Warning: This topic covers suicide and trauma.

Words Written reflect the Author’s Perspective World. The Meaning translated by the Reader reflect the Reader’s Perspective World. Logical Contradiction leads to Confusion and Mental Illness, Cognitive Dissonance, and, in some cases, death. Read Responsibly. Read Objectively. Nutritional Education. This Reminder is from The Healing Garden. We value your Mental Health and The Preservation of Your Subconscious Mind. #mentalhealthawareness #takingaction

The irony that I would be talking on Finding The Next Step as my “next step” is not lost on me.

The Purpose of Life is one that seems to elude many of us. I talk to a lot of people every day. And this question, “Where am I going?,” “Who Am I?,” “What am I supposed to do?,” is common.

“Show me the next step,” is a Manifestation I say every night before bed. It is the Manifestation I have been using since 1995 when Plato first taught me that you just got to stand. And keep moving.

No matter where. No matter for how long. Just keep moving.

For me, not stopping was not an option. If I sat down, I sat in the metaphorical sewage of life, and where I lived, that was a death sentence. You don’t stop. You never stop. You stop and you die. Oh, you can rest. And sometimes, you have to sleep in the mud, but upon waking you get up and you stand and you take one more step.

And if you didn’t, there was a higher probability, the next morning, that you wouldn’t.

So I learned that, no matter what, you stand and you take one more step.

There were days where just standing was a good day. There were days where one step was a good day. There were days where I had to take two steps back to take three steps forward. No matter what, you keep standing. You keep going.

Where I come from, you don’t take one step forward and two steps back. That kind of thinking is a death sentence. Always ask “How many steps back did I have to take to find this one right step?”

I call that “Re-Routing.”

I didn’t have the luxury to think, “What is the meaning of life?”

I just wanted to live. I just wanted freedom. I just wanted to escape.

I never berated myself for not taking 10 steps. The goal was never quantity of steps. The goal was progress. And when you wake every day wondering if on that day you are going to die, the goal is different.

You’re not thinking about “Who am I going to marry?” or “What job do I want?” or “How many kids do I want?”

I was thinking, “How do I not get beaten today?” “How do I keep the cats and the dogs safe today.” “How do I not get raped today?” You think, “What can I learn today to keep me alive tomorrow?” And no matter what, you find the next step. you always pursue the stones.

The Light mattered. The Light was the most important thing. You lose the Light, and game over. You find the Light. You never turn your back on that Light. And you hold onto that Light no matter what. Because if you lose that Light, the Conversation in your mind changes.

You start having a different kind of conversation. You’re tired. You’re exhausted. You’re alone. Oh, that. That was a Truth that I learned at 4 years old. It was safer to be alone. I almost lost the Light once. I had turned my back to it. And it took me three days to Stand.

I had slit my wrist. And no one noticed or cared. I had run away… again, and it took my parents a day to notice. I was so invisible that I was nothing. I did not exist. I was not real. Real means “important.” Before you go around telling people what isn’t or is real, you should probably that “real” actually means “important.” And you should really stop telling people what is “real.”

I was told that I wasn’t real. Literally and metaphorically. On the day that I believed that, I turned my back on the Light.

I had the conversation with myself.

Why should I stand?

What was it for?

Why bother?

And my Alters said one thing to me.

“What if you are wrong?”

I imagined killing myself. Being wrong, that there was hope. And not even being around to learn that I had been wrong.

This… this is why, to this day, I love being wrong. Because I’m alive to know it and once, I almost wasn’t.

What if I killed myself because things could not be better… and then they were? And I had been wrong? I had to believe that there could be something better one day.

That I could have… That if I just had…… If I just took one more step… What if that was the last step?

I saw the Light just then, and I grabbed it. I named it. I called it A Hope Thread. And I imagined it thick, and strong, and bright. And I took that Hope Thread and tied it around my waste. And then, I was able to turn back to The Light.

After that day, I learned to find Hope Thread, and grow them. Today, I teach people how to Grow their own Hope Threads.

I followed that Light for 40 years. Every day, “Just stand.” “Just take one more step.” Don’t stop. Keep going.

One Day… You will…

I cannot tell you the feeling when I arrived at the Lighthouse, and I found out I was not walking toward a Beacon outside my Storm. I was walking toward the Beacon inside of me.

It was in me the Whole Time. The whole time. And not one person knew to tell me this. After I got out, I couldn’t even speak the Language. Oh, I could speak English. But not in any order that anyone could understand. And not at all in words that could explain me.

It would take me two years to learn that I was a slave. Slavery does not look like slavery on the inside.

Not. At. All.

Slavery does not look like slavery on the inside.

You could be a slave right now, and you wouldn’t even know it. Delusions from Pedestals of Power are DANGEROUS.

I had to invent my own language to explain what I saw. And then, I had to learn yours. And then… I could translate it. I found myself saying the same thing still. “Find the next step.” Just stand. Keep going. Only, I was down to one new stone a day. Sometimes two.

My mind…It was like I had all of the Roman Forum and Bustling Market on Calends in my mind… Oh… You don’t speak Ancient Roman…

… Thinking… It was like I had every Superbowl audience in my head ever at once.

And despite the noise, I had to work in it.

Then, I found the stone to discipline my mind. Another stone, and I silenced the screams, and then, another stone, the conversations, another stone, and then… there was silence… Pure, deafening silence for the first time in my life. It would take me a year to get used to it.

I still am. There is no noise and for me, that is weird.

No Alters screaming or arguing with each other, then wiping my memory so I couldn’t ask who they were or who was talking. Or even remember or notice that anyone was talking… It was really important, for a very long time, that I not remember that I could hear people talking.

And when my first therapist asked me all the questions, my Alters knew precisely what to say and what not to say. The Mindset of the System was the most dangerous Delusion of all.

I was pursuing Freedom. And they threatened that.

When I realized in 2022, that, the information I had was PRICELESS… I had to find a way to give it to people. But I had no idea how. My first thought was “Market this!” And I immediately saw myself as a public speaker, telling others about my Stepping Stones, My Hope Threads, and My Light. How every day, I just had to Stand and take one step.

I lay down another stone.

Even now, we are all laying stones, reading articles to find our next stone, or passively standing in place wherever you are, unaware that you need to be laying stones.

How, I was obssessed with taking one step. And so I became addicted to knowledge, information, and learning.

So obsessed that, after I healed, I came to learn that I had learned the equivalent of 9 Doctorate Degrees over 40 years, all of which I used to keep me standing, moving, and going. I am Ontological Physicist. A Philosopher Bard. A Societal Solutionist.

And I know the Meaning of Life.

The Meaning of Life is to find the next stone, take the next step, and keep your eye on that Light. Always. I thought it was because of the abuse or the slavery that I pursued my Light. I thought it was because of the pain I was in that I had to find the stones.

And it was, but mostly, it wasn’t.

After the pain, after freedom, I was still needing stones. I interviewed people. And I talked to thousands. And you know what I learned?

You all are also looking for your stones.

And here I am. Free. And I have a new Light. And more stones. This article is me, casting a stone because I’m looking for my next stone.

What is a stone? you may ask… Ah… That, that only you can decide.

Most of you don’t know it. And the ones who don’t know it, are going nowhere. Most people are not looking for their stones. Most people have no idea how to look for their stones.

Many people are sitting in their own mud and filth, complaining about how no one is coming instead of learning how to lay the stones.

The purpose of life is to lay the stones so that you may know who you are. So no one ever can lay your stones for you. No one else know what stones you need. And you don’t know what stones you need until and unless you decide to stand up, learn, lay, and step.

You see, you have to suffer enough to overcome the fear and frustration. That’s the secret. You have to suffer to motivate yourself to stand. But that’s actually not true. What you really have to do is Love.

Just Love.

I loved Freedom.

I wanted Freedom.

I dreamed of Freedom.

You don’t know what it is like to not be Free. Until I describe it to you and then you realize, you are just like me because Slavery does not look like slavery on the inside. Not. At. All.

You have to Love something more on the outside than you love on the inside. That is the Freedom formula. That is the life formula. And then, you stand and you look for your stone. Because you Love more than you hate.

You have to Hate more than you Fear, and you have to Love more than you Hate.

My god, that mantra saved my life so many times over 40 years,

Hate more than you Fear. Love more than you Hate. I said that every day. I think that is the tattoo for my foot.

You have to Hate your situation more than you Fear the change. You have to Love the Dream of the Outside more than you Hate your situation.

There are three kinds of stones.

There are learning stones, healing stones, and discovery stones. Learn. Heal. Discover. Again.

I thought this information and knowledge was something I had to tell Domestic Violent Victims who were stuck in their darkness… but it’s not. I have to tell every single one of us because we all are building a path of stepping stones toward a Light.

If you are not laying down stones, then you are not living.

If you are not moving progressively on your path, then you are not living.

The Purpose of Life is to build this path so that you may know who you are. People hole themselves up. They stare at the first stone. And they refuse to start their journey until “They know who they are.”

“I can’t start my Journey without me!”

“I can’t start my Journey until I know who I am!”

My dear. The Journey is how you find out who you are. Find a Light. Pick any Light and start laying stones. “What is your Light?” is a Light.

And when you get to that Light, and you find out it’s a Beacon inside of you… That is when the real journey begins. That is when you start to live.

I call this “The Learning Journey of The Discovered Self.” And it is the meaning of Life. We are all heading toward the same place. The Point of Comprehension.

That One Mindset inside of you where you know yourself so well that you can see all of Truth in relativity to you. And then no one can tell a lie to you ever again that you can’t see.

There are skills you need to walk The Learning Journey of The Discovered Self. 7 Life Skills, 12 Ethics, and the Conscious Awareness of The Learning Journey of The Discovered Self.

You need to learn how to learn.

You need to learn how to plan.

You need to learn how to organize.

You need to learn how to evaluate.

You need to learn how to assess.

You need to learn Logic.

You need to learn Problem Solving.

And having a conversation with yourself about Quality and Standards. And making a decision on the Standards that you are going to set for your life. This… this is the most important. Yes. The Quality is the determining factor that makes you decide when you Stand, When you Rest, and when you Sleep in the sewage, and when you put your bags down to stay.

If you have no standards, you’ll never even stand.

Ironically, my rapist and 2nd Owner taught me this lesson. And then raped me. To teach me a lesson.

The meaning of life is Joy. Savoring Joy. True Love. And Community. True Community. The kind of Community that brings you more Community. The kind of Community where everyone is an Elevator Person to everyone. Your Belonging. But most of all, Teach yourself the skill of Savoring Joy.

Or else, long after you find happiness, you won’t be able to touch it to even know it.

If you or your loved ones are battling suicide or self harm here is my Hope Thread. I gift it to you… and please reach. Don’t you dare let go. Someone will take your hand one day. Keep going. You just take one more step. It’s just a chapter. It’s not the whole book. https://988lifeline.org/

How is this related to Mental Health? To protect you from Psychological Abuse. 100% of my work is always backed by Pythagorean Psychology so you know how to Abuse Proof You. The Healing Garden values your Mental Health and the Preservation of your Subconscious Mind. Education cures Mental Illness. Education is the Catalyst of Awareness. #mentalhealthawareness #takingaction