Well it’s Saturday, May 21 and I’m still here. Therefore A) I do not qualify for heaven, or B) Harold Camping was a little off on his end-of-the-world prediction again. Though I must say he certainly got a lot of people talking and mocking. I will also add that just because the end of days didn’t happen today, doesn’t mean it’s not coming… only God really knows the timing.
I walked in the dark last night as I put my mind through the logical exercise. What would I do if I knew for a fact the world would end tomorrow? What would you do?
Would you spend your last moments doing something you love with the people you love? Would you max out your credit cards on a huge party knowing there would be no consequences? Would you sit on a mountain top and make peace with God in preparation for an afterlife?
Like Sherlock Holmes, I carefully reviewed my life up to now…searching for clues to its meaning. There are so many things I have achieved and learned…. so many people who have positively touched my life. There have been moments of joy and moments of pain; moments of brilliance and moments of stupidity; moments of great courage and distressing moments of fear.
At the end of this memory cavalcade, I came to this conclusion. Life is not about what you’ve done, it’s about what’s in front of you. There are still things I want to accomplish in this world and I don’t have forever to do them. And since nothing drives action like a due date on the calendar, I need to get specific and get busy right now.
It’s elementary, my dear Watson. You should not fear death. Fear a life not lived.
David: Your best article to date! Peace, love and blessings to you and your family.
David – excellent thoughts for this morning!! Thank you. Very timely, my friend… very timely once again.
I couldn’t agree more with your last statement – Fear a life not lived. And I am doing this right now… risks and all.
About 10 years + years ago, I sat with a client who was intereviewed and asked a similar question… ‘what would you do if you knew you would die tomorrow?’
And the reporter actually said that the correct answer to the question is that we shouldn’t have an answer for this other than “I’d do what I am doing right now.” Wow.
Because this means, we’re living life right now, in the moment as none of us are guaranteed the gift of tomorrow. We must accept and appreciate and feel gratitude for each day we have.
While we all like to plan, have dreams and goals and look to the future, if the future never comes, can we honestly say, we have lived a life without regrets? And though it is purely human for anyone and everyone to have some sort of regret of some kind, can we in turn look at those things as lessons learned? Life lessons which make us stronger, better, wiser and more complete as humans?
I say, that this is a perspective we should take in, appreciate and celebrate. We are all current works in progress, right?
The truth is, we are here. We have survived. And if you can ask yourself, whether or not you are satisfied with your life up to now, we all have our answers as to what types of people we still wish to become.
If we look to the future and the core of existence and what matters is truly living, that should mean happiness, joy, laughter, love and peace – that should be incorporated into each and everyday. Most people get too caught up in the small stuff. In essence the bigger picture of a life well lived is to reflect at the end of everyday and say…”Ah, I am happy with this day, I’m so blessed.” And I think if we all can do that, we are indeed succeeding in a life well lived. However if we’re stuck, this is most certainly something worth striving for!
Have a wonderful day, David! Hope it is filled with happiness, joy, laughter, love and peace. And at the end of the day you say “Ah….I am so happy with this day, I’m so blessed.”
Namaste.
Dave,
Great inspirational thoughts for today!
I certainly relate to “due dates on the calendar”. My due dates this year have really kept me in action.
The next big one is completing the planning for Family Weekend!! Wish you all were going to be here!Love, Aunt Marge
This day kinda sneaked up on me. I didn’t have a couple of weeks of fretting about the end of the world as we know it, so I consider myself fortunate for that. No need to worry about something that will not happen.
I believe that Stacey has it right. We should not let life bog us down in details and stress so that we have to look at life as something we will deal with more on a personal basis tomorrow, and just survive this day. I read a book when I was in my teens, and every page had the same words – “Be…Here…Now.” …over and over again… I didn’t get the message until several decades later – Focusing on really living in the moment – don’t just exist. Living is a process of constantly becoming who you are, not what you or others think you should be. It’s about self discovery and discovery of the Universe, and the relationship that we have with it. The rose blossoms and opens on its own, not because we want to see the open rose. But it is beautiful in the entire process, not just the fulfilled flower.
Biblically, God wanted us as his children to have a constant awareness of the relationship we had with Him, or Her, if you are in favor of a more maternal God concept – to me, God is both, neither, all. The point being that awarenss is what sets the higher view of Truth. It raises the perspective upon that which “IS,” not what we are trying to “make of life.”
Stacey is right – we are works in progress, and we have a divine connection, and an opportunity to contribute a little bit of consciousness to the polarity of Truth. Seek, and you shall find. When we seek Truth, we find God, we find Universal Consciousness, we find our spiritual heritage.
Personally, I think rapture and Armaggedon may take on a little different light when it happens. It may be the kind of thing that catches us, and we say, “OH, now I get it! Of course!” And then we move on to the next stage of life – Heaven on Earth? New Garden of Eden? Enlightenment? All connected to the same source energy that we call God – by definition, it cannot help but be perfect! Sharing and giving love, peace, joy, excitement, laughter, caring, and helping to make the Universe a little better place – therein lies our constant human goal.
Roland.
Roland.
Yes, Roland! Amen, Amen!
Awareness IS what sets the higher view of Truth. You are so right on with this. It takes awareness to comprehend the true meaning of life, which IS indeed LIVING IT.
An attitude of gratitude for the blessings we have is key. Not taking life in itself for granted is yet another key thing we must realize.
Looking at the positivities of what life brings us should make us feel blessed and whole.
People always ‘want more out of life’ – but the real truth is, and yes, I am quoting an old Donny Osmond song “Life is just what you make it…. life is just what you want it to be….”
We have the power as people to change and shift our perspective of how we view life and all that matters.
We also have the power deep within our core to understand values of day-to-day living and what that means.
We also have key choices we can make for ourselves to make our lives better.
For most, it can be something as simple as choosing happiness.
We all have this option – to choose happiness…. to embrace this rather than looking at a laundry list of things to do.
Sure, lots of people have ‘bucket lists’ – but it isn’t necessarily about bungee jumping (I’ve done it, it’s overrated) or doing these types of things that make life worth living as much as it is understanding that living a conscious life of being content with how you show up in life is what matters.
Our relationships with ourselves comes from our relationships with others, the Universe, the higher power and our choices in consciously being…. and being present to receive the gifts and blessings which indeed are right in front of us to learn from.
Wisdom comes with time. I am on the same page as you, Roland. You know how you said you didn’t get the message of that book until decades later? I just recently got the message from one of my junior high school teachers and the message he was trying to convey to us students. The beautiful gift in all this is we have memory and recall and the wonderful emotional and spiritual tools NOW to receive that gift, that message and apply its meaning into who we’ve evolved into as of today as people.
This gift is one that can indeed keep on giving if we choose to understand the big picture and help others along the way and also choose to enable our own growth, evolvement, maturity and development and redisovery within our souls to live life completely, fully, blissfully and beautifully the way that it is here for us to live.
It is up to each of us to do both the homework and the footwork, take the time for reflection, introspection and the deeper rooted components….sort them through and appreciate, respect and embrace life and all its glory.
Of course, there are human mundane distractions. The key is balance!!! And our commitment to ourselves, to our loved ones, to our communities and to humankind is part of this love that comes full circle to our souls. From here we have well-being, life’s meaning and more meaningful, precious moments to enjoy in this thing we call life.
Namaste.
I called my good friend David Goad on Rapture Day. And I loved it!
I spent too long watching my husband live each days as if it could be his last…because it could have been. I don’t do ‘regrets’ any longer; I do what needs to be done, and then I do what I want to do, because there are no ‘do-overs’.
Yep. You’re right. But it’s also about just sitting and seeing/noticing. Even the smallest thing. An ant crawling on the ground. I think if it were my last day, I might spend it being very quiet and looking. Because I won’t be able to do that again. At least not here.