Wow…it seems as if it was the other day when I wrote the
last article on my blog. The date stamp shows one and half years ago, and the
disbelief reminds me how life passes by in an instant. It makes me wonder if
the thoughts that occupied my mind so much during the last 18 months, to the
point where I had not even the clarity of mind to write, were even important. I
am reminded of a quote from some dude (can never remember the name and not
important enough anyway) “I have had many problems in my life. Most of which
never happened…”
I awoke this beautiful Sunday morning and sat outside in the
shade - the clear blue skies, the cool breeze and the hills around me reminding
me of some of the simple wonders of life. I took a sip of Blue Mountain Coffee,
and for that moment, I was living in the present. My thoughts were no where
else, besides listening to the chirping of the birds, feeling the cool air on
my face, smelling the freshly cut grass, and savoring sip by sip, one of the
world’s greatest discoveries. Happiness, they say, is found most within the
moments that force us to be in the present, and least in the moments which
cause us to think away in distance. Once again, I don’t remember who “they” is,
but I’m sure you will find it if you search. “They” also referenced activities
that were tested, for example Showering and also Sex. Showering showed signs of
the least happiness as persons’ thoughts tended to wander the most. Activities
like Sex and exercise, and even spending time with family and loved ones, showed
the highest signs of happiness as subjects were the most “in the now.” One
thing I started to do after reading that was to begin each morning with a focus
on savoring every sip of my coffee. Let’s hope it kick starts a trend for me for the days ahead.
I had a plan for my next article to be on the topic of
“Tipping,” (which I will eventually get to – hopefully not in another 18
months), and truth be told, I opened the blank sheet today with the intention
to write about this. The moment I checked when I last wrote made me start to
think about the last 18 months, and my fingers took over the rest. For me
writing is easiest with a clear mind, and I am in disbelief I had not possessed
this clarity for that long. Were my activities during that period so important that
I could not stop to smell the roses (grass)? Will they matter at the end of my
life?
I find that humans, including myself, do the strangest things. We live everyday as if we will live forever. If I could somehow tell you the day of your death right now, would you live the same way? If not, does it matter that I can’t tell you? They say two things are certain – Death and Taxes. But there are two more I’d like to add – Days and Nights. Every man (or woman) born of a woman, WILL have a life of Days and Nights. Literally and Figuratively. Every person will experience their share of good times (days) and hard times (nights), and no man (woman) – rich, poor, smart, ahh not so smart, white, black – will escape. It is certain. Everyone has a past and a struggle story. And everyone has a series of moments where life was near perfect for that instance. So here it is. There you have it – your life ahead WILL have struggles. And it WILL have moments of sheer awesomeness, and they WILL follow each other. Every day will be followed by night and every night followed by day. How will you choose to capitalize on the days, and get through the nights? Surely knowing and expecting the nights in advance should better allow us to cope with it – if even a little. A life of someone who was able to enjoy the days to the fullest, and make the most of the “night situations,” will surely have the best outcome.
And how much of it will matter in the final moments? But we
know all this, and yet still somehow manage to get caught in the day to day,
somehow believing we are invincible, and forgetting about our temporary visit
here, and what truly matters to us as a result. I believe that as humans, our
subconscious plays a much bigger role in our lives than we give it credit for.
The powers of the Conscious and Subconscious brain was best described to me as
a man riding an elephant. The Man representing the Conscious brain, and the
Elephant representing the Subconscious. The Man thinks he is in control of the
Elephant and where it is going, but really the Elephant is a much more
significant element of his destiny.
Perhaps therefore, there might be more benefit in attempting
to re-train our Subconscious. How do we do that? More on that in a future
article, but suffice it to say for now that constant practice of differing and
desired routines will eventually do the trick. If I tell you to lock your
fingers of both hands in each other, you will no doubt automatically have the
same thumb over the other thumb – even if you did this one million times. Yet
there is no reason why that particular thumb needs to be on top in a
symmetrical situation. Your subconscious chose this. In order to change this
you must practice to do the opposite over and over a thousand times till you
have retrained yourself. Now considering this is a decision our subconscious
made for us without us even realizing, can we even imagine how many decisions
it is making for us daily that are actually significantly affecting our lives?
If you didn’t do the exercise in this paragraph, I would strongly suggest you
try it. It may change your life and how you look at your decisions, forever.
Once again, I’m not a man of answers, I’m a man of questions
– and usually that question is “why.” But sometimes I find, the answers are in
the questions themselves, and if not, the questions lead us to them on their own.
And if you think all this talk of death is morbid…well….you’re probably right.
Maybe I just don’t think about it that way. I find usually that reminding
myself that one day I’m going to die, is probably the single biggest
motivational factor for many of the actions I take that give me the most
happiness.
Until we meet again, may you live a life of LOVE and
HAPPINESS and enjoy every sip of your coffee. As for me, I think I’ll have a
refill…
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