow of each you will find a spouse, colleague, or even a whole team that helped him. With the greatest care and diligence select the people in your inner circle.
- Principles are inconvenient. Following your principles and rules will not make you the most popular, pleasant and gentle person. Sometimes not only you yourself, but also the people you love can suffer from your principles.
Principles are like a hard bed that is uncomfortable to sleep on, but which forms a good spine.
- You will always be incredibly imperfect. But this is no reason to give up.
- Comfort kills dreams. There is nothing wrong with wanting to secure a comfortable and enjoyable life for yourself, but remember that this is the case. So you have to choose one.
- If you want to achieve something, then for this you need to make an effort. If you want something new, then you have to stop doing something old. If you want something that you have never had, then you must do something that you have never done before. The bottom line is that you will never find yourself in another point as long as you stand still.
- Our life is the result of only our choice. The difference between multiple futures is only the choice you make. You are not a product of circumstances, you are a product of your own decisions. Sometimes it's hard to admit and so you want to shift the responsibility to someone else. But in fact, it is you and your decisions that are the root cause of everything.
- The only link between desire and possession is action. This law of life operates inevitably, like the law of universal gravitation, and no one has yet been able to deceive it.
- If success has not been paid enough for, then it has no value. Only the effort expended and obstacles overcome make your achievement truly important. The world is full of people who have become so by birthright, but who cares about them? But everyone admires people who have achieved something with their efforts, even if their success looks quite modest.
- Challenges are part of every success story. If you're having problems, that's good. This means you are moving forward. This means that you are learning and growing.
The only people who don't have any problems are those who don't do anything.
- Focus is everything. You can break through the wall only with a palm clenched into a fist, directing all your strength to only one place. No need to randomly thrash the air with your hands: it may look spectacular from the outside, but it definitely won’t bring results.
- What you want and what you will achieve are not always the same. All success stories are drawn to us as a two-dimensional graph of growth and decline. The hero clearly sees the goal and steadily moves towards it, overcoming obstacles. But in fact any life path rather like an intricate labyrinth with many traps, branches and dead ends. And far from always we come to the very exit that we outlined at the beginning. And many generally choose a convenient dead end for themselves and decide to settle in it.
- You are exactly where you need to be at this very moment. Even if things don't go the way you would like. Even if you went to the wrong place and want to start all over again. Each and every step is necessary.
- You cannot change yesterday, but you can take care of tomorrow today. Live in the present. But do not forget that it is it that shapes the future.
Life, by and large, is a series random events which we can only influence indirectly. But it is this influence that ultimately turns out to be decisive.
Seize the opportunity to focus on what is truly within our control, and do not regret what is beyond our control.
Don't look back. Just take the right course and confidently move forward. We have no way of knowing what exactly awaits us beyond the horizon, but this is what makes the journey even more exciting!
Once upon a time, in childhood, our parents inspired us that if we live by the rules, then everything will be fine with us. Girls were especially susceptible to this assertion. It was they who became excellent students, prone to diligence and perfectionism, following laws and rules. On the one hand, this is good. Because it means stability and predictability of life. On the other hand, life according to the rules makes us slaves of laws invented by someone and stops us in development.Just do not think that I urge you to break the laws and turn into a marginal who does not recognize social norms and trends. Unfortunately, complete anarchism does not lead to anything good. And we, one way or another, have to obey the norms of the majority. Otherwise, there would be complete chaos on the planet, and we would hardly have survived at all. But any rules and laws, norms and restrictions should be approached creatively so that they do not make us a doll unable to move independently outside the orders invented by someone.
Of course, an ordinary ordinary citizen can hardly change the criminal code, but he can influence the laws of the hostel at his grassroots level. For example, by creating their own rules of life, the laws of goodwill and good mood. A friend of mine came up with a few rules that must be followed, maybe you will find them interesting.
1. Every day she starts with something good. From a smile, a kiss, an open window, (walking with a dog), exercises to cheerful music, cups of coffee with cream and chocolate, cheerful SMS, pouring cold water, performing a song, composing a poem ... Every day something different. Moreover, this is good, which will set her up for a new day and give good mood, she sometimes comes up with in the evening before going to bed. She is especially inspired by good deeds that happen spontaneously. But sometimes she makes them quite planned. For example, she turned her entrance into a greenhouse, on each window sill between the floors of her five-story building there are now pots of flowers (in winter she drags them to her place so that they do not freeze, and in spring and summer they delight all residents and, of course, most of all my girlfriend). Good deeds can be very different. From walking with a neighbor's dog to repairing the landing (everything here depends on imagination and possibilities).
2. The second rule is never to get angry or annoyed, never say bad words and never think about bad things. This does not mean at all that we should close our eyes to problems and not resolve them. conflict situations. Just don't do it with negative connotations. In general, get rid of the habit and speak badly. Sometimes it's not easy, but it's possible. The main thing here is desire and willpower.
3. Do not get into situations of betrayal of yourself. In other words, do not step over yourself, your conscience, your inner understanding, your heart. When we, following the rules imposed on us (for example, laws corporate culture, ethics and aesthetics), we go against our conscience, we violate more important laws. The laws of the Universe, which are written in us at some other level (subconscious, genetic memory). We are unable to change them yet. And if we cross, then we are severely punished for it.
What if public rules and we do not like the laws if their implementation leads to breaking ourselves, betraying our own?
I propose that laws and rules that are contrary to your conscience not be carried out at all or be carried out formally, remaining true to yourself. Of course, this is not always possible and easy. Sometimes this can lead to trouble for us. But only on the outside. The most terrible and ruthless judge sits inside. You can’t persuade him and you can’t bribe him, you can’t deceive him and you can’t ignore him. He can destroy the most optimistic self-deceptions and nullify the best intentions. Therefore, it is better not to joke with him.
In general, life with all its course constantly convinces us that the rules we have invented are complete nonsense. As soon as it seems to us that we have provided for everything in life, we have come up with instructions for use for everything, we have planned and calculated everything, how the sky immediately makes its own adjustments and puts us in a galosh so that we do not greatly idealize all these rules we have invented. It seems to hint to us who is the boss in the house of our existence.
That is why it is more expensive to argue with life. You just need to listen and hear it, understand the hints and read the signals, because with their help the Universe tells us about the universal rules of life that you follow or not, exist a priori (regardless of your desire). Here they are just recommended to follow. What for? In order to learn to be happy in this world, which only at first glance seems disharmonious.
Why does he seem like that? Because pride made a person consider himself smarter than nature, God, the universal mind. Because man came up with his own rules for the world. They are so far from real essence things that we ourselves are sometimes amazed at how deeply the material essence of things has sucked us in the technogenic world we have created. Getting out of the matrix of things and rules is the task of the new generation, which will be the beginning of the sixth human civilization, which returned to life without laws material world, but according to the laws of the Universe - the higher mind.
"What is the rational grain in all this intergalactic reasoning?" - you ask. The search for a rational grain, in my opinion, is the search for new matrices and rules.
It seems to me that you just need to look more often at the sky, at water and fire, listen to the song of the wind and your heart - the only one left in modern man source accurate information about the world. They know the ground rules...
Every time I have to wake up at five o'clock in the morning to go to the fraternal prayer service. This is how the morning begins in the monastery. This is the most difficult feat for me as devoted friend pillows and beds.
I sit on the bed like a hedgehog in a fog. I put on a sock. Willlessly. Bitterly. With the doom of a deeply unhappy person.
- What's the point? It is dark and cold there, and I went to bed late and slept late. There are so many diseases from lack of sleep! And crime! I don't spare myself at all! And then - you go there, pray, and the whole day you will be a “roly-poly” and you won’t be able to do anything, everything will fall out of your hands.
No, what will the brothers think? Need to go. - The second sock is put on.
“Here, think of your brothers. You know what you are like when you don't get enough sleep - pure Barmaley with machine guns. Angry, puffed up. Is this what a father should look like?
“Well, he’s already awake anyway. - Trying to get out of bed.
- Yes. Go. Of course. Who are you going to make this happier?
- Need to go. Lenochka has an operation. We must pray. - I turn on the light.
- Is there a difference - when to pray, at what time? By the way, there are still ten minutes. You can reset the alarm. You are not even able to deal with the alarm clock, how are you going to church?
“Well, it’s fresh outside.” The birds are singing. - Looking for a toothbrush.
Such dialogues with a real intensity of passions and revelry of slyness occur all the time, and I am not always on top.
But there is one phrase that helps me cope: "Sawa, this is not discussed." It doesn't always work, but it does. And every time I thank God that I am not a Catholic padre, because then I would also have to shave in the morning. That would definitely kill me. In all senses.I remembered the dialogues with “contemplation of socks”, because I have to make great efforts on what I am ashamed and sorry to spend them on. To go or not to go? To do or not to do? To participate or not? Maybe brush your teeth afterwards? Maybe have lunch earlier? The constant tension of choice, which drains a person's strength, exhausts him. Choosing is an extremely tedious task. It literally sucks out all the forces, sometimes not even leaving at the bottom, so that, having made a choice, a person sometimes does not find the strength to carry out what he has chosen. Recovery required. We have to wait and accumulate strength. And life is running out. There is less and less time. The intended is not done. We "contemplate socks".
Which exit? There are three strategies. The first and most popular: “hide in a house”, run away whenever you need to make a decision, pretend to be a fool, blame others. It has been tested by life - the strategy is losing and contributes to the rapid degradation of a person.
The second option: every time to make a responsible choice, courageously enter into competition with temptation. Suitable not for everyone. Only very strong people suitable for such battles. By the way, they are also not enough for a long time. At ordinary person such a regime leads to depression, despair, periodic breakdowns. There is simply not enough strength to constantly live in this superhuman rhythm.
The third way: having determined the priorities of your life, entrust the habit with the maximum possible number of daily tasks and troubles, deliberately automate your life. Having made a decision once and for all, to implement it thoughtlessly without hesitation, not allowing options. Only in this case, it is possible to release forces for solving tasks that are worth it. Organize your life. Get her in order. Find an acceptable rhythm of life for yourself. Make this choice once and for all. As one old woman said, "to live in order."
Choosing is a tedious task. The situation of choice exhausts a person. Skill saves strength.Perhaps that is why we are so lethargic and weak, although we are in a flourishing age and in relative health and well-being. All because our life is not ordered. We get up as soon as possible, have breakfast on the go, look at the children with a sliding, “scanning” look - there is no strength to focus - we are in a hurry, we are all flying somewhere and always do not have time.
Living “in order” is not easy. First, this order must still be found. Find it yourself, and this is serious work. Serious but grateful. Find a rhythm and fix it.
According to the Konigsberg philosopher Kant, the inhabitants of the city synchronized their watches. I woke up at exactly five in the morning, drank a cup of tea and smoked a pipe, indulging in reflections. From seven to eleven he lectured. Then he had a long lunch, talking with friends. At three o'clock he went for a walk and visited a friend with whom he talked until exactly seven in the evening (until nine on weekends), returned home and went to bed at exactly ten in the evening. This is the most precise routine, which Kant strictly adhered to, once and for all rationing both the amount of tea drunk and the number of pipes smoked. It's tough, but it's the only way he can release the strength he needs for hard mental work.
Kant found and consolidated his rhythm of life no earlier than the age of forty. Until that time, he was in search and experimentation. If you are engaged in a serious business that requires full dedication, you will have to find your rhythm and strictly follow it. Rhythm, which will be exactly your size, just right. Not everything that was useful to Kant will do, say, mother of many children or Gomel father.
A Christian, by definition, must great attention devote to your inner spiritual life. This job requires a lot of strength. Salvation is costly.Having opened ascetic books, we prepare in advance, according to the pioneer custom, for the cultivation of willpower, and the fathers insistently tell us about the cultivation of a habit.
The habit from above is given to us,
She is a substitute for happiness.
Only heroic personalities managed to live constantly by an effort of will, and then not for long. The need to make a choice every time exhausts a person, kills the strength to live in him. The cultivation of habits and patient adherence to them, on the contrary, gives strength for work, and for love, and for creativity.
It's not about speed, it's about skill. "Soviet Premier" Alexei Nikolaevich Kosygin traveled around Moscow at a speed of forty kilometers per hour. In Moscow! Premier! And he succeeded. And managed to do an incredible amount without having mobile phones and the Internet. Of course, now we won’t be able to ride like that - they will overtake and beat them collectively. It's not about speed, but about cultivating a habit, about the courage to "live in order."
Archimandrite Savva (Mazhuko)
The universe is not a dead space. This is a living and independent organism, a kind of personality that dictates its own conditions and rules to us, which in bioenergetics are called the laws of the universe.
All the laws of the universe are extremely simple and uncomplicated. The cosmos does not build labyrinths for us, but tries to lead us out of them. Difficulties are created by people themselves without any outside help. When you live according to the laws of the universe, you are always tuned to the right wave. Life is simple and understandable, but only for those who want to understand it.
Why you need to live by the laws of the universe
The laws of the universe will not force you to renounce religion and everything that you believe in. They will simply point you in the right direction, showing you the light of truth. Nothing will change in the literal sense - only your view of the world will change. Everything you've been aiming for young years, will become clearer and more obvious.
We are children of the universe. We are made up of stardust formed several billion years ago. In bioenergy there is such a thing as a center of abundance, which gives us good luck in all areas of life. By keeping in touch with this center, you provide yourself with fortune. Faith in the laws of the Universe will help to establish and strengthen this connection. Accept these simple truths to understand how everything in this world works.
10 laws of the universe
Law one: thought is material. Many of you have probably seen Hollywood movies where characters can create reality around themselves just by imagining something in their head. Of course, you won’t be able to create your own happiness at this speed, but it really works. To find a hobby, a job of your dreams, love and success, you need to imagine all this. Remember that you are a sculptor, an artist who paints with the colors of your thoughts on the canvas of life. There is fate and karma, but they are not as strong as yours is strong. own faith in yourself and your actions. Life is not a book already written, but a pile of empty sheets that you can throw away, tear up, let someone else fill in, or force yourself to sit down and write everything yourself.
Law two: all good things begin with good in the soul. Your inner goodness creates light around you. Evil people constantly stumble upon rudeness, gloomy - on rain on a clear day, joyful - on joy and positive. If you want good, then you should not be evil, stingy, envious. No wonder people have been saying since ancient times that if you want to be treated well, then do it yourself. Everything in the Universe is consistent, everything is logical and irreversible. Remember this.
Law Three: The greatest changes in life occur in those areas to which we devote most of our attention. Most of us know that water will never flow under a lying stone. If you lie on the couch, looking at the ceiling, then money will not come into your life. If you don't look for love, you won't find it 99 percent of the time. Something must be done to move the situation forward. Do not leave unattended any corner of your soul, your life. So you will be more interesting, easier and just better.
Law Four: As your environment is, so are you. This law of the universe can also be duplicated by the saying - with whom you behave, you will gain from that. Your inner circle in the face of the second half and best friends is your reflection. If you are not satisfied with someone, then this indicates an urgent need for change. Often this means that you have already changed. Many mistakenly believe that we do not choose friends and love, but this is not so. Moreover, you can change your life by searching the right people. If you want to find luck in the financial sector, then communicate more with successful individuals. Light people will help to become kinder. Falling in love mutually will only work if you are not closed, although even closed people can find their soul mate - you just need to be a little more careful.
The fifth law: everything that we give to the world around us returns to us doubly. If you scream in the face of humanity that you hate it, then hatred will fill your life. The response of people will be similar, and sometimes much stronger. This applies not only to words and actions. Even the mood is conveyed in space perfectly. Someone feels it, and someone does not, but the fact itself is irrefutable - good deeds will make you happier and the bad ones unhappier.
Law Six: Doubt is the root of all problems. If you are planning to do something seriously, then get rid of doubts and self-doubt. When people created art, masterpieces of technology and ingenious inventions They didn't let doubt take over their minds. So you don’t let them force themselves to believe that there is no love, you can’t earn money, and you can’t return health.
Law Seven: We are all equal. There are no people who are better than someone else, or higher in rank. The universe has no gradation in this regard. You need to live and enjoy every moment, not getting hung up on something. The Universe has no favorites, to whom it gives everything, and takes everything from others. We are all equal. With no exceptions.
Law eight: the realization of every thought requires certain time . Sometimes it takes more time, sometimes less, but nothing happens instantly. This gives us a chance to determine what is good and what is bad in order to block negative thoughts in time.
Law nine: overcoming difficulties, we become stronger. Any problems in each of the spheres of life give us a truly invaluable experience. If you want to be successful, you have to learn from your mistakes. No one has ever been able to fulfill a dream the first time and without failure. Only on a bumpy and broken road can you get to a smooth and pleasant.
Law Ten: Everything we see is impermanent. The world is dynamic. The universe tends towards chaos, demanding the opposite from us. We need to understand what we want. You need to realize your mission in this world. This is the goal of every person.
Live every moment and don't let doubt, negativity and circumstances make you turn around and move backward. Raise your energy so that the connection with the center of abundance of the Universe only intensifies. This world can give you so much more than you can imagine. Good luck and don't forget to press the buttons and
Live in order, and everything will be as it should be. The order is something for the benefit invented, not from idleness needlework. Wait and God will give. Have you seen when you prayed for something - and immediately fell from the ceiling in the church? Time is needed for the Lord to settle everything and bring you to what you are asking for. And when you rush through life like a mad hare, you only confuse God's plan! Do not rock, do not grumble! Be in your place, yours will still be yours!
A.V. Ivanov. Riot gold
or down the river gorge
"What is the will of God and how to know it?" - sooner or later this question is born in the heart of every person striving to follow the Christian path. But as soon as he thinks about it, a number of other equally important and complex dilemmas immediately fall upon him: “How can I submit myself to God and remain free at the same time?”, “And what path has God prepared for me, which of the proposed ones is mine.” ?”, “How to choose the right one, and most importantly: how to overcome unnecessary doubts?” The holy fathers write about this, many theological articles and books have been published on this subject, and pastors of the Church speak about this in their sermons. However, questions remain, and often it seems to a person that everything is clear to everyone and only he alone suffers from his perplexities, only his life is the most complex and tangled tangle of obstacles blocking his path to bright life in Christ. How to learn to manage this tangle without letting it get even more confused, says a teacher at the Missionary Institute in Yekaterinburg, author and host of a series of programs on the Soyuz TV channel.
Konstantin Vladilenovich, in one of your video lectures you cite the words of Anthony the Great that a pious person is one who knows God, who does His will. “Pious is the one who does what God called him to, and not what he himself wants,” you comment on the words of the holy father. Does following the Divine will mean a complete rejection of one's desires?
The very posing of the question, the amazement and anxiety that is heard in it, clearly reveals the eternal truth about us: we are afraid of God intervening in our lives. It is both the cause of all the ugliness of our lives and the consequence of the original fall. After all, Adam knew the will of God quite clearly, distinctly, definitely - but he thought (believed the slander) that all of a sudden God really hides some good from man. This is the source of our sins, and this is the result of our unbelief.
For example, when we see a neighbor's new car, we begin to think that our own car is not at all that good, powerful, roomy, comfortable and modern. This is not objective data, because before the advent of the neighbor's car, everything suited us. Everything we have in this moment is the fullness of the blessings of God available to us. But our desires, the thirst for possession of something else, conflict with Providence and the phenomenon Divine love and worries. Precisely because we present God as unjust, ungenerous, partial and non-omnipotent.
The will of God is what I would choose for myself if I had perfect knowledge
This is a perfect boon for everyone. individual person. You can say this: this is what I would choose for myself if I had perfect knowledge. But you have to believe in it. ; As said Reverend Seraphim Sarovsky: "I have given myself to God, like forging iron." And we do not trust Him, we are afraid that He will hurt us, make us do something unpleasant, intervene and push our “I” aside. We think of Him not as Father, not as Love, not as Beloved and Desired, but as a tyrant, dictator, whose the main task- make us do what He wants.
- Where do we get such a feeling, because everyone knows that God is Love?..
You see, he creates a different image of God - envious and jealous. Is it worth listening to “such a God”, is it worth depriving a good if it exists, and even grows in a garden, within our reach? If it really was harmful, would God put it in paradise? .. In a similar way and we believe in a distorted image of God and become unable to even think of doing the will of God. That is, we are already thinking about the fact that the requirements of God, His will can really pose some kind of threat to our freedom and our good.
- Can you give an example of how this happens in our life?
We say: “I want to do THIS”, “I love THIS girl”, “I want to listen to THIS music”, “I want to go there and watch THIS” ... We feel at the same time, we ourselves feel that God does not approve of our choice , therefore, so boldly, with a challenge, and we declare our rights, but ... lightning or bricks do not fall on us from the sky (in exceptional cases, this happens, but it is either exceptional people, either exceptional circumstances). God allows us to do what we choose and does not leave us in this case, but His ability to interact with us is reduced by our own will - we do not want the fullness of this interaction. Since it was our own choice, the consequences of it will not be good, for everything that is outside the will of God is still death!
Let us recall, for example, the novel by F.M. Dostoevsky "Crime and Punishment". Raskolnikov does not seek the will of God. Based only on his satanically proud logical constructions, he does a terrible act - he kills a person (from his point of view - a worthless "louse") - and a hellish abyss opens up in Raskolnikov's soul, driving him almost to madness, and thoughts of suicide do not even leave him in hard labor ... Raskolnikov's condition is the punishment that awaits every person who rejects the will of God, considering himself entitled to dictate his will to the world and people. And this is not because God is "angry", but because self-will, sin is death. The world does not have life in itself, the world was created by the will of God, and only by this will the world retains the possibility of existence, and existence filled with goodness, overflowing with bliss.
- Sometimes believers worry about what is pleasing to God.
These questions are double-minded: a person, as it were, says to God: let me do what is pleasant and profitable, but promise that you will not be angry.
Yes, it seems that a person is seriously seeking the will of God. But this is most often a delusion, however, it is quite sincere. What better girl choose: "this" or "that"? It translates as follows: "I would like to know with which of them I will be happy." Where is it better to go to work: to the temple or to the bank? It is translated as follows: “I would like to work in the temple, but I cannot feed my family.” It is obvious that the person is looking for his and not God's. And to such questions, a person most often does not receive any answers, unless he is lucky and he comes across a spirit-bearing father with the gift of clairvoyance. Because in these questions there is double-mindedness: a person, as it were, says to God: let me do what is pleasant and profitable, but promise that You will not be angry at this.
- But sometimes it is really difficult for a person to recognize the will of God.
It is really very difficult. But the difficulty stems from the fact that inwardly we are not really ready to perceive it. It turns out that there is a certain law: when a person fulfills what he recognizes as the will of God, then the mind is enlightened and most questions disappear by themselves, and the remaining questions are gradually resolved in prayer.
Here's another example. I really like the modern children's film "Puppy". The hero of the film story did not know anything about God, because he grew up in Soviet time, but one day he took pity on the orphan, giving him the most valuable thing he had - and at that moment he felt the touch of God, with whom he no longer parted, eventually becoming a clergyman.
And we usually want to know the will of God without doing anything, so nothing happens. As it says in Psalm 18: "The commandment of the Lord is bright, enlightening the eyes." Let's say, if we know and accept the commandment that we need to forgive everyone, but we ourselves consciously do not forgive for reasons that are significant to us, then there is no point in asking the Lord about other things that are significant to us: Lord, reveal to me how you want me to acted ... Go with a man, forgive him, and you will immediately receive permission in your bewilderment.
To give oneself to God entirely - but not with clenched teeth (this sacrifice will not be accepted or consecrated), but with trembling and joy
The whole most difficult ascetic task is to submit oneself to God of one’s own free will, to submit oneself to Him (see: Rom. 6:13; Rom. 8:7), to gather oneself together and give oneself to God wholly, without teeth (this sacrifice will neither be accepted nor consecrated), but with trepidation and joy, as brides once gave themselves into the hands of their suitors: leaving for the unknown, in obedience to another will, but to the will of the beloved, the will of the beloved.
- “Without clenching your teeth, but with trepidation and joy” - it’s not so easy ...
This is the work of our whole life. The struggle not only with my own “wants” (passions and lusts), with the confidence that I myself, with my mind and strength, can do what I consider good (in this expression there are a number of spiritual mistakes), but also the struggle with unbelief in God, distrust of Him.
In the Old Testament there is interesting example. Amazing in its physical qualities Judge Samson, who received grace from the Lord, despite the testimony of the Law, the advice of his parents, and the obvious evidence from God Himself, wants to live with a woman who is not destined for him, does not love him and will destroy him. Samson, with amazing persistence, insists on his will, gets Delilah as his wife - and as a result loses grace, and in fact (from a social and spiritual point of view) and life: he, blind, is forced to stay in the temple of Dagon ... And just Samson was able to accept this state, "without gritting your teeth." And therefore, when strength returns to him, he does not seek tempting freedom, in which there are so many temptations of self-will, but accepts the definition indicated by God - to die where his fetters have entangled him.
That is, again and again you need to affirm yourself in faith, standing before God with an open face, doing what He commands: do not condemn, endure, pray for enemies, forgive and believe that, despite the raging sea of \u200b\u200blife around, there is no force capable of conquer the power of God who loved me.
- Such a task is feasible for us, worldly people living in modern society?
Such a task, apparently, is impossible for anyone at all. Not today, not a thousand years ago. Even the apostles once exclaimed: “So who can be saved?!” And, as we see from the Gospel, until the descent of the Holy Spirit, they were not able to follow the will of God. But with God all things are possible. And the power of the Spirit in a person acts in such a way that impulses, desires, aspirations are born inside the person himself, completely in harmony with the will of God. A person perceives them as their own desires, and not as external pressure. He accepts the will of God as his own.
A woman who has lost her husband is not at all obliged to bear the feat of blessed Xenia, but Orthodox priest is not at all obliged to deprive himself and his wife of conjugal communion, like St. John of Kronstadt. But these saints, thinking in prayer about how they should serve God, felt a strong desire (determination of the will plus the desire of the heart) to serve precisely So. It was theirs own wish, but this was also the will of God, because everything in this matter was successful from a spiritual point of view.
Modern believers have another problem - misunderstanding on the part of others. They live as if in a spiritual vacuum...
Indeed, the problem of our time is that a baby, even a baptized one, is taught from the cradle by parents, teachers, friends and cultural phenomena to live according to his will. Everyone around him lives like this and he is taught the same. God is relegated to the periphery of life: He exists, you need to remember this, but you yourself are the master of your life, and no one can control it.
I have always been struck by certain testimonies from the lives of the saints. For example, Prokhor Moshnin (the future Rev. Seraphim of Sarov) had friends of the same age (six to eight people) who, from their youth, longed for monastic ascetic deeds. Four of them walked to Kyiv to find out which monastery they should go to. And they left. There are a great many such cases in the history of Russian (and any other) holiness: there were comrades-in-arms, like-minded people, spirit-bearing fathers around, righteous wives who prompted and showed, supported and inspired.
There is no such social environment now. And a person, on whose heart the thought comes to live not according to the teachings of human wisdom, but according to the commandments, seeking the will of God, indeed, immediately meets not comrades-in-arms, but critics and scoffers. Feeling his loneliness, he quite naturally falls into doubt: perhaps I really don’t understand something, because everyone around is Christian, but they don’t torment themselves with such questions ...
A spiritually inexperienced person may have a question: what about freedom, about which they talk so much in the Church? How can human freedom be compared with following the will of God, which presupposes submission?
Following the will of God is the attainment of freedom. Theologically speaking, God is completely free. Not from something or from someone is free - freedom is a property of the Divine nature. Actually, He is the only free Being in existence. Everything else depends on Him and is not free, even from corruption and death. A person hesitates, not knowing what to choose, he wants both, he sees the benefit and joy in both. This fluctuation of the will and emphasizes its weakness, uncertainty, dependence. Freedom does not waver in good, it always abides in life, always creates life, always brings life, light and good.
Everything that God created is “very good”, and this ugly world was created by us
The enemy instilled in us another thought: to be free means to act as you you think is right; to do what you consider it a blessing. So look: everything around - wars, abortions, divorces, drunkenness, theft, murders, poverty - are the fruits of such freedom. Often, atheists, justifying their disbelief, say that in the world, they say, there is a lot of evil, suffering and death, and a "normal god" could not create such a world. So after all, the Lord did not create the world in the form in which we see it now! Everything that God created is “very good”, and this ugly world, inextricably linked with pain, suffering, slavery and death, was created by us, by our own will. And just those people who care so much about human freedom should rejoice: modern world clearly testifies that a person is free, otherwise such a world simply could not exist!
Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh, in one of his radio interviews, said that a person is not immediately given the ability “not to ask God for anything, but simply to rejoice in God”, before that you need to go through some period ... When you realize that ideally you need to trust so much God, His will, that you do not ask for anything, you realize how spiritually weak and inexperienced you are. How, in your opinion, is it better to pass this period, about which Vladyka speaks? This feeling of complete trust - it will not come by itself ...
You just need to live your life with God the way it is lived. And in all needs, turn to Him with prayer - for loved ones, in difficult circumstances, in illness. The more often and more cordially a person does this, the more fully he gets used to life with God, the more clearly he sees, as another bishop said, “God’s providence in his life”, and from this more and more often he begins to thank. At first, thanksgiving reaches the same quantitative measure as petitions for blessings; then thanksgiving more and more fully enters a person's life, ousting petitions from life. This is some measure of holiness, perfect trust in God.
Even in extraordinary circumstances, we must remember: God never leaves anyone
Patience of sorrows with turning to God in prayer helps a person become experienced. Experience lies in the fact that a person, even in emergency circumstances, even in the darkness of the Gulag, does not fall into despair, does not hesitate, knowing (precisely knowing!) that God leaves no one anywhere; and such boldness regenerates the heart by the grace of the Holy Spirit, making it capable of perfect love. What else to ask?
But the path to this is not close. And it begins with the fact that in difficult circumstances, with undoubted faith and trust in God, patiently ask Him for mercy. Ask patiently and persistently.
