Tricksy

This is a chance to go in.
And by go in, I mean transition into a different way of being, however briefly.
And by go in, I also mean take your attention away from the external world—with its worries and
noisiness, with its toils and troubles.
Inhale.
Exhale.
Welcome to a Hit of Hope.
A mind can be a tricksy thing.
And one of the tricksy things it can do is to corrupt other things.

Transcript

This is a chance to go in.

And by go in,

I mean transition into a different way of being,

However briefly.

And by go in,

I also mean turn your attention away from the external world with its worries and noisiness,

With its toils and troubles,

And instead turn in.

Inhale.

Exhale.

Welcome to a hit of hope.

A mind can be a tricksy thing.

And one of the tricksy things that the mind can do is to corrupt other things.

Guilt means to spoil,

To go bad,

To make rotten.

Nice day?

It won't last.

Look at the news.

The world is going to hell.

The bad is all there is.

You are born.

You suffer.

You die.

Some of those things are true.

But what I'm asking you to consider is how easy it can be to believe that the bad is all there is.

And as a result,

To give up believing in the good.

The tricksy mind wants you to trust the bad,

To believe the bad,

Because it never fails to disappoint.

It's there,

Ready and waiting to rear its ugly head.

You can count on it.

And thus,

You can discount the good.

Quit looking for the good.

Quit believing that the good is pursuing you relentlessly.

One of my favorite books is The Count of Monte Cristo.

It's massive.

But for this,

All you need to know is in it,

There is a character,

A priest who is a prisoner.

And he says he possesses a great fortune.

No one believes him,

Not even his dear friend and fellow prisoner,

Edmund Dantès,

The main character.

The priest has a seizure,

And Dantès says he will stay with the priest rather than try and escape from their dungeons,

Which is what the two of them have been trying for months to do.

The priest says,

Because of your trustworthiness,

I will now share half of my fortune with you.

But instead of believing the priest,

A man who has become like a father to him,

Dantès lets the world corrupt his vision.

Dantès runs back to his cell,

Away from the priest.

But the priest,

Who has had a stroke,

Mind you,

Whose right side has quit working entirely,

Drags himself along the tunnel that connects their two cells.

Because he refuses to let Dantès miss out on the treasure.

The priest says,

And I quote,

As you see,

I am absolutely pitiless in my pursuit of you,

He said,

With a radiant smile full of benevolence.

You thought you could escape my lavish generosity,

But you will not.

So listen.

And then the priest goes on to convince Dantès of the treasure that awaits him if he can escape.

Like Dantès,

The tricksy part of our minds often corrupts things and has us believing the bad,

The corrupt,

The rotten.

Why hope it will only be dashed?

Why love it will only end?

Why believe you will only be disappointed?

Why try?

We are born.

We suffer.

We die.

We are born.

We grow.

We skin our knees.

We love.

We cry.

We hope.

We struggle.

We help.

We love.

We hurt.

We love.

We try.

We try.

We try.

We love.

You can trust in the tricksy voice that promises life is bad.

It might be safer.

At least it might feel safer because then you might never feel disappointed.

Or you can take a risk and trust in the voice that won't shut up about the good.

It's there,

I promise you.

And just so you know,

The good might not be the treasure that Dantès is seeking,

But the good might be a butterfly or the light in a window,

A black night with star sprinkles.

Can you hear that voice?

The one with the radiant smile full of benevolence.

The voice that is begging you to believe.

That love is absolutely pitiless in its pursuit of you.

It will drag itself through a dark tunnel.

It will make you listen.

Listen so you can hear about the treasure that awaits.

Namaste.

Reviews

One of your best talks. Just love those little hits of hope🙏🌞

Have you ever noticed that when you listen to the news the media reports on all the bad things and fails to mention the good in this world? I believe there is a lot of good that never gets mentioned. That’s sad 😢. I had been seeing a wonderful therapist who really helped me push the bad things around myself and focus on myself and my gifts and talents. It took me a long time to try to master this. I decided that if my mind started spewing crap at me and I didn’t immediately push it away, I would put a dollar in a jar. The money I had put in the jar would be used to send to some kind of children’s charity. I am getting so much better at seeing the positive things about myself and am getting quicker at throwing the negative thoughts out of my head . Your messages have helped me tremendously to be able to do this.🌈. Thank you for sharing your messages. Peace to you.❣️🌸🦋🌞🌹

Wow, precious imagery and metaphor. Beautifully spoken.

Brilliant. Wonderful the reference to The Count of Montecristo. Also, the word ‘tricksy’ makes me think of the Gollum character in the Tolkien works. Not sure if that is where you got it - but considering that Gollum was an archetype of endless suffering through hopeless clinging to materiality (the ring) maybe there is a connection?

Thank you very much. Soothing and insightful as always.

I loved this message! What more is there? Side with the right mind.
Thank you, Becky

Of course. Tonight you would do this.
Only an hour ago, I had a huge epiphany following a really rough couple of weeks:
I told myself that I've lived a BIG life. I've worked over 50 different jobs in a handful of states. I've served in the Marine Corps. I've had guns pointed at my face in anger and stared down the potential shooters. I've ridden my motorcycles hundreds of thousands of miles. I've had my art in shows in two countries. I nursed my wife through Alzheimer's, for God's sake. So who in the hell am I to think myself small or unworthy? I AM A FRIGGIN GIANT, and I will live as I decide to live and not at the whim and worry of an insecure and frightened ego.
Then this. Bullseye.
You live in my head, somehow, and I'm grateful.
Namaste.

Sometimes we forget to have Gratitude for the good. TY 💚🌹

At this moment, I needed this. Thank you.

Dear Betsy, I get excited when I see one of your meditations in the feed. I love the gritty goodness of your voice. It reminds me that living a messy human life can still be glorious.
Love,
Rose

Love this! Thank you for sharing

Their is that other voice, of hope. I really liked the Monte' Cristo analogy. lol

Loved this. Mindset is so powerful. We get choose how we see things.

Betsey, your voice is beautiful. It reminds me of a melodious free-flowing river singing lyrics to delight everything and everywhere it touches. You are love.
Namaste

I am in utter awe of all these fantastic ideas you keep coming up with, how you weave things together to make a support for us. Negativity can only last so long under such an onslaught, and I thank you for being part of that Relentless Good, helping us to see and feel more of that Good.