Thanksgiving night I was sitting at my brother’s house watching the news. The headline for the news that night was about Black Friday shopping starting after midnight. The news program showed a full parking lot at this mall. Then they talked to people who had been in line for hours waiting to get in and it all seemed like some sad commentary on the human condition.

Sad because people were giving up hours of their lives and sleep to save a few dollars to buy stuff for what is now a very commercialized holiday. Sad also because it seems that the people in line where looking for something outside of themselves to make them feel okay. Can a person make their life ok by taking control of the outer circumstances, by buying the right gifts, or getting the right stuff for themselves? Most likely not.

Under this shopping desire are possibly stronger desires like, the desire to live more from the heart, the desire to live with more purpose, the hope for more happiness, or other reasons. All of the outer desires are perfectly okay but they may hide what is going on inside. The giving and or receiving of the latest stuff will not make a person’s life all right if it isn’t all right. The real genuine value of life is inside a person and inside the connections we have with each other. The call of the heart is best understood when we turn inward, when we hear what is needed from the heart and from our soul.

What desires in you have a deeper calling? You can find the answer by simply tuning inward and asking: what is my greater need, what is my heart asking for, what is my spirit wanted to express? Fulfilling the deeper needs will bring much greater joy and hope than fulfilling the outer needs.

The inner journey of self-realization is the most satisfying one we can take in this lifetime. The interesting benefits of this inner exploration include inner peace, happiness and we will become a much brighter lights out in the world.