| A Second Life |
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| — This Is Your Last Chance — |
Let us reaffirm something important.
Every person born into this world must engage in self-correction.
And that is the true work we are meant to do.
The expression "must" may sound forceful or coercive.
But in truth, the choice is entirely yours.
I am not forcing you to do this, nor am I pleading with you to do it.
However, if you have read Chapter One sincerely, then perhaps you have at least begun to feel:
"Yes… perhaps this truly is the best way to live."
With that in mind, in this second chapter I would like to move a little closer to the heart of the matter.
First, when we speak of "self-correction," what exactly is it within ourselves that must be corrected?
Each of us carries certain habits.
Not merely habits in the ordinary sense described by the old saying, "Everyone has their quirks," but habits of the heart.
You could say they are habitual patterns of thought and feeling.
Our hearts naturally tend to turn outward.
This itself is one of the greatest habits that must be corrected.
And as our hearts react to information coming from outside, they constantly fluctuate and change.
Even when people receive the exact same information, the thoughts and emotions that arise differ from person to person.
The degree to which people react and the frequency with which their emotions shift also differ.
Even when seeing or hearing the same thing, no two people necessarily produce the same feelings, nor do they feel them with the same intensity.
Why?
Because each person possesses different habits of the heart and different habitual ways of thinking.
And it is precisely these inner habits that we must work to correct.
However, unless we first recognize what kinds of habitual tendencies exist within us — and which of them are especially strong — true correction becomes impossible.
That is why the greatest and most universal habit of all must first be addressed:
The habit of turning the heart outward.
I want everyone to begin working on correcting this tendency first.
A habit is persistent.
You will fail again and again.
Even so, if you continue developing the habit of checking the direction of your heart, then even when your attention begins turning outward, the time it takes to redirect it inward will gradually become shorter.
First, begin correcting the habit of turning the heart outward.
Then, as you continue directing your awareness inward, your habitual patterns of thought and feeling will become surprisingly clear.
But habits are persistent not only because they repeat themselves.
They are also persistent because we often fail to notice them at all.
And unnoticed habits are especially troublesome.
When we fail to notice them, it usually means one of two things:
Either we are not observing the thoughts arising within us in the first place, or we are observing them but cannot understand why they are mistaken.
The second case is more serious.
In such situations, we must take time and patiently heal ourselves.
I will speak later about how that healing takes place.
For now, it is enough simply to identify even one or two of your habits of heart and gradually begin loosening or weakening them.
When you were newly born — still an infant resting in your mother's arms — there was nothing troubling your heart.
Held gently against your mother's chest, gazing only at her, you were able to entrust your entire being to her.
And that alone was your happiness.
Within the joy of being connected to your mother, your heart rested peacefully.
There was no agitation.
No heaviness.
Only a quiet and gentle space.
Now, please begin listening to the agitation and heaviness presently existing within your own heart.
Perhaps they have hardened into habits of thought and feeling.
Your suffering reveals them through other people.
It reveals them through events.
Those experiences are showing you the pain of what has become rigid within you.
As you gradually loosen even a small part of these habits, your heart itself will begin softening and relaxing.
The parts of you that had been stubbornly blocked will slowly begin to crumble.