If you could pick just one capacity, one realization that made your life interesting and worthwhile, what would you choose? Would you decide on conscious, awareness that came to you at 20 or so? This helped you understand who you were and what you had to do with your piece of life. Even if it was not yet fully formulated, you understood that there was a mission there — whether to act upon it or not was within your purview.
Or, would you nominate the senses: the ability to savor a delicious meal or luxuriate in a delightful drink? Would you opt for the fabulous images that danced before your eyes, the soft pull of an opera, or the smell of a fresh spring day?
What about the emotions? Would you select the elation you felt at finishing school, getting your first job, or falling in love? So, so many choices. It is as if life is presented like a smorgasbord — take your plate and retrieve the most interesting and hopeful items. We seem, however, to mostly lack the tools, the spiritual and intellectual cutlery, to properly determine our desires.
I would take a slightly different approach. I would single out an epiphany — the realization that I am alone. This is not the naked terror of isolation, of solipsism, but the freedom to truly determine the nature of my own existence. Then, as a solitary being in partnership with God, Gaia, or the Universe, I would accept that I am faced with three existential questions: Why am I here? What is my mission? Where will I go when I leave this mortal plane?
Then, after deep introspection and a true communion with God, as I define him, I would be off to participate in my life. It is the journey experienced in my private Monomyth (1), my personal adventure — fraught with much suffering and hardship, but necessary to grow and mature.
Whether we choose consciousness, the senses, or emotions, specifically, most thoughtful people comprehend that they are unique. In all the possibilities displayed in the universe — the bugs, the bees, the rocks, the trees, other human beings — I was somehow given me, devoid of vanity. What a gift!
Now what? For the vast majority, rather sadly according to human history — nothing. I am born, I mature, I study, then I mate, procreate, accumulate, things like money, and die. This, nonetheless, does not have to be the case. But all is predicated on a little bravery and a modicum of risk — the possibility of being the person I deserve to be. It is my personal choice. What adventures await!
From the poet and essayist Diane Ackerman: (2) I don’t want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well.
A closing thought: It behooves each of us to stand back and reflect on where we want to go with our life. This is a simple task but rarely undertaken. Why one may ask? Busyness, I would conclude. The incessant pounding of data streaming through our phones allows little time, or desire, for reflection. But examine we must. If we fail to act, the consequences are not pretty — the result — an unrequited life. How many old people do you know who are truly happy? Fortunately, the options are in our hands.
To sum up: This week we spoke about options and how to live a fulfilling life.
To be noted: From Frederick Nietzsche (3) — He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.
Just for fun:
For reflection:
This week, on your beautiful walk, please analyze how you see your life — ascendant or descendant?
Every day look for something magical and beautiful.
Don’t be a wage slave – critical thinking is great!
Quote: Choose well, and be true to only yourself.
Footnotes:
(1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hero%27s_journey
(2) https://www.dianeackerman.com/
(3) PHILOSOPHY – Nietzsche