We’ve all asked ourselves why me? The best place to find the answer is in nature. If you are really struggling with a why me issue, take some time for yourself in the mountains. Get out into the crisp air to clear your head. Then, do the following experiment.

Sitting comfortably, give in to the experience of the moment. Relax. Allow your senses to take over, noticing what you see, hear, feel and smell.

Look deeply into the shades of color and the visual textures the forest has to offer, the awesome variety and quality of sensory experience.

Notice the buzz of nature, the animal sounds and panorama of new auditory input. You don’t hear the buzz of nature in the city. Tune in…

And feel the temperature of the air, the warmth of the sun on your neck and weight of your body on the earth as she pulls you steadily toward her.

If you really do the above, you are in touch with nature! This alone is a rare feat. Gone are your worries of the day. Nature is with you.  You are out of your head and into the external present. What more could you want?

Ah yes. The answer! Why me?

As you tune in deeply to nature, you will sense the answer. Some even experience it as a quiet revelation, the whisper of a still, small voice. The voice gently asks a question in return. Why not me?

Why not me?

Yes, why not me? Who am I to desire immunity from the trials and tragedies that humans have suffered for millenia? What makes me different that every other living person, and everyone who has ever lived on this earth?

Nature understands that while each of us is unique, we are not above suffering. Immersed in the One Human Mind, the external present, we understand that tragedy and triumph are common experiences. And no one is immune to life’s angst. In fact, from the present moment, we understand that it cannot be any other way. To desire so is arrogance. Even in the face of our own death we cannot ask for ultimate deliverance or escape inevitable demise.

Is asking why not me a call for discouragement?

No, holding on to why me is the only way to remain discouraged. Accepting your vulnerability to tragedy and capacity for triumph set you free to live life on Life’s terms, which releases your ultimate capacity for personal freedom. This is not something that can be taught or understood through conventional education. It can only be experienced through OHM practice. Resolving why me once and for all represents another of life’s shackles loosened.

It is impressive how quickly we can dive into meaninglessness. Any conversation can go there, given the right questions. The point is, what is the point of going there? What value have the meaninglessness, nothingness and the massive uncertainty they embody? Let’s take a shot.

A friend of mine and I were having a conversation.

Me: Since the earth’s energy remains constant, we must be immortal. When our body dies, our energy stays with the earth. Therefore, we live on, just in a different energetic form. I take huge comfort in this. I don’t know what form I will be, but I know my energy will be preserved.

Friend: Who says the earth’s energy is constant. It’s a nice belief, but there is no proof of that. The top physicists in the world cannot even agree on this. You are making a huge assumption for which there is scanty evidence at best.

Me: Well, it does make sense, doesn’t it? If the earth’s energy didn’t remain constant, then what’s to stop the earth from changing into a non-earth?

Friend: The earth is constantly changing.

Me: Well, this is just my belief, something I hang onto.

Friend: Fine. But you are hanging onto it based on a personal assumption. What is your real evidence?

Me: Dang!

And that’s what breaks it all down. Evidence. When you look at the hard evidence for a belief, you discover a lot. The problem is, some of our fundamental beliefs are based on…..very little hard evidence. This is where most people do a U-turn back into a more certain state of mind. The uncertainty that underlies our precious beliefs is terrifying.

It is a simple question: What is your evidence?

That God exists? That Jesus saves? That the Universe cares? That your life will go on after death? That you are absolutely right about anything, really?

Press on the evidence factor persistently and we end up with a faith-based answer. This is what I believe! Fine. It is a mere belief. A feeling of certainty based on some pretty large assumptions. Once we embrace the fact that we are assuming a lot without any real evidence, holding onto the belief – and the precious certainty it provides – is difficult. U-turn!

Should we take that U-turn and avoid the meaninglessness that we encounter down the road after admitting our massive assumptions? Yes, because it exists. Meaningless and uncertainty are the wellspring of belief systems. It is because of these that we make up stuff to create the certainty we need to live a pragmatic life. If we live in touch with meaninglessness, we are more apt to create conscious beliefs.

Who is to say that we are better served by creating conscious beliefs? I don’t really know. It just seems better! I suppose if you are stupid, you shouldn’t be in charge of your beliefs. Yet, if you are stupid, you will never question them in the first place. So, if you can comprehend these words, it is OK to create your own beliefs. If you don’t, someone else will.

In the ordinary present, there is no emotional struggle. There is only sensing and doing. Sometimes the doing requires effort. Sometimes doing is easy. Either way, doing is doing.

To create the experience of struggle with something ordinary, we must compare what we are doing now with something we imagine doing that is, in our view, more favorable. In this process of comparison, we suffer the emotional consequences of believing we are not as well off in our current circumstance as we might be if things were different. But things are not different, so with every ongoing moment we punish ourselves and miss out on the present.

Let’s say you are mowing the lawn. In the moment, there is only walking, seeing the green lawn before you, pushing the mower, hearing the motor, smelling the cut grass, feeling the resistance of the wheels over uneven ground, feeling your muscles work, sweating, and so on. This is doing, noticing, sensing. That is all there is to it.

To turn this experience into suffering, you must get away from your senses and into your head.

First, you need to remember or imagine – create an internal picture or whisper something to yourself – that something is better than the here and now. You might imagine yourself sitting by the pool with a cool drink at hand. Or, you may think of the television show you are missing, imagining how you could be sitting in the living room, basking in the light of your digital kingdom.

Only by conjuring up these images of a more preferable state can you begin to struggle (mentally and emotionally) while mowing the lawn. Only by comparing your internal image of the present with an internal image of something other than the present can you pull off the state of inner struggle that makes mowing annoying or undesirable.

Attending to the present (your senses) is another matter entirely. Immersing yourself in the sights, sounds, physical feelings, smells and taste of the moment does not leave room for comparison and therefore precludes emotional struggle or suffering with the ordinary. What is left is only the doing, the physical exertion of the moment.

Why must we struggle? Because we compare our present state with other states that we imagine to be more desirable. Is this avoidable? Probably not. Our brains are wired to compare, but that is another matter entirely. We can, however, reduce the suffering by comparison through OHM practice. We can reduce the struggle greatly, in fact.

Before you can grow, you need to be awake. Otherwise, you are living on auto-pilot. Personal development requires consciousness deliberately used. Of course, waking up is in itself a form of growth. When you wake up, you grow, without exception. Being awake allows you continue growth in whichever direction you choose.

Why can’t we grow when we are sleeping?