“We don’t like their sound. Groups of guitars are on the way out. They have no future in show business.” This is what Decca Records once said in January 1963 about The Beatles.
Cut to the time The Beatles flew on the Pan Am flight 101. They were on their way to their first US tour. Troubled about their chances of success, Paul McCartney said, “They’ve got their own groups. What are we going to give them that they don’t already have?”
John Lennon said, “We won’t make it.”
Soon, as they neared New York, the pilot announced something that must have been very reassuring: “Tell the boys there’s a big crowd waiting for them.”
And the plane descended into the madness that became known as Beatlemania:
The Beatles were rejected at least five times before receiving their record contract in 1962. Initially, they had a slow start. Their first performance was in Hamburg, Northern Germany. John Lennon recalled it to be a pigsty. They were living right next to the ladies’ toilet. Paul McCartney said that they could always smell the toilets, and had to use cold water from the urinals to wash and shave.
Their working conditions were just as bad as the stage where they performed was cramped. The pay for each performer was £2.50 per day. This amounted to about $72 in today’s US currency.
They had grueling work hours and not much luck toward experiencing any kind of success. In 1964, they flew to New York and appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show where they made a performance watched by 40 percent of the US population. That’s when their ‘worldwide sensation’ journey began.
“Transcending to an evolved state cannot happen without experiencing the primary fulfilments of life.”
~Krescon Coaches
The Beatles had a rough time before they could succeed, and so did many other famous people. Nothing free came without a cost attached to it. Likewise, success did not just fall into their laps. They’ve had to work as hard as ever and that too by not giving up after being rejected several times. Be it Oprah who was fired from her first job, Stephen King who was rejected by 30 publishers, or Walt Disney who was fired by his editor who said he lacked imagination and had no good ideas.
But without experiencing certain events, be it rejection or acceptance in life, you cannot transcend to a higher level.
That is why experience is important but why am I talking about experience before transcendence?
If you remember what you were taught about evaporation in school, you might remember its process.
Don’t worry, I won’t bore you with the scientific details but I will ask you:
We know that there is an order to the process of the water cycle, and it goes like this:
Evaporation – Transpiration – Condensation – Precipitation – Runoff – Infiltration – Storage
Therefore, water must flow from one state to another in the same order and not skip any of the transitions in between. This is because the energy input required to directly transition from a solid to a gaseous state is higher than that needed for the sequential transitions.
Going back to the example of The Beatles, they experienced what was necessary for transcending into their next intended state or goal of success. It’s the same when it comes to our transcendence from one experience to another.
I do not imply that we must suffer to reach happiness. Many people had transcended from royalty into asceticism. Take Gautam Buddha as an example; he first hailed from a royal family as a prince of the Shakyas. He lived a sheltered life and was shy of suffering and struggle. One day he encountered an old man, a sick man, and a corpse. Witnessing these layers of suffering encouraged him to renounce his princely life, walk the path of an ascetic, and ultimately attain enlightenment. Gautam Buddha had transcended various levels.
On our part, we could at least start by transcending from fear to fun!
Pastor Rob: “So, what’s going on?”
Mary: “Well…all the things that I was afraid of are happening. Ever since word got out about Georgie, everyone at my Bible study canceled.”
Pastor Rob: “Well, first of all, that sucks and I’m sorry. I also can’t say I’m surprised. This is the part of religion I don’t like.”
Mary: “I know Georgie made a mistake, but I thought, as Christians, we’re supposed to forgive,”
Pastor Rob: “Well, I’m going to ask you a tricky question. If this were happening to someone else in the congregation, how would you respond?”
Young Sheldon’s mother is sad about the reaction of her friends who decided not to show up for Bible Study. She knew that it was because of the slanderous mistake her elder son, Georgie had committed. She was filled with all kinds of emotions – disappointment, anger, and fear. She was worried that if Georgie didn’t resolve his situation quickly the Church congregation would turn against her, and she and her family would never be welcome to Church again.
That’s when Pastor Rob explains to her that she was putting man before God. She was caring more about what people thought than what God thought.
I once read an interesting note on fear. It can convey two meanings depending on the one you choose: –
Forget Everything and Run
or
Face Everything and Rise
We live in a state of either being scared or sacred.
Fear’s insidious grasp can often mask itself in a variety of emotions: self-doubt, anxiety about the future, overwhelming goals, negative thoughts, chronic stress, and learned fears from childhood. Before we realize it, this baggage of fear can consume us, trapping us in a cycle of imagined worst-case scenarios. To break free, we must align our minds and hearts to transition from a state of fear to one of sacredness.
The fearful mind often shuns life’s experiences. But our desires and expectations can clash with our fears and assumptions, creating a self-perpetuating loop of anxiety that dampens our enjoyment of life. We become overly serious, forgetting that fear is a life-draining energy vampire.
To combat fear, we must embrace love, laughter, and lightness. Consider displaying the mantra “Love, Laugh, Lighten Up” prominently in your home or workplace as a constant reminder. Seriousness and sadness hinder happiness. Imagine attending a concert in a bad mood, burdened by life’s weight. You’ll struggle to enjoy the experience unless you learn to lighten up.
“It’s not about where you are headed that’s going to make a difference to how you feel. It’s about what you allow yourself to feel that’s going to make a difference in your life.”
~Krescon Coaches
Fear is not the answer. Sacredness is about happiness, joy, and a genuine smile.
Fear clouds our perception and prevents us from experiencing life fully.
Some people are overwhelmed by seriousness rather than life’s joy. A simple smile can be a powerful tool, a starting point for adding yourself to life rather than distancing yourself from it.
Fear limits our potential. Even when we read self-help books filled with wisdom, we may struggle to apply the knowledge without direct experience. Books offer direction and ashes of knowledge, but true understanding comes from living.
“We first experience that which we must learn from and only then transcend to another level, presumably a higher one.”
~Krescon Coaches
Therefore, if we do not know, learn, and experience the unknown, we will end up fearing it. And fear, as we all know, does not limit itself. Fear travels across the different aspects of our lives and affects all areas.
Experience is important and we have a natural tendency to gravitate toward it. For instance, if a child is warned and repeatedly told by a parent not to jump by the edge of the bed, the child becomes more curious. Why am I not allowed to jump at the edge of the bed? Let me fly from there?! And up goes the child, falling to the floor, injuring himself or herself.
Only after experiencing the act of jumping from the edge of the bed will the child learn how to maintain balance or avoid walking on the edge.
At the same time, while fear stems from these experiences, we must not let it control us and hinder our progress to love, laugh, and lighten up.
But remember that every emotion and every experience is necessary for you to transcend into a higher state of sacredness. I will leave you with this beautiful poem by Mewlana Jalaluddin Rumi who sums up the recipe of life perfectly in his poem called THE GUEST HOUSE.
This being human is a guest house.
Every morning a new arrival.
A joy, a depression, a meanness,
some momentary awareness comes
As an unexpected visitor.
Welcome and entertain them all!
Even if they’re a crowd of sorrows,
who violently sweep your house
empty of its furniture,
still treat each guest honorably.
He may be clearing you out
for some new delight.
The dark thought, the shame, the malice,
meet them at the door laughing,
and invite them in.
Be grateful for whoever comes,
because each has been sent
as a guide from beyond.
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