12 Aug 2022 · 4 min
Matthew explores how humans create meaning in pain, unlike trees that simply endure. He uses the bamboo and two brothers raised by an alcoholic father as examples of how the worst circumstances can produce the greatest success when you assign meaning to them.
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This is a little clip from a rant that I did with Jameson on the roof of my house about what it takes to turn tough times into something magical and how you can create light even in the darkest moments of your life. Check it out. I think it's really going to help.
Well, what do you want me to do with that?
I don't know. Let's see what it looks like because I wasn't even looking directly at the camera, but. It could be a fun thing where we say, we weren't supposed to be shooting this tonight, but Matthew started ranting. When we're talking about like the meaning we give to things, right? I was thinking about nature nurture and how like the bamboos on this side of the garden grow much higher than the bamboos on this side of the garden and how there couldn't be more evidence of the fact that You know, the right conditions produce healthier trees, healthier plants, healthier people. But the tree analogy doesn't hold up as a perfect analogy for people, because on one hand, if people have the right conditions, they're likely to be stronger, more confident, more secure, more loved, more everything and therefore lead better lives. But the difference between trees and people is that people create meaning, trees don't. Trees need light. Human beings can create light. And it's in the ability to create light that we have this ability over and above what plants and trees do that are solely dependent on the right conditions. We as human beings aren't solely dependent on the right conditions. It's that story of the two brothers that grow up with the same alcoholic father who treats his whole family like crap. And then these two brothers grow up and one goes on to treat his family like crap and become an alcoholic, and the other one treats his family incredibly well like kings and queens and never touches a drop of alcohol. Both men later in life are asked the question, why are you the way you are? And both men say exactly the same thing. Well, with a father like mine, How could I have been anything else? What we're describing there is not simply two trees having grown up in the same conditions that grew up to the same height, but two trees that grew up to very different heights under the same conditions.
Why?
Because human beings don't just need light. Unlike trees, they have the ability to create their own light. That's what meaning does. When we can create meaning behind something, we decide whether it's going to give.
Us light or darkness.
That's what makes human beings truly incredible, Jameson. Is that we can create meaning. And that is why conditions are not the only things that determine a human being's success. And it's even why the worst conditions can produce the greatest success, because the greatest darkness can give way to people giving the most intense, profound meanings to that darkness. In other words, the greatest darkness can give way to the greatest light. And that's how we're different from trees. Did you know bamboo is a grass? We're gonna have to do it again.
I hope that clip helped. I want to let you know that wherever you are in your life right now, whatever's happening in your life, I truly believe from the bottom of my heart that some of the greatest magic in our lives is created in the most difficult moments. We always have the ability to create magic where we are right now. We don't need to wait for a better time in our life to start creating that magic because we're the authors of it. And I know it sounds cheesy, but for me, anytime life throws me something difficult, I imagine that life is asking me a question. I imagine life is asking me, what are you going to do with this thing? What are you going to do with this moment? What are you going to do with this hardship? What are you going to do with this challenge? And my answer is always the same. Create magic. No matter what question life asks, the answer is always the same. Now, if you want to learn how to create magic in your life, regardless of how many difficult things are going on right now, I really hope that you join me on the Virtual Retreat in November because for three days we are going to be training you to make the most of your life no matter what is happening in your life. Go to mHVirtuAlretreat.com and you can grab your ticket now and that can be the thing coming up in your year that you know is going to make you strong enough to deal with whatever is going on in your life right now. I'll see you there, mhvirtualretreat.com.
