It’s a gift, when you think about it. Whether you want to say it’s from a higher order consciousness (deity) or the random alignment of particles after an explosion of truly epic proportions, the fact that right now you are reading these words really defies understanding.
YOU are HERE, NOW, in this moment, experiencing life.
But how you choose to look at it, and experience it, is up to you.
And it really is a choice. Sure, there are things that make it difficult sometimes, but in most situations, there are things we can do to make something better. Maybe it’s reaching out to a family member, even though we feel they should be reaching out to us.
Maybe it’s doing the things we need to do to sleep better and feel better, rather than constantly being tired and having no energy.
Maybe it’s having the conversations that scare us, even though they are hard.
In my life, I've come across a few individuals who have taken upon themselves true responsibility for their experience of existence.
These are the people who never seem to complain, never waste a moment in negativity, but instead push forward, exploring options, taking chances and accepting both failure and success as the outcome of opportunity.
Rarely, if ever, will you find these people gossiping about others, or wallowing in self pity.
Because they have reached the understanding that just by being alive, they’ve essentially won the ‘universal lottery’. I read once that the probability of becoming a human being is 400 trillion to one.
The fact that you are alive, and able to comprehend the meaning of the words you see on the screen in front of you is a mathematical absurdity, a unfathomable insanity.
And yet there are those who choose to waste their existence by not living a life they are happy with.
As someone who used to be wrapped up in self pity, waiting for the universe to ‘make things right and make up for the past’ I can tell you that I wasted so much time being trapped in a hell of my own creation.
Sure, some things had happened to me that had not happened to others, but rather than take ownership of my experience I essentially sat at the side of the road of life and sulked, rather than walking towards a better future.
Please don’t be the way I was. There’s nothing for you there except frustration, regret and sadness.
I once heard it said that the reason they say that hell is ‘infinite’ is because no matter how bad it is, someone can always make it worse by complaining.
Yes life can be hard, and yes people can be terrible, but in the end, choosing to focus on those things is the surest way I know to make things worse. The gift of sentience, of awareness, is truly the ability to decide where to spend our attention.
Have you ever thought of your attention as a currency, or a resource?
Although we are always going to be subject to the situation around us, if we choose to focus on what we can do, rather than what we can’t, we will almost always have options and opportunities in front of us.
Taking action is the way that we invest our ability in the cause of that which excites us, and brings meaning to our lives.
It’s all a choice really, and one we are faced with every minute, every day.
Please understand, I’m not here saying life is easy, and I’m not saying there aren’t times of struggle or pain. What I am saying is the in the end, how you choose to view this wonderful gift of lift will determine whether you live it to the full, or allow it to pass you by.
Your life, your choice, your eternity.
Make it a good one. You’ll be glad that you did.
— Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings