Surfing the Universal Web
March 5, 2010
by Keith Caplin
A problem doesn’t present itself without also presenting the solution. The question is “Do you have the eyes to see the solution?”
Like everyone else I am presented with my share of challenges on a daily basis and often find it difficult to see the solution that should be presented. One of the lessons I learned in a herbology class was that many times the cure plant usually grows very close to the cause plant. This lesson I quickly put into practice. I am very allergic to poison ivy, Jewel weed, which speeds up the healing, usually doesn’t grow very far from poison ivy; but how can this relate to other situations in life?
Thanks to technology, the world has become a very small place. I am able to text a friend in China while talking to another friend in Canada at the same time I am writing an email to someone in Portland. With all of this literally at our finger tips, why do so many of us still find it so difficult to find the solutions to the challenges presented to us daily? The answers to this question could fill a book. Some people simply just don’t want to find the answer. For as unbelievable as this sounds, there are those people who define themselves by their problems, and if they remove the problems then in essence they feel they have removed their sense of identity.
However interesting this idea is, I am not going to take this direction in this article. The focus I would like to take is “Where do we actually find the solutions?” Like many of us I tend to seek out someone that I feel has more information than myself and can give me the solution that I seek. With regards to how small the world has become in terms of finding information, many people turn to the internet or the World Wide Web (WWW) to find the answers they seek. Just think of all of the information that is available just by typing in the word “Google”. Shoot, a whole new phrase even came from it: “Just Google it”. Information on anything can be found, from a great new recipe for a great dessert to information on some obscure form of cancer. It is absolutely amazing what you can find. I remember growing up and having a set of encyclopedias in my house. If you couldn’t find it in there then it just didn’t exist, well that definitely isn’t the case anymore. This has opened up a whole new world for people to explore and discover, however it does have its limitations. As a teacher this has presented itself on more than one occasion. Ask students to do a scientific research paper and you will be surprised at what gets written as fact, just because they found it on the internet. The internet does have its limitations both in accuracy of information as well as what types of solutions you can find.
If you are reading this article on Oldways.com then you have probably read other articles on this website and you tend to think about things on a deeper level. The internet is a great place to start to uncover the solutions you may be seeking. But, if you are like me, some of the challenges you are being presented with have solutions which are much deeper than the internet can provide. The internet is a great place to begin, but we have access to a whole other universe as well. It is called the “intranet”, and it is a whole universe that exists inside of you. The answers always seem to be somewhere “out there”, but what if that wasn’t always the case; what if the solution was only as far away as you? Like so many people I tend to believe the solutions are somewhere “out there.” Someone else will be able to tell me what is right for me, won’t they? I think things like: “Well they have a website, they must be an expert” or “They have been doing this longer than me so they must know better”. All of these thoughts take away your power and give it to some complete stranger. This intranet that I am speaking of is far more vast that the WWW. We have all at one time in our lives had a “feeling” of what action we should take. How many times have we acted on that feeling? Of the times we didn’t listen, how often did we wish we did?
So, how do we access this inner universe? Actually it is quite easy. You don’t need a modem, or an axial cable; all you need is your breath. How often in our day do we take the time to just sit in silence and connect to our own personal intranet? We are always looking for that external answer, because “they” must know more than we do. However, if you think about it, who knows more about you than you? The question is do you want to really look? We have a direct connection to something that is MUCH larger than our selves, we just forget how to access it, or when we do we are usually just talking and asking and don’t take the time to actually listen and receive. The answer is only as far away as a few long deep breaths. Just allowing yourself to take that moment to take in a few deep breaths, quiet the mind and open yourself up to receive the information is all that is needed.
What you choose to do with this information is up to you. Unlike the WWW, our personal intranet will never give you information that will harm you. It might not be the information we want to hear or actions we want to take; but ultimately it will be for our highest good. Trusting the information you receive is always a difficult challenge. Again, think about how easily you trust the information you find on the WWW. Why then do we distrust the information we receive from our higher selves? These are some interesting questions I often ask myself and find myself challenged with finding the answers at times. in these times of doubt I find that if I just allow myself the time to find my center and breathe, the clarity needed to hear the “answer” presents itself. And interestingly enough, the answer is usually something that is right under my nose.
So, the next time you have a challenge that presents itself, think about the different ways that you can go about finding a solution. Instead of immediately running to a source outside yourself, seeking far and wide to find your answers, empower yourself to look a little closer to home. Take the time you would use to search outside of yourself for the answer and turn your search inward. Take a few calming breaths, still your mind, and just listen with your heart and you will be amazed at the answers that will come to you. Many times it is just a matter of seeing the challenge with clear eyes. You have an entire UWW (Universal Wide Web) inside you; all you need to do is start to use it and trust the information that you receive from it. And just think it is only a couple of breaths away.