Tag Archives: Experience

22

Learning is a Life Skill

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Learn-gain or acquire knowledge of or skill in (something) by study, experience, or being taught

LearnDay to day, we strive for enjoyment and understanding. No matter our age, we must focus on what we can learn to make our life a better, more enjoyable experience.  People are too often satisfied with their knowledge base and never think there is anything else they could or would ever want to learn.  This is a limiting mindset in all areas of life, personal and professional.  You will never know it all, but you can always try to learn it all.  Each day is a possibility to learn something new.  Focus your consciousness on what you can learn today in your thoughts, words, and actions. There is always something for you to pick up or try.  So don’t be too limited in what you do. Gain or acquire knowledge or skills today, and make your life more enjoyable and productive.

Being Self-taught

The greatest invention in history is the internet because of the vast and nearly unlimited amount of information available to every person.  If you desire to learn, you can create a curriculum to study.  Learning styles don’t even matter because there are several mediums available. There are videos available on how to do just about anything you can imagine. Teaching yourself how to do almost anything will take the desire to do it and the willingness to do a little research.

Knowledge has never been so accessible, and the freedom that comes with those facts can lead you to a new job or a new life. All of the excuses we tell ourselves are irrelevant because there is access to quality content at the touch of a finger.  Study, and you will learn.  It is up to you if you use the internet to feed your mind or deaden its senses.

Learn from Experience

One of the best ways to learn is through experience.  We can’t help but find growth this way. Unfortunately, the experience is not a very kind teacher and has no regard for your feelings and temperament.  Many lessons you will learn from experience will be painful, uncomfortable, and trying to the soul. Many are not good students and need to get the same lesson over and over again until they finally gain an understanding of what they need to know.

However, the benefits of experience are free to everyone equally and when we learn well, navigating our way through life is more manageable, and we are better at making choices and finding the things that are good for us and all others. Experience is not personal; there is no punishment for its pupils. (Although it may feel painful.)  It is the greatest equal opportunity experience creator you will ever come across.  It is up to our awareness, wits, intelligence, and needs how difficult the lessons experience gives us.  Appreciate your experience of what you can learn and be a good student. You will continually get the same lesson until you learn the lesson you need to learn.  If you are experiencing the same thing repeatedly, look at your attitude and thoughts.

The Power of Being Taught

There are kind-hearted and caring teachers out there as well. These souls genuinely want to help you improve at whatever skill they possess and want to share.  An apprenticeship of life can provide value to you that is beyond measure.  Unlike experience or self-study, you can learn delve into the already hard-earned gained knowledge someone else has earned.  By paying attention and learning, you can avoid making the same mistakes or “reinventing the wheel” and move on from the point your teacher has reached.

What you do with this head start is then up to you. Are you satisfied with being at the same level?  Or do you want to take that ship of knowledge and sail it into the open sea to find out what it can do? That is the real challenge with anything you learn. How will you use it?  If you can find a capable person willing to share their knowledge.  Grab ahold of that blessing.  Sometimes we can’t do it all by ourselves. Life will provide the teachers you need. Recognize them and learn.

Each day is born with potential. What you do with that is up to you.  Putting your focus on what you can learn will allow you to have an exciting and continually expanding life.  Let all the teachers of study, experience, and other teachers help you along the way to learn at the highest level you are capable of.  Focus your thoughts, words, and actions on the things you can learn, and your life will be a richer experience for all.

“Change is the end result of all true learning.” Leo Buscaglia

“The expert in anything was once a beginner.” Anonymous

“Learning and innovation go hand in hand. The arrogance of success is to think that what you did yesterday will be sufficient for tomorrow.” William Pollard

“Learning is the only thing the mind never exhausts, never fears, and never regrets.” Leonardo da Vinci

“Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.” Chinese Proverb

https://youtu.be/fOVECbr-vsc

 

22

Your Time Is Ticking Away

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time is now
What Time do you have?

It is so easy to get lost in thoughts about your past and what you should have done. Our mind can transport you effortlessly to those moments where you perceive you were pleased or to places you think watershed moments occurred, changing your life. They seem so much more significant than the experience available to you today.

The problem with these trips to the past is that if you make them too often, you will find it difficult to enjoy your place right now. The other thief of the moment is the future. Everybody plans for the future. It would be crazy not to, but you cannot put off your happiness to tomorrow, or you will never be happy with what you are doing, the people in your life, or the events you experience. Now is the time you have today; this moment is all you will be guaranteed in life, and it is your obligation to yourself to enjoy it.

Live For Today

live-for-today_xLAs you experience the Time you have today,  there are opportunities to feel alive in the here and now. It can be time spent with a loved one where you share tender moments, or it could be a joke you share with a friend. The simple pleasure of seeing the beauty existing all around you can bring on a  laugh or make your day memorable all on its own. Since these moments are fleeting, a person must be ready and aware to catch them and make them count because they will be gone in a flash. All extraordinary things come with an expiration date. A perfect day must inevitably end, a winning streak will be broken, and the same can be said for bad luck. It will end eventually.

One of the things that I did, which helped me appreciate my experience, was to consciously note everything I noticed that was beautiful on that day. From the sunrise, I witnessed moving from a light orange film barely visible on the horizon to its culminating glory of creating an entire burning sky. The homes were silhouetted by the sunrise, with their chimneys gently puffing their stream of wispy smoke into a crisp winter sky. The list was long, but it allowed me to appreciate what I was experiencing in life, today right now.

Too often take today’s experience and brush it off as something we have to do and don’t appreciate that the new day is a gift. Talk to anyone struggling with a fatal disease and is not sure how many more sunrises they might see. How much o do they appreciate the new day and all of the little things that most of us never even notice? The sound f a car starting, the laugh of a stranger in the distance, the look in the eye of someone who loves you. Love them right back with all that you have. They may b  gone tomorrow.

Focus on The Positive

always-live-in-the-moment--sourceThis life is an endeavor that you can begin right now this moment. Many will say I will do this tomorrow or put it off until the new year, but waiting on the action is a losing proposition, and you know it. Before long, you will convince yourself that you will be happy when x, y, or z finally occurs. What do you o in the meantime? Your mind has a way of distracting you from being delighted by pointing out your flaws, worries, or doubts in the non-stop dialogue in your head, which is less than complimentary to you and often downright corruptive to your skills.

Ignore that foolishness because it all amounts to nothing in the end. When you are dying, will you wish you had only worked a little more, spent less Time with your loved ones, or had less fun? Of course, not look for the things that matter and pay attention to them. Forget the rest. A wise man once said, listen to your heart, and ignore the noise in your head. I believe you will have fewer regrets if you do, and I also think you will enjoy the ride a lot more.

Now, It’s All You Have

Finally, this moment needs to be treasured and appreciated because it is all you have. Looking at the p t is a fun escape, but no matter how long you think, yesterday is gone, and it isn’t coming back. Tomorrow may be g at, but there is no guarantee. Your life could be over in ten seconds. All of these thoughts are just fantasies we entertain ourselves with daily. There is only one thing: you and where you are right now in this moment. The choice to be happy in it, experiencing whatever is happening, is up to you and is exclusively yours and yours alone.

So you can spend your Time worrying about the future or be angry about the past and the supposed slights that others have perpetrated against you, but those choices will only make today less enjoyable. When you think about it, what benefit are you enjoying today less? None that I can see. Look at the day you’re in and what you are experiencing. Touch it, feel it, enjoy it. Now is the only moment  you have.

Enjoy the hell out of each moment you have because they are all you can ever be sure of.

Dream as if you live forever, live as if you’ll die today.

There are seven days a week and someday is not one of them.

A year from now, you will wish you had started today. – Karen Lamb

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…. It’s about learning to dance in the rain.

If not, now then when? If not you, then who? – Robin Sharma

One day you will wake up, and there won’t be any more time to do the things you’ve always wanted. Do it now. – Paulo Coelho

People wait all week for Friday, all year for summer, all life for happiness.

Whatever you want to do, do it now. There are so many tomorrows. -Michael Landon

Do it now. The future is promised to no one.

The best Time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best Time is NOW. – Chinese Proverb

The Time for the action is now. It’s never too late t  do something.

 

22

Lifetime Learning

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Learn-gain or acquire knowledge of or skill in (something) by study, experience, or being taught.

One of the most powerful gifts we can have as human beings are the ability to learn. This strength is a process that we should continue to nurture throughout our lives because of the benefits the process provides the individuals experiencing it.  You are never too old or too wise to learn something new.  Make new things you’re learning today part of your consciousness in thought, word, and action.  This plan is for the special people to mark the completion of learning something new. I congratulate them and encourage them to keep on learning as much as possible throughout their life experience.

Reading is Fundamental

I learned to read before I went to school. My mother taught me by reading to Learnme every night, and I saw the magic in the pages of a book, and I took it upon myself from there to get the words right and understand their meaning. Reading was magical and essential.  More so now, to me, than ever before. You can learn about anything you want to know simply by accessing the information and reading it.  All information is available at the click of a button.  In a book or reliable website, almost any information can be collected and enhance your life.

To read is a process of taking words and adding animation and imagination to them. It can take you anywhere and allow you an experience almost anything.  With the simple use of your vision and the images you see when words enter your brain.  Reading gives everyone an equal chance to achieve.  Everything from the secrets of gardening to quantum physics is available for the curious to learn. Trust that reading is fundamental to the ability to learn.

Learning is Healthy

Learning is suitable for your mind, body, and spirit. There is confidence in knowing that you can learn about anything that interests you.  LearnTo learn is to grow, and to grow makes you better at life. If something stops growing, it stagnates, which is as accurate in people as in nature.  The difference is that people choose to learn or not, and you have an option to know or not.

Look at the times you felt most alive and experienced the most incredible sense of wonder. It is often when you learn something new, and your mind is expanded by previously unknown information. Those who have a passion for learning are nearly unstoppable. Again there is confidence in the ability to learn. We should encourage all people of any age.

Learn and Grow

Looking at our society today, I don’t think we are interested in growing the economy rather than growing individuals. The collective consciousness seems to be set on consumerism and selfishness rather than creating truly educated people. Our educational system is designed to produce workers and consumers but not learners.  The goal is to provide skills that will allow a person to make a living, which is great until you learn that living is not a life. You can have both with the right encouragement.

Therefore, it falls on the person to be responsible for their learning and development. It is quite a minefield to navigate too.  One has to overcome the continual distractions of entertainment and noise we face every day, all the time. It can seem like there is precious little time to focus on learning new things.  Make the time. The quality of the life you build is your responsibility. Nothing can stop you but you.

Learn Something Every Day

This talent should not be a difficult task, there is a world of knowledge, and nobody knows everything. Pick a topic or activity you are interested in and learn something about it. Put it into practice in your life and see what happens. When you are conscious of your thoughts, words, and actions toward learning, what you want to learn will come to you.  What is it you want to learn today?

Develop a passion for learning. If you do, you will never cease to grow. ~Anthony J. D’Angelo

 “PERFECT IS THE ENEMY OF GOOD.” –VOLTAIRE

 “I’M STILL LEARNING.” –MICHELANGELO

“LIFE IS A JOURNEY, NOT A DESTINATION.” –RALPH WALDO EMERSON

“LEARNING IS NOT ATTAINED BY CHANCE; IT MUST BE SOUGHT FOR WITH ARDOR AND ATTENDED TO WITH DILIGENCE.” ―ABIGAIL ADAMS

“YESTERDAY I WAS CLEVER, SO I CHANGED THE WORLD. TODAY I AM WISE, SO I AM CHANGING MYSELF.” –RUMI

 

 

21

Both Sides Now

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the flip side of lifeWouldn’t it be nice if all we had to deal with in our lives was a success in all we do and happiness in all experiences? I think everyone would feel the same way, no sadness, loss, or grief, just happy things that are easy to deal with, yet we all know that life isn’t going to come as quickly as that. We all must go through some difficult times, and I think that is OK because you will never appreciate the good in life unless there is the opposite aspect to compare it to in life. There is always a flip side. How do you know that life is giving you what you need now? You are experiencing it. Please take a moment and focus your conscious thought on this very thought of how opposites teach you lessons and see what words and actions arise from it. It will probably be a better version of yourself, and you will value the joyous times and good experiences all the more when they happen.

Sunshine and Rain

No matter what your preferred weather is, there is difficulty enjoying it thoroughly without having experienced the opposite of your desired temperature. For me, it is the weather of the fall in the northeast.

sunshine without rainWe are blessed with pleasant temperatures and cooler weather at night, which is perfect for sleeping. Each day it seems that there is a different and wondrous color scheme on display. Fall has a feeling in your heart that you can’t explain, feel. Yet the appreciation I have for this season is deepened by the hot, uncomfortable summer weather and the oncoming extreme cold and snow of winter. Those intense experiences help you tune into the perfection of September/October that you are experiencing in the perfect dance of autumn.

If the weather were as you like, all of the time, you would eventually find that you lose the special appreciation you have for it. It would be more difficult at any rate to find that appreciation for the beautiful autumn days, and they would be “days.”

I think this is true about all things in life. We need to have what we don’t want to know what we do want and, more importantly, appreciate it when it is in our lives and seek it out daily if you can.

Being Alone Leads To Growth

Most people long for comfort and company, yet many have this in their lives and manage to throw it away because of a bit of moment or slight that they perceive. If you

have ever been without someone who “gets you” and is forced to live your life truly on lonely makes you appreciate relationshipsyour own, then it is difficult to appreciate it when you have that connection partner in your life.

You would be much less likely to throw that relationship away if you knew what real loneliness felt like inside. The warmth of happiness and connection should stop people from cheating and taking their partners for granted.   The opposite side of this coin would help many a relationship find its way through rough waters.

Empathy for another and understanding the feelings, dreams, and ideas that make someone else tick is, to me, one of the most critical features of any relationship. It allows you to understand and be understood, give accordingly, and receive. When empathy is gone, and people start worrying about their own needs without concern for the needs of the other, trouble is not far away.

Sometimes you need to be alone to allow yourself to grow into the person you are meant to become. Much like a seed needs to be in the ground alone, you may need the same situation to allow yourself to grow in understanding and ideas. Life is a tricky game, and none of us have all the answers at the outset. That is why it is so damn impressive. You do not have to be lonely to appreciate the company of others, but it certainly does make it a lot easier to remember and keeps your empathy at the surface.

Loss Makes You Appreciate What You Have

If you have never lost everything, you do not appreciate everything you have quite as much. Everything is a subjective word that can apply to anyone and their situation. You may lose your family, friends, possessions, or guiding principles and strand you in life with no clear guidance or a place to call home.

Whatever it is that you lose, a friend, a family member, a relationship, it is through this loss, you will learn to appreciate what you do have. When you evaluate the things you have lost in your life, remember to include equal time thinking about the good that you have in your life and the appreciation you have for it — practice gratitude to some degree every day.

Sometimes the wounds of the loss are too big, and we can never move past them. Sometimes the pain of loss or the idea of the damage has engulfed us and our identity to the point that we can’t see around it. My experience tells me that once I have let something go, there is an appreciation for the people and things that are in my life that I would never have known.

You don’t have to lose everything to find this appreciation, and you have to look at what you have in your life and be grateful for it.

Seeing the Dark Side

To be human is to possess the ability to be very, very good, but each person also comes equipped with a dark side. Much like Darth Vader in Star Wars, we all have to choose which side of life our thoughts, choices, and actions will take us. There is power in being positive, helpful, honest, kind, and a decent human being society would fall without this attitude is prevalent. But there is a dark side in all of us.

One of the things that make good people so beautiful is that we make a choice each day to be that way. Sometimes, it can be a natural choice to follow the voices of fear and separate, ridicule, lie, gossip, or be selfish. Each of our actions balances out in our vibrational energy and just what you are putting into the world mentally, and with your efforts, you will get back to you. If you are not happy with where you are, look at your mental game and see how it is playing out. Take affirmative action, and positive will happen. Follow the light side of the force.

Look at the Flip Side of Everything

So my final urging is to look at the flip side of everything that you experience each and

Superman is not as great without a villain to compare him to.
Superman is not as great without a Lex Luther to battle against.

every day. Noticing that there is something positive for you to appreciate in every situation. Enjoy moments of downtime as well as deserved respites from the whir of activity that often rules your life.

Appreciate the moments of being by yourself as opportunities to grow. Nobody knows who you will end up with, but remember that making yourself the best person you can, will bring the person into your life who will make you better. With the heart-wrenching bitterness that death and loss of a loved one get to your life, there is an appreciation for those you live with still that can envelop your heart and touch your soul if you look for them.

That is why we should always look for and appreciate the flip side of the coin because we would never understand the value of moments in our lives without it. Light without darkness, happiness without sadness, love without fear, the experiences that we live define us by our ability to appreciate our journeys. 

“Belief systems thrive in circumstances of the collision. Their opposites energize them.”– James P. Carse

“All colors are the friends of their neighbors and the lovers of their opposites.” – Marc Chagall

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOPwviOUenA

 

 

21

No Regrets

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Today Is The Thing

4559365435_16203_gallery_xlargeLife is full of moments, each with its own individual fanfare and trumpets calls.  It is up to us to find the joy to embrace in each of these moments or notice the potential each day brings. Some live their life missing today because there is a constant focus completely on the past. Creating their identity out of the regrets about what happened yesterday, last year, or twenty years ago. Regret gives us a poor present to live today.  Most of what happened is a fantasy anyway. It is proven we don’t remember much of what happened accurately, only through our own perception of events.  Even if you are accurate in your recollections, can you change it? Even a little bit?

Today, this moment is all there is for you, and the more you branch out your attention from that, the less opportunity there is for enjoying the here and now. Keeping your focus on the task that you are working on will allow you to enjoy life.

All That You Do

In everything that you are doing, if it is worthwhile, you should be doing it well.  We should strive to complete everything that we undertake to the absolute best of our abilities.  There are times when our best may not be enough, but more often than not, it will regretbe.  I would only regret something today if I didn’t give it an honest effort and try. If something doesn’t work out how I think it should, then I have an opportunity to learn. It is in those lessons lives are defined, and new efforts can spring.

Regrets come from thinking about what might have been, so the only way I can regret what I am doing is if I could have done it any better.  If I spent time looking backward, I would miss the opportunities for success, enjoyment, and fun existing in this very moment I should be paying attention to.  But instead, I am regretting what I said to someone thirty years ago or how I shouldn’t have done something way back then.  This is a waste of time because you can’t change the past, and if you could have done better at that moment, you certainly would have.  Today I am trying to pay attention to what I am doing so that I won’t regret them later.

 I strive to be focused in all that I do and give my best effort to do it in the best manner I am capable of. Using the lessons I learned from the past and leaving the past where it belongs, far behind me.

To Be or Not to Be

fcd97ac86af9a9d2a31d9bcdc0971a3cThe question of whether our being or existence was worthwhile has been asked throughout time.  Some people have one bad experience taint everything else that comes in their life. It can happen when you are young and becomes the excuse for everything going wrong throughout life.  There is no need to have a childhood or an adult trauma define everything about your current life.  We all have obstacles or insecurities to deal with to see ourselves and our lives clearly.

 Once that trauma drama is overcome, and you see yourself for what you are, a creative, one of a kind, giant capable of doing just about anything, then you will not regret a moment. Each second is driving you toward your best self and what you are capable of.  Who is to say that the bad experience in your life wouldn’t end up being the catalyst for you to spring to greatness.  It is only an anchor if you keep yourself tied to it.  Never regret your being. I know I don’t, and neither should you!

Time to Have it All

What you have is really depending on how you look at life.  Do you regret that you don’t have regretown more possessions to stack up?  I don’t think the number of “things” you possess matters at all.  Although things may provide momentary pleasure, it is just a fleeting moment that passes as quickly as dusk slips into darkness.  Then to feel good, you need to have more stuff.  Stuff is not going to satisfy your soul or lead you to happiness. Only appreciating the moments of life and what they bring right now can do that.

The love of the people in your life will lead you to happiness in the giving and receiving that relationship. Of this substance, I am not sure that you can have too much.  Love is the kindness one shows to another when they are feeling down. Love is the acceptance of a person’s idiosyncrasies and to still claim them as your other half.  Love, caring, and kindness is attributes that make life enjoyable, and these feelings will last inside of you as long as you focus on them.  When the smell of a new car or the shine of the latest technological gadget has long faded, those you love and the feelings of joy will remain with you.

You may be able to trick yourself for a season or two into thinking that stuff will make you happy, but in the end, the emptiness that is inside you can only be filled by the love of people, and it starts by loving yourself. NoRegrets happen when you combine your thoughts of the past with your perceptions of their outcomes.  It would help if you tried something else.  If you only would have gone sooner.  I should have known what would happen.  All of these regretful thoughts do nothing to change the past. They only muddy up the waters of today, making tomorrow more difficult to get to.  Leave regrets in the past, enjoy today, and hope for the best tomorrow possible.

I Regret nothing. I learn, and I live.

“We all do things we desperately wish we could undo. Those regrets just become part of who we are, along with everything else. To spend time trying to change that, well, it’s like chasing clouds.” – Libba Bray.

“We don’t have to be defined by the things we did or didn’t do in our past. Some people allow themselves to be controlled by regret. Maybe it’s a regret, and maybe it’s not. It’s merely something that happened. Get over it.” – Pittacus Lore.

“If only. Those must be the two saddest words in the world.” – Mercedes Lackey.

 “Make it a rule of life never to regret and never to look back. Regret is an appalling waste of energy; you can’t build on it; it’s only good for wallowing in.” – Katherine Mansfield.

“The only things I regret, and the only things I’ll ever regret, are things I didn’t do. In the end, that’s what we mourn. The paths we didn’t take. The people we didn’t touch.” – Scott Spencer

 “Don’t live your life regretting yesterday. Live your life so tomorrow you won’t regret today.” – Catherine Pulsifer.

I made mistakes but held on to my faith……….No Regrets, No Regrets!!

 

Articles

Happy Thanksgiving To You

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thanksgiving-high-definition-hd-wallpaper-desktopIt is Thanksgiving 2015 and another year is slowly winding to its inevitable end, of over spending and stress. Yet Thanksgiving always gives me pause to remember the people who I have been fortunate to know over the course of time. As I was working out this morning I was trying to think of all the people who have touched my life in a positive way. From people I have met through some experience in my life, growing up, high school, college, work life, or one of the many who I see in the course of my life at the places I frequent, or on the internet through blogging, all of you have made an impact on me and I am grateful that I know you.

Grateful for All of You

It is common to be grateful for the things we have in our lives but often we let the people move in and out 1bd38390ab86dced7e3cc213a7a09a75without acknowledging the contribution they make to our happiness each day. All people will make a mark or leave a footprint in your life. Some are positive and others end up being negative, but all provide an energy that has the potential to make your life so much better.

I am grateful for each person who has come into my life and left their footprint, all have been appreciated, from those I have worked with and shared that experience to those I am friends with over the many years, to my family members who have known me my whole life. Each person has made a unique contribution to who I am today, which I think is a good thing.

For those Who Are Gone

Of course there are many who have ended this journey and we carry on with only their memory. On this memory of the heartday I am particularly grateful to have known them and had them contribute to my life in such fantastic ways. As Each of my grandparents have gotten older and succumbed to the inevitable end of their journey, each has left their mark on me and my character, through their example of generosity and kindness. I have been a very fortunate soul, for the people who I have come from. Each a unique, caring, dynamic person in their own way.

This is a day to remember the things about them that only exists now in your memory. Knowing that in your existence you are carrying a piece of them on  with you and through you, and your thoughts they still exist, if only on the wind of thought and memory.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all the people who have touched my life in person, or through the world of blogging, all are appreciated and hopefully this day finds you happy and grateful for all the wonderful things that you have in your life. Thank you all for making this life the great experience it has been and continues to be. I am humble and grateful for knowing all of you!!

 

Personal Projects

Are You Truly Living

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What is the difference between being alive and truly living?

truly living
Are you truly living?

by Jonathan Hilton

All people are going to answer this question differently depending on where they are in their life.  To me being alive is a fact of nature, and enjoying life and living for a purpose is truly living.  But how do you enjoy life?

Other people will answer this very differently.    It only takes a few visits to any number of blogs to experience the wide variety of philosophies and beliefs that exist.

Young people are struggling to master life, yet so hopeful about living it is encouraging   While older people are resigned to the fact that you may never figure it out everything there is to know about life, but they share their thoughts and experiences.

One of the things I like about reading so many different people’s opinions is to be exposed to ideas that are different from mine. Valid yet different and I think that is a powerful force of growth.  These are my thoughts on truly living.

The problem with Life

For me there is a question that came to me as I got older and thought that I was on the

questions about living
We all have questions, I know I did.

path I should be on. After carefully contemplating the experiences I have been fortunate enough to have in life I came to the conclusion that being alive was not enough and that I needed to start truly living and for me that meant I had to make a lot of changes in my perceptions of people, life, God and everything that at one time I was sure of.

I wasn’t sure what was “right”, but I knew there was more to life than a conditioned accumulation of material goods to supply comfort to life.

What comfort did I ever give to others? What did I contribute? Even as an educator, I was contributing stories about living which happened long ago, espousing the morals and actions that young people should aspire to follow, with the awareness of the world around me the size of the head of a pin.

I don’t think I  consistently enjoyed what life gave me. There are easy things to enjoy and appreciate, like those we love, and those that love us, a sunny, beautiful day, a large sum of money, all of these can be easily enjoyed, but how many people pass through a day without having gratitude for anything in their life, because they are too busy looking at what they don’t have.

I was one of these, searching for the right amount of stuff that would bring happiness with it. I never found that.

 The Past

Future past and present sign in the sky
Which direction do you follow?

One of the biggest problems people face,when trying to truly live is that they always seem to distract themselves from the moment they are currently experiencing.

Perhaps spending time with someone you love, reading a book, exercising, or doing whatever it is you do, because you allow yourself to be distracted by things that make you feel the moment you are in is not a good enough thing.

One distraction is the past, which often allows you to reminisce about the past and feel that things were so much better back then, when you were happy.

Often the past is not quite what we remember it to be and it really doesn’t matter in the scope of today.  It is over and gone, good or bad and to short change today for yesterday is selling something tangible and of extreme value for  nothing but a fantasy.

Often I had looked to the past to the good old days, which were nice memories, but other than lending experience to today, couldn’t help make me very happy or allow me to truly live.

 The Future

Others choose to focus on the future, planning and scheming the best way to route their lives to get to the point where finally they will be happy.  They think that if they  do this particular thing, at this particular time then I will be happy, satisfied, successful, or whatever.

The problem with this is that when you put all of your focus onto tomorrow you miss the great things that are happening today.  You can prepare for the future with the actions of today and enjoy today at the same time, the difference is that you don’t put anything off, like being happy and satisfied with life or anything else. Tomorrow may never come and rarely does it happen as you plan, so putting happiness off is a bad gamble that will most likely never pay off.

I’ll Be Happy When I am Rich

Materialism is another distraction that keeps people from enjoying the moment, often it goes hand in hand with waiting for the future, but tying your happiness into the acquisition of some material thing is going to stop you from appreciating today, because you are going to be thinking that happiness is going to come when you get that house, or car, or Ipad or whatever.

The satisfaction of that acquisition will be short-lived and soon you will be looking for the next thing that should bring happiness and satisfaction to your life, as you ignore the opportunity for happiness that you have in your experience today. Being grateful for what you have will allow you to enjoy the day. If you don’t believe me, then try it.  Be truly grateful for what you have.

Your Choice

choice for life
You can choose if you are alive or truly living

So truly living to me is the appreciation of what life is giving you right now in this moment.

That doesn’t mean that it will always be perfect. Sometimes there are painful things in life, and we have to deal with feelings that are not so nice, people get sick, accidents happen, people die, life is not perfect and there is no guarantee that everything is going to go your way.

However, there is a choice that comes pinned to each of those experiences to make it a positive or a negative factor in your life.  Only you can decide for yourself the difference between being alive and truly living.

What does truly living mean to you?

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