Masonic Musings #34

We need to be proactive

We often talk about improving ourselves, to move from the rough to the perfect ashlar. We see the perfect ashlar as the end goal and as I've mentioned in the past that it's a goal that isn't truly achievable because as we get closer to what we perceive as perfect, our definition changes and then we need to strive for the "new perfect."

It's a lofty goal, to achieve perfection, and one that most of us can never hope to obtain because we never work to change our personal nature.

We'd like to think that we're making progress. We've read the latest book on masonic teachings, read the philosophy that's been suggested, and we've gone to the lectures and seminars, that's progress right? Maybe, but likely not.

You see at our core we're reactive in nature, we wait for something to happen to us before we seek to change our "defaults." Yes, we all have our defaults, just like any piece of technology out there we have are default way of handling things. In most cases that means waiting for something to happen to us and then we blame bad luck if it's not what we want, we puff up our egos telling ourselves just how much we deserved the good thing that just happened - we go through life on autopilot.

I'm just as guilty, so often in my life, and I didn't realize it until well after, I took the easy way, followed the default, which was safe. I think we can all agree that safe is good, but it doesn't help you grow as and individual or move towards that perfect ashlar.

We need to be proactive and grasp those pieces of knowledge and wisdom we've picked up along the way and apply them to ourselves. We need to think about what we need to change, as uncomfortable as it might be, and then work to change it.

Think you could improve your crass language? Work on developing and using other words.

Are you treating others with the respect they deserve? Evaluate not just how you treat those individuals when you are with them, but when they aren't there to defend themselves and their decisions - are you still being respectful?

Don't simply rely on your defaults, don't rely on the reactive tendency we all have, be proactive and make the changes you need to.

A rough ashlar will never become perfect if we don't pickup the tools we have and do the work. Time will not make a perfect ashlar, it might make it smooth, but that will be a rounded rock maybe suitable for decoration, not for building with.