Only Human
"I'm only human.
Of flesh and blood I'm made human.
Born to make mistakes" - The Human League
Do you remember that song from 1986?
Boy, do I ever remember! I felt at the time the song was written with me in mind. How self-indulged was that?
My life was MUCH different almost 40 years ago.
Wait, is that math correct? Where’s the calculator on my iPhone?
Ah, yes, here it is: 2025 - 1986 = 39.
I’d use a colorful metaphor here, but - Spock called Captain Kirk out in Star Trek 4 for saying “double dumb-ass on you”, so…I’ll not drop the F-bomb here.
Seriously, though, this is about being human.
This came up in a recent guided Daily Trip meditation using the Calm app which we (Ashara and I) start our day with. I forget the exact context but the upshot was being human can be messy and as we meditate we can let that messiness go and move on. There always a meme associated with the Daily Trip meditation and the lyrics in the sub-title above were included.
So, back some 39 years ago my life was in a state of self-denial, self-numbing, self-absorbed, self-recrimination, and it was all about me, me, me.
And, the mistakes I made were epic!
Doozys!
I’m lucky to be alive writing this post.
Or, maybe, there was grace at some point back then, actually closer to 1989 (1990?) when my guides were watching over me one night and pulled me back from the brink of self-destruction.
What I know today is my entire life has been one lesson after another and will continue to be until I ready to shed this mortal coil. Fortunately, the past informs my actions these days for a better and saner life.
So, being human? Born to make mistakes?
Sure, this is life school after all, right?
How we learn from the past is everything. And, if we don’t learn, maybe change our trajectory, even a small bit, the same mistakes will surely be made.
How about you?
Consider some mistake from your past that you learned a valuable lesson from.
What path did you take afterwards? Was that a better outcome? Were you able to take that lesson forward and make better decisions (choices) on your journey?
One of my practices is self-compassion and having compassion for all beings.
“Self-compassion fosters kindness and understanding towards oneself, building emotional stability and resilience while encouraging radical acceptance and practical integration of spiritual insights.” Lion’s Roar magazine article.
Yes, I am practicing Buddhism. Actually, I have been practicing to varying degrees for the same 39 years I described earlier in this post. Over the past several years something shifted within that informs me this current path is the right one. To that end I’m currently enrolled in a Dharma Training Program with the Sukhasiddi Foundation that began earlier this month and will continue for the next two years. This is in the traditional Kagyu lineage (school) of Tibetan Buddhism and the teachings that I’ve never had before now. Very excited and grateful to receive these teachings!
By the way, did you notice that this post is also on Substack? I made the decision to move to Substack and see how it plays out over time. Ashara has also moved her blog to Substack and she seems to enjoy writing here as well. Her latest post is a hoot and comes out this Friday!
The link to her blog post is:
SUBSCRIBE to her posts above!
And, finally BIG news as follow-up to my post Where The Rubber Meets The Road from two weeks ago where I mentioned (in writing) that I had an MRI scheduled for an enlarged prostate. The results confirmed what I expected that other than the enlargement, there’s no indication of anything else, and my doc said to rest easy. In other words: all good!
Thanks to those of you who reached out and wished me well. That certainly helped and I appreciate you more than words can express.
Until next time.
May you be well.
Glenn
Conceived and written in cooperation with The Universe. AI can't touch this.
