Death is certain for us all. Life isn’t guaranteed to any of us, and we definitely aren’t promised tomorrow. We only get shot shot at life, so we should make the most of our time here. So many of us get caught up in what other people think of us and our lives. We base a lot of the decisions we make in our lives on how others will react, or what they think about our decisions. Falling into that mindset is one of the worst mistakes we can make. Once we start basing everything in our lives around others, we are no longer living for ourselves. Instead, we are living for others-which in turn will not make us happy in the end. Yes I know that life isn’t just about one person. However, we must look to make ourselves happy first. 

I watched a video on Youtube recently where professional bodybuilder, Kai Greene asked the question; “Are we living our lives on our own terms”? He wanted to know if we were doing the things that WE want to do in life. It makes me wonder to myself; how many of us are really living life on our own terms? I know that we all have different circumstances and situations in life, but we can try to make the best of them at the current time. During that process, we can focus on changing our lives for the better. As I’ve gotten older I realize that life is much more shorter than I thought. I find the years of my life speeding up now. There is no going back to when we were kids, so lets live in the moment and try to enjoy this life. Thanks for reading.  

ORDINARY PEOPLE

This world is filled with ordinary people,

yet each unique in their own way

just doing those common, ordinary things

in living their life each day…

Dealing with each day as it comes,

each joy or trouble they may face,

facing it with hope and faith

and in their ordinary ways;

living their life best they know how

and doing it with grace.

They’re just ordinary people

that we may chance to meet

as we go about our own life

at work, at play or on the street

or maybe in the shopping mall;

they may just nod or talk awhile,

share some friendly greeting

or maybe just a smile…

There is something unique about them

that gives your heart a lift,

lightens the gray, maybe in your day

like an unexpected gift.

They are just ordinary people,

no different from you and me

who share a bit of sunshine

for all the world to see,

through a smile, some simple kindness

that brightens up your day

as they go about their daily life

in their ordinary way.

Image via Wikipedia

The first man in modern times to reach the summit of Everest, Sir Edmund Hillary, stated “It is not the mountain we conquer; it’s ourselves”. I have always lived by this philosophy because if you think about the first time you tried riding a bicycle you probably fell off, probably not as spectacularly as I did, launching into a hotel fountain and pond with the bike on top of this four year old. Yet we conquer this skill and move on to greater things. That is how we live life.

Image via Wikipedia

Remember that as you walk down the rain-drenched street and a passing taxi runs through a massive puddle and drenches you. Could there be any worse low point? Actually there could be a worse situation; you are at least alive and kicking and tomorrow is another day to be lived and enjoyed. My grandmother always proudly announced that “worse things happen at sea”, curious since we are not a seafaring family yet it serves to demonstrate the point appropriately.

We take a certain amount of risk to reach the summit of the mountain. When you think about it there is no mountain rescue service operating the upper slopes of Everest, every climber must pack light in order to ascend the summit in the low air of these higher altitudes makes the task particularly trecherous. But it is a part of the challenge. The climber must select the right people and the right equipment in order to assist them in reaching their goal.

As humans we are amazing creatures, there can be no doubting this. We can train ourself to attain almost anything we desire. “I can’t get up at 4 in the morning!” – have you heard this complaint when getting ready for an early flight for that much desired vacation. Yet we can train ourselves to wake up at 3am every morning without the aid of an alarm clock if we put our mind to it. We merely need to change the habits we have formed in the past in order to make new habits. If we desire something we can generally make it happen with the right focus and will.

We often ask in hindsight if something we accomplished was worthwhile, yet I have to ask if we are looking at something the right way. The act of getting drenched on the rainy day by the taxi was something that was largely outside of our control, sure we could have taken another route, or even hailed a cab. But the point is we cannot control everything that happens in our lives, for some events we are merely passengers taking the journey and there is nothing we can do to change that fact. Yet we can savour the experience and learn. Ultimately these experiences all contribute to our memories and to many this is the most important aspect of life; to live it.

We can also share our experiences and help others benefit in the long run. Whatever you decide to do during the course of your life is a personal choice that others can influence but not make. The route to the top is rarely smooth, if it were it may make it boring and then we would not have enjoyed the experience.

(Picture of Himilayas from Northern India by Peter B. Giblett).

“It costs so much to be full human being, that there are very few who have the enlightenment or the courage to   pay the price.”

One has to abandon altogether the search for security. And reach out to the risk of living with both arm.

One has to embrace the world like a lover, and to accept pain as a condition of existence.

One has to court doubt and darkness as a cost of knowing.

One needs ac will stubborn in conflict, but always willing to accept every consequences of living and dying.

” to laugh is to risk appearing like a fool.

To weep is to risk being called sentimental.

To reach out to another is to risk involvement.

To expose feelings is to risk sharing your true self.

To place ideas and dreams before a crowdis to risk being a naive.

To love is to risk not being loved in return.

To hope is to risk dispair.

To try is to risk failure…

                                                But only the one who risks, is truly free.”

“After a while…

You learn the difference between holding  hand and chasing a soul.

You learn that love is not leaning, but lending support.

You begin to accept defeats with the grade of an adult, not with the grief of a child.

You decide to build your roads today because tomorrow’s ground is too uncertain.

You help someone plant a garden instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.

You learn that God have given you strength to endure, and you really do have worth.

Firstly your sleep suffers; this puts you into a constant state of tiredness and irritability. Your sleep pattern becomes altered as you force yourself to get up at ungodly hours to go off to work. You lose living time as it gets chewed up with work related hours. This includes preparing for work, travelling to and from work, and the hours you spend under the clock. Your social life begins to disappear as you find that you don’t have time for people, yet alone meeting new people. Chances are that your existing relationship would suffer drastically and dissolve even. As for trying to build a new relationship, you find it’s a complete impossibility! So there goes your company and sex life!

What suffers next is your general state of happiness. You become attached to the comforts of your workplace. You begin to shy away from public places, as you feel the world has forgotten you, and that somehow you’ve become a stranger to the outside world, that is the world outside your workplace! You’re earning all of the money but you can’t spend it or enjoy it. You begin to identify within your job as your very purpose in life becomes the company agenda. You begin to hate the job, but you’ve become a prisoner to the job. You become very comfortable within your environment, you can’t imagine what you’d do if you left. So you work miserably, the same sad daily routine. Time passes you, but time seems almost stationary at work. It is your shield to change, your perpetual daily prison. You find that you spend more time at work, and awake than you do at home sleeping! All you end up doing is sleeping and working! Money loses its value; the work itself becomes a lifestyle, a daily burden you feel you must deal with.

Over time your body starts to break down due to a myriad of work related injuries. These injuries lead to surgeries more often than not. So you go through surgery, you suffer the pain as they cut you, and the disfigurement that follows. You still champion on, you return to your workplace and soldier on! After all by now pain, misery, routine, and joylessness are all normality! Before you know it your mental state drifts off into a state of depression, as you struggle with the very meaning of your life. You begin to wonder if you’re good enough to leave and work elsewhere. You’ve become dependent on the money, the comfort of the workplace, the familiarity.

By the time you find the strength inside you to take control of your life you would have lost 5-10 years of your life. That is a significant part of your life wasted to an existence of pain and misery. All brought on by work addiction, and perpetual greed! It’s not pretty is it?

This is why a fair week’s work is 40 hours, and not more. A few extra hours here and there is ok, but anything above that and you’re setting yourself up for self destruction! It took me 6 years to break away from my daily death that was my former job. I could thank my money addiction and sheer work addiction for everything! I now know the dangers of being a workaholic! Work addiction is a crippling disease. So I ask you; are you a workaholic?

Let’s leave tomorrow, at half past eight. Rather than taking the path to our school bus, we’re going to go beyond that and into the woods, where I’ve hidden my secret taxi. We’ll going to hop in, order some pizza and chinese food, then drive up a mountain. Fifty minutes later, I’ll destroy the car and we’ll dress up as bears. I’ve brought a bear translation dictionary for this occasion. We’ll walk into the cave and I’ll try to convince the mama bear that I’m her long lost son. After this is achieved, we’ll all have dinner at dominos.

You know, since dominos is one of my favorite restaurants, we might even be able to get a family discount. Hell, maybe we can all sign up for family feud. Wouldn’t that be something? I think it would.

So what do you say?

Let’s leave tomorrow and live life! Screw school. We’ll start our own careers selling fox meat to other bears. We’ll make a fortune! We’ll live like a king!

“A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.”

Joseph Campbell (March 26, 1904 – October 30, 1987), American author and mythologists, has revealed that the hero’s journey is a quest for knowledge and achieving a desired goal. This undoubtedly will test the hero with peril and bold deeds. A good example of this is George Lucas’s Star Wars films concerning the adventures of Luke Skywalker in which the hero’s journey is not so much a courageous endeavor but more as a life lived in self-discovery, “and Luke Skywalker was never more rational than when he found within himself the resources of character to meet his destiny.” – Joseph Campbell.

Life is full of choices. That’s what free will is all about. We mustn’t blame God for mistakes or our own frailty. We are the creators of our own destiny. Campbell mentioned the Indian belief of Karma in which he said, “Your life is the fruit of your own doing.  You have no one to blame but yourself.”

Cover of The Power of Myth (Illustrated Edition)

Some would say that chance controls destiny. The chance that your parents even met from amongst millions of people and then fell in love is incredible. The chance that you were even born is a miracle. The chance that you might be killed in a terrible war or killed accidentally in a accident can happen without your control. Campbell said, “The problem is not to blame or explain but to handle the life that arises.” Follow your heart and not the bureaucratic imposed system you are living in. Do not let the masses dictate how you should think and what you should do. Have independent thought and hold onto your ideals true to yourself. Keep your humanity and be a person of heart and live free to the fullest.

What happens when you forget your humanity?

The Star Wars films are not so much a morality play as they are a modern mythological tale. Often the hero’s own identity is shrouded in mystery and he may possess special powers that no other person has. As was the case of Luke’s father, Anakin Skywalker who began life as a hero and later a notorious dark figure.

A once proud and heroic Jedi Knight of the Old Republic, Anakin began his life as a hero we all know from classic literature, undertaking an arduous journey full of adventure and facing challenging, and supernatural obstacles. For the quest of the hero is he who follows a singular path that may lead him to the far corners of the world, perhaps the underworld or to a magical world in search of his identity, his love, his purpose, and ultimately his destiny. But tragically given the gift of absolute power Anakin gives up his humanity of selflessness and instead uses his power for selfishness. He falls from grace, and ultimately becomes the evil Dark Lord of the Sith, known as Darth Vader, and becomes one of the main architects of the imposed system.

Joseph Campbell has shown that these mythological stories generally end with the hero gaining new knowledge or abilities, as well as wisdom and maturity. The purpose of a hero must endure great hardships and face whatever opposition arises. The hero must rely upon his wits and inner strength to combat demons and enemies. Some heroes are endowed with extreme luck, and protected by magic or a shielding deity. But ultimately, heroes are just people like you and me. They are on a journey of self-discovery and self understanding. Their symbolic journeys and adventures form the basis for many myths and legends that we know of today and are filled with great lessons to be learned that transcends all ages and time.

How does mythology help the average person?

The power of myth, rituals, religion, our belief system, tradition, society, literature, the pursuit of God, love, living life, and the meaning of death, all invoked the meaning of the world around us and our attempt to understand and harmonize our lives with our state of reality. You enter into the world, not knowing who you are, and what you’re capable of. Understanding how we fit into the universe is a desire and goal we all have as human beings.

Campbell has stated that the power of myth opens the doorway of discovery to the mysteries and wonder of the actual world around us. Understanding how the universe works isn’t easy and even science can’t tell us how everything works. Mythology can help with validating sociological concepts and help us to understand them. The laws of life demonstrating morality and ethical laws that has been practiced and maintain in a good society for thousands of years. Most importantly, mythology helps us to understand life under any circumstances. A good example of understanding this concept is in Campbell’s book, Pathways to Bliss: Mythology and Personal Transformation. Campbell mentions in the book that not only literature, but even great works of art can demonstrate the message clearly. “Artists are magical helpers. Evoking symbols and motives that connect us to our deeper selves, they can help us along the heroic journey of our own lives.”

Heroes are born every day and from every walk of life. Unlike heroes from mythology, modern-day heroes are not immortal beings, nor are they all powerful. Instead, they are representatives of all the best qualities that human beings have, such as courage, ingenuity, strength, wisdom, compassion, and love. An average person may not think that they’re able to make a difference in the world. But all it takes is one or two, to stand up and do what’s right, to say what’s right, and to act on that and make it right. That act alone takes courage and something that we find in ourselves to make it come through and manifest our true nature, which is to be in harmony with the universe to be in harmony with each other to be in harmony with ourselves.

Legends of heroes show us just how great we could be. For if you’re going to aspire to be somebody, anybody, than a hero is a great start, one who ventures forward into the unknown searching for the truth, happiness, and boldly staying true to oneself. Everyday heroes are in search of wonder, peace, Nirvana, and illumination. Heroes like Jesus and Buddha and Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr and everyday heroes, philosophers, doctors, singers, writers, artists, our parents, our teachers, our children, and ultimately ourselves. A place to find is within you. Follow your bliss and be the guiding light to others.

T.S.Garp © Copyright 2010 All Rights Reserved.

We live in a world that holds to certain rules and structures.  Born into it and taught by all that have already been before.  Always are we told how it must be and what we should be doing, but never are we told why it must be or why we must participate at all?  Even children are constantly being spoken to in a way that only provides no and yes answers, and never an understanding of why they need to experience things in such systems and structure.

There are stages of thinking that a person goes through in order to understand their position in life.  They first have issues that arise and they must then confront physical limitation and constraint.  Firstly they will fight against their perceived oppressor’s words and rules, just like when a child refuses to do things when a parent asks of it.  Even though the oppressor might not always be pushing concepts and ideas onto a person for want of hurting them, mostly it is done out of caring and wanting for another person to fit into life.  It is still when brought down to simplicity, a rule presented forth through another person’s beliefs and opinions on life.  It is not until we reach the stage of adulthood that we realize how much this is evident, that what our parents always told us to do, is not necessarily the way we will choose to do it for ourselves. 

Fighting against restriction is the first step we take on the path to understanding life and why we are here.  We first confront our position in life and question why all things must take place, and why we need to participate in all the physical rules and structures in life.  The next stage is when we realize that certain rules and structures when not met in life bring to us worse struggle than our defiance from wanting to participate.  This is the stage that leads to depression for a lot of people, and when they reach this stage most often they will seek outside help for answers. 

A lot of times these depression stages, when we have to acknowledge that we are living in life and that there are certain things that need to take place in order to survive, we really start to question our reality and why it exists.  Most people reach this stage through certain steps within their life, but others reach this stage when great turmoil comes into their life, or dramatic life events.  At these stages they will reach out to people that can help them through their emotional and mental problems and lead them on a path of finding happiness and contentment in their life. 

It does not matter how much help we seek in life from others, eventually the understanding of our circumstances in life needs to be confronted individually.  Although another person can give us advice that comes from their own choices and perception on life, it is not until a person deals with their own experiences emotionally and mentally before they come to levels of acceptance inside themselves.

Acceptance comes from understanding life at the most practical level.  Seeing it through cause and effect rather than in have to and must do, knowing that we are already here and that we not only have the ability to think but also to physically experience life through perception in our bodies.  This gives us a stepping stone to hold ourselves up on.  The fact that we are here gives us every reason to participate in life and see it as an experience.  If the experience were not meant to be, then surely it would not have a reason to exist.  This shows us that we are the experience of life and reality, not the reason for it, but the effect from the cause. 

Knowing that we are the experience of reality, both physically and mentally, helps us to understand and accept reality at all levels, seeing it as a playing field with so much potential and purpose.  You could think of it in this way perhaps, if you had the choice between not existing or taking on animated existence that had so much potential for growth and experience, which would you choose?  Would you choose nothing or a life of something?

Seeing life as having potential is the first step to accepting the whole experience.  Most will go through several stages before reaching this practical understanding.  They might even get to levels of not wanting to be a part of life anymore, or even that they think that they are making this all up in their head.  What ever they think does not change the fact that they are here, participating in animated reality.  They know mentally, even though they might challenge their perception through ego, that they will tomorrow wake up in their bodies here on earth and know that they will have to follow the process that all do here in animated reality. 

Even if someone would question if they create this for themselves they will be the first to have to admit inwardly, even if not to others, that their choice to be here is ‘mentally’ not in their power to change, only physically can a person make decisions on their own survival.  This illustrates even more the importance of accepting physical reality even to the most practical levels.  That we are physical as well as mental, and that the whole of reality is about the experience, rather than always having to be about a result or the cause. 

If life were to be experienced knowing that you had no choice in the cause and reason, and your own happiness and measure of potentiality were to be in your own physical hands, how would you want to experience life?  Would you want to will away every moment while being in the experience, measuring your life on unhappiness and struggle, or would you make the most of all that was on offer and all that was a possibility? 

Would you still focus on fighting against your perceived oppressor or would you accept that there are practical things that need to be accepted in life based on cause and effect?  That we are the event taking place and even when we do not want to participate we have not the ability to mentally change our physical experience, we can only mentally change our ‘perception’ of life and how we wish to experience it. 

Life is about perception and when lived practically through understanding things at the basis of reality, based on the fact that we are here anyway, gives us every reason to make the most of all that we have to experience.  Through choice and accepting life practically we can achieve anything that is possible in our perceived reality.

By Stacey T Pollock

So how does one start living life as opposed to just existing? How do you stop going through the motions of living and start living again? Moreover, how does this fit into everyday life?

Well to start living, you need to re-develop a sense of curiosity, amazement, and awe about the everyday things. You need to start asking questions again. “How?” “What?” “Why?” You need to re-train yourself to see the world not as a tasks or problems to overcome, but as experiences to live. You need to see the specialness in everyday situations. To be happy you need to realize that you’re already special because there’s not another person walking this earth with your personal combination of DNA, Life Experience, and Personality. Your life already has meaning!

As children, we have a curiosity about the world, but as we become older, we lose our curiosity or we are discouraged by the adults in our lives. How many have you heard the phrase “Don’t ask too many questions”? Maybe you have even uttered these words to your own children. By losing your sense of curiosity about the world, you lose the ability to observe your environment, to be engaged with everyday events, to learn new things, and to explore aspects of your inner self.

How long has it been since you’ve asked yourself these questions? “What am I interested in?”, “Have I learned anything new today?” “How does that work? “ If you don’t remember or haven’t asked yourself these questions before you’ve lost your sense of curiosity. It is part of our nature to explore our environments, once we stop exploring we stop growing, and when we stop growing we lose our joy of life.”

Too many of us go through life taking for granted the marvels of everyday life. The fact you wake up in the morning is a miracle! By re-developing your curiosity about the world around you, the pace of your life will slow and you will begin to experience life and not just exist. Once you really start to live life, you will automatically become happier.

A daily commute on the train could become a daily adventure in meeting new and interesting people or the daily drive with your child could become a bonding moment. By encouraging your child’s curiosity, you too will discover new things about the world. If you don’t know a thing just say so and together discover the answer on the Internet or through books. It may surprise you what you learn about your kids on those daily rides.

You say you don’t have the time. Add up the hours you spend this week watching TV. Do you want your kids to remember the special times they spent with you or the program they watched while they were children?

Once you redevelop your curiosity about your world and the people in it, you will discover a completely new universe in your own backyard. Again, you might say, “I don’t have the time to do this” but by organizing your daily tasks, you’ll find the time.

Treat time as if its money. We learn to budget our money but how many of us budget our time. Just like money, time is not infinite. We only have twenty-four hours in a day and part of those hours are use to work, eat and sleep. It’s difficult to make time for the important things in life when we feel we don’t have enough hours in a day.

To re-develop your curiosity you must look to the world outside and expand your boundaries. Here are some things to help you expand your boundaries.

• Make time to explore nature. As human beings, we are not meant to spend the majority of our time in doors. Seasonal disorders are often caused because of inadequate sun exposure. Going outside to feel the sun on one’s face is not only mentally beneficial but also healthful. Our bodies need a certain amount of direct sunlight in order to create vitamin D.
• Look for a positive in any situation. Notice the people in around you that seem happy. One thing you will find in common with all of them is a positive outlook on life. By actively seeking out the positives in any situation, you will slowly change how you think about the events in your life. For example, you may have been passed over a promotion but the person who now has that position is working 60 hours a week with no over time.
• Realize your attitude towards how you react to things does affect your emotional state
• Think of ways to improve the lives of those around you and do positive things for others. A goal I have everyday is try to doing a nice thing for someone. On some days, it may mean giving someone a smile and a hello. On other days, it may mean volunteering to do something for someone. Your actions do not have to be extravagant, just an act of kindness to another human being. The smile back or the thank you may lift your spirits all day.

Many of us are caught up in the daily grind of life. We forget that there are more things in life than doing our tasks. We’ll always have problems but how we face them is the battle between feeling desolate and feeling content. By gently changing your perspective and exploring each day, you avoid getting into the ruts that lead to unhappiness. You may not have the euphoric temporary emotion of happiness, which never lasts, but you will never feel boredom again nor will you feel trapped. There’s a big world out there to explore.