It's All Very Good

So there they were. Thousands of years ago. Walking about the Garden of Eden in complete freedom. Naked and unashamed. It was Paradise. Literally. The word Eden is synonymous with "paradise" and is related to a Hebrew word meaning "bliss" or "delight."

If you remember this Bible story, you know that God had just previously - over a seven day period - created the entire universe. Everything. Including man, who was created on the sixth day.

At the end of the sixth day, God gazed upon all that had been created and deemed it ALL to be simply and completely . . .

V-E-R-Y G-O-O-D.

All was well in the Garden until that one fateful moment, when, in an instant, mankind stepped out of it's blissful state of paradise into a world split down the middle. At one end lie "goodness." At the other end lie "evil-ness."

SIDEBAR: This is a bit confusing. Didn't God say everything was very good? How could there even be "evil" at this point? And if there was "evil," wouldn't God have created that? And if God did create it, wouldn't it also be "very good" just like everything else? Back to our story . . .

How did the split between good and evil occur? Simple. Mankind chose, against God's better advice, to eat the fruit from the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil."

Said another way, mankind chose to know "good" and "evil." Mankind chose to put itself in a place of judgment between what was good and what was not good.

Most of us make that choice - the choice to know "good" and "bad" each and every day.

Each day, we're choosing to know good and evil or good and bad. And each time we make that choice, we step out of bliss and paradise.

Judgment itself is not good or bad. It just is. It serves a useful purpose in society as it's currently structured. But if you want to get back to bliss and paradise, it can serve as quite an obstacle.

So what does all this have to do with you and your life?

Stick with me here.

I have a client in London who buys run-down houses, fixes them up and sells them for more than she paid for them. She literally causes the value of the property to appreciate (important word).

She takes what the Universe offers - a "dumpy" house - and she appreciates it. When she's done appreciating it, she gives it back to the Universe for someone else to appreciate even more (or not).

What does she get out of her appreciation?

Several things.

First and most apparent, she gets the financial profit.

Second, she gets the joy of expressing her creativity in reconditioning the house.

Third, she gets to connect and collaborate with other human beings who help her fix up the property.

Fourth, she gets the learning from the whole experience, which she can use in her future endeavors.

In general, she gets the fulfillment of living a life filled with peace, freedom, joy, abundance, exuberant creativity and collaboration, which happens to be her stated Life Purpose.

All by accepting and appreciating a "dumpy house."

She could just as easily have judged that "dumpy house" as "bad" or "worthless," and thereby miss out on all the prosperity she received from accepting it.

Unlike Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, she chose NOT to eat from "The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil" as it relates to the "dumpy house."

She chose, instead, to embrace what the Universe offered. Further, she chose to appreciate what the Universe offered. Finally, when she was done appreciating it, she gave it back to the Universe.

My suggestion is this.

God (whatever or whoever you believe that to be) did, in fact, create everything. Every thing. And it's all very good. Everything. Even war, famine, plague, death, drugs and taxes. All the things we tend to judge as "bad" as well as those things we tend to judge as "good."

You can continue to judge things as "good" or "bad" if you choose. You can continue to eat from "The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil." Just know that each time you do, you step out of paradise. You step out of bliss. You leave the comforting presence of God.

The other option is you can choose to embrace whatever the Universe offers and find a way to appreciate it. Make it more valuable to yourself and others. When you're done appreciating it, simply offer it back to the Universe to do with what It will.

Embrace everything. Appreciate it. Give it back. Because it's all "very good."

It's Your Life! Make it Great.

About the author: Michael D. Pollock is an Executive Success Coach. He works with business leaders, managers, executives and entrepreneurs to help them make a profound impact on the world while achieving a new level of success and fulfillment in their own lives. To learn how he can help you and/or your organization, request a complimentary coaching session at: http://www.michaeldpollock.com