We have a tendency to not remind ourselves often enough, to forget, that it is a good life – for as long as we have it. This is a claim that is difficult to hold prior to being born and it won’t be tenable, most assuredly, after we are deceased. There is a school of thought, however, that believes the words should not be “have,” — for as long as we have it, but actually “endure,” — for as long as we endure it. When you think of the trauma that life is for most of us, this idea is totally understandable. There is only one problem. This is the only life – my only life in this consciousness. Nothing is true unless I deem it so. If I see life as pain, a collection of endless failures, it is. Conversely, if I view it as a great adventure on a path to personal achievement, it can be this instead.
The problem here is not some external phenomena – no matter how tragic – it is me (unless I have some mental illness, and most don’t). I am not so unique. My pain is not something that has never before been experienced in the human chronicle. (1) Some occurrence, no matter how sick or perverse, has been experienced by someone else. Their response may be unique, but the happening virtually universal. Let us take rejection for example. The illustration of a failed relationship or business: it’s done, it’s over! The hopes, the plans, the dreams are finished. Have you ever noticed that when you close a situation, it doesn’t matter what type, the door will not secure smoothly? There is a gap that seems to take forever to shut. These are our memories. The mind has a wonderful way of sanitizing the past over time. Even, the nasty and the negative occurrences soften and become less painful.
Now, how I respond to this collapse will dictate the future direction of my life. Many failed human beings, the alcoholics, the drug addicts, the prostitutes, and the beggars, to name but a few, have, quite obviously, not answered this challenge positively. Why not? There is always an excuse. Sadly, life is not so forgiving. The only person who can alter my reality is me. There is no elixir to self-worth. It is created internally by the self. My friend, J.A. Earl, made an interesting point to me the other day. He drew a distinction between unjustifiable and justifiable anger — dark anger and white anger, to put it in my parlance. Dark anger is morally reprehensible: the kind of anger you harbor and needlessly start an argument or, at its most extreme, kill another person. White anger is anger that you experience when you see an immoral act or view a social injustice and the act accordingly. White anger is something that we must also feel when we have been “beaten down” or have failed. It is the kind of emotion that reignites the excellence that we all possess and it puts us to work, once again, on our life project. White anger wakes us up in the morning, keeps us focused and sparks our self-worth. It reminds us that this is a good life.
The great social reformer and anti-slave abolitionist, Sir Thomas Buxton (1786-1845), leaves us with a thought: The longer I live, the surer I become that the truest real difference between the success and the failure, between the strong and the weak, between the rich and the poor, between the great and the average, is just plain will power, invincible determination, a purpose once set and then death or victory. And no fine manners, education or brilliance, no talent, opportunity or culture can make any two-legged creature a man without it.
A closing thought: We must dig into our mine of thought and experience whenever we feel aggrieved by the actions of others or the cruelty of the world. It is an old chestnut, but it is true. I cannot change a person or a past situation. I can only change my response. There is always another day to rectify whatever may have transpired until the good Lord grants me no more mornings. To quote Henry W. Longfellow (1807-1882): Tell me not in mournful numbers, life is but an empty dream! For the soul is dead that slumbers and things are not they seem. (2)
To sum up: This week, we spoke about truly appreciating that life is a gift given but once in this reality. We should cherish it.
A small joke: My dog used to always chase people on a bike. It got so bad that I finally had to take his bike away.
Just for fun – Patsy Cline – Crazy
This week, on your thoughtful stroll, please celebrate the fact that you are alive!
Every day look for something magical and beautiful.
Quote: Remember to thank your God for every single day you are given another chance at life.
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