Living Life Fully’s Daily Pick-Me-Up

My wife and I have just spent a few days at Death Valley.  It’s a pretty amazing place, full of things that you simply won’t find elsewhere in the world.  It’s been a truly unique experience, one that will stick with us for a very long time.

I think that what I most like about this place is the way that you can find life in some of the most unlikely circumstances.  Bushes and flowers literally grow out of rocks, getting the nutrients that they need from miniscule amounts of soil that fill the cracks of the rocks.  Lizards and snakes and insects thrive in places that seem too inhospitable for any life to exist at all, much less thrive.  Coyotes and kit foxes and kangaroo rats and rattlesnakes make lives for themselves in situations that seem to be impossible for any life to continue at all.  Even the pupfish has adapted over many years to be able to exist in salt water rather than fresh, which is really the only water they can find here.

It heartens me to see the survival in harsh conditions here, for I know that many of my fellow human beings find themselves regularly in situations that are just as harsh as the physical environment here, and that are just as hard to survive in as blistering heat and a lack of natural resources.  Life is resilient; living things are resilient, and as long as there are coyotes living here in Death Valley, there’s hope for any living thing, anywhere, not just to survive, but to thrive.  The survival against the odds of the many different creatures here makes it clear that surviving against the odds is possible for us all, no matter what our situation.  Things may look impossible, but appearances most definitely can be deceiving.  Just ask the lizards that I saw today in Mosaic Canyon, an area seemingly devoid of life except for a few plants here and there.  Somehow those lizards find the means for survival, even if those means aren’t immediately obvious or even visible.  They find water in waterless regions, and they find food in areas with no food available.

The desert is an amazing place, for almost everything that lives here does so against the odds.  So if I want to thrive, if I want to succeed at something that other people haven’t succeeded at, then I can do so against the odds, also.  All I need to do is find the means to do so, to find the means to do what seems impossible.  The means are there.  I just have to take the time to look for them, and I have to find them.  They are there already.

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Whenever I hear a cynic talk about how uncooperative people can be, I think of our highways and roads and streets.  I think of the hundreds of millions of people who are out there driving, day after day, and I think of just how cooperative the vast majority of us are.

Think about it:  besides the obvious rude and obnoxious people that we deal with on the roads as we drive, almost everyone else is extremely cooperative with other people.  We yield the right of way, we turn when we’re supposed to turn, we let other people into our lanes at extremely high speeds, we use our turn signals to let others know what we’re going to do, we stop when lights are red and go when lights are green.  This type of behavior, to me, shows human beings at our best, cooperating in very positive ways with our fellow people in order to keep the flow of traffic moving.  It’s a beautiful sight, if you think about it, one that takes place all over the world, every day.

This type of behavior shows us reaching a bit of our potential.  It shows us how we can work together to make things go well for us all.  And yes, I do realize that there are the exceptions to this rule, and we all see them, but they can’t diminish the fact that for the most part, hundreds of millions of people cooperate with each other on the roadways every day of our lives.  And that type of cooperation could change the world, if it were just channeled into other types of activities.

Human potential has no boundaries, no limits.  We limit ourselves, though, when we think limiting thoughts about ourselves and others.  If you want to see what human beings can accomplish when we put our wills and minds together to achieve a common goal, just look out on our roads to see just a hint of our potential for working together.

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I want to make good choices in life.  If someone insults me for some reason, I don’t want to get defensive and insult him or her in return; rather, I’d like to figure out what was going on and try to help the person out.  If I get an opportunity to do something good for myself through means that are anything but honorable and honest, I’d like to choose not to do the something good and hold on to my integrity.  If I have the choice to do something positive for someone else, I’d like to think that I’d choose to do so, no matter what other people may think of me doing so.

It seems that there are always several sides to every choice we have to make.  There’s the side that gives us gratification and/or enjoyment–especially on the short-term–and there’s the side that we know is right and proper.  Sometimes those two sides coincide.  Often they don’t.

So what goes into my decision-making when I’m faced with doing something that I know is right versus doing something because I’m trying to save face or make myself look good?  Why are so many decisions so difficult to make when we really know what should be done?

I think that good choices come about when we worry less about results and more about what goes into our decision.  After all, don’t we make some bad decisions because we’re trying to make sure that the results are what we want them to be?

But how often do those decisions backfire on us, precisely because our motivation was not what we knew to be right or honest, but what was most expedient or what promised the most fortuitous results for us personally?

Good choices are one of the key ingredients to a full and happy life.  They don’t come easy, though, given all of the influences that try to make us make choices that we may not want to make.  One day I hope that all of my choices come from the heart, and come from a place of integrity.  I hope that they’re made with the best for everyone in mind, no matter what others may think of my choices or what results they may have for me.  Because if they don’t come from a sincere desire to do good, then the concept of “freedom of choice” means nothing to us or for us.  And what a shame it would be to have such a freedom and not exercise it to the fullest!

What is right is often forgotten by what is convenient.

Bodie Thoene

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It’s really easy to try to improve my intelligence.  I can read books, practice with puzzles and logic problems, listen to tape programs or take classes–in short, there are many things that I can do to make my intelligence stronger.  It’s easy to improve my physical well being, also.  I can exercise, I can eat well, I can avoid certain activities that may be detrimental to my physical health.  There are also ways that I can improve my emotional well being, from talking with friends to seeing a counselor even to taking medications.  But what I find the easiest to ignore and neglect in my life is my ability to take care of my spirit, to strengthen my spiritual side, to make my spirit an area of focus.

It’s interesting how many of us believe that we have spirits–or that we are spirits having a human experience–yet don’t take the time or make the effort to pay attention to that spirit and attend to its needs and wants.  It’s as if we just assume that the spirit doesn’t need our conscious attention, that this part of who we are is fine on its own without any attention from us.  When we think about it, though, it makes little sense to assume that this most important part of who and what we are isn’t deserving somehow of attention that we can can give it.

Perhaps we ignore our spiritual sides because there are so few people who truly can help us to get in touch with our spirits.  There are very few role models who live from their spirits, truly and fully.  There are very few people who take seriously the idea that our spirits are the essence of who we are, the part that is closest to God, the part that guides us through our days and through our lives.  And perhaps we ignore the spirit because it frightens us, because we know inside that the closer we get to our integral selves, the less we’ll need and want the trappings of life that seem to be so important to us now.

Let’s not neglect our spirits.  Let’s strengthen them by spreading love.  Let’s develop them by examining them, by paying attention to them, by responding to them.  We truly are spiritual creatures here on this planet for a short while, so let’s honor our true selves by keeping them highest in our regard and in our minds.  I don’t want to neglect my spirit as much in the future as I have in the past, and the only way to make sure that I don’t is by payng close attention to what my spirit needs and wants.  My spirit is me, and I am my spirit.  We deserve each other, and each deserves the best that the other can give to it.

Whether you know it or not, one of the most important relationships in your life is with your Soul.  Will you be kind and loving to your Soul, or will you be harsh and difficult?  Many of us unknowingly damage our Souls with our negative attitudes and actions or by simple neglect.  By making the relationship with your Soul an important part of your life, however, by honoring it in your daily routine, you give your life greater meaning and substance.  Use your experiences–all of them–as opportunities to nourish your Soul!

Elisabeth Kuebler-Ross

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Today I’d like to post one of my favorite passages of all.  It speaks for itself.

Each second we live is a new and unique moment of the universe, a moment that will never be again . . . And what do we teach our children?  We teach them that two and two make four, and that Paris is the capital of France.

When will we also teach them what they are?

We should say to each of them:  Do you know what you are? You are a marvel.  You are unique.  In all the years that have passed, there has never been another child like you. Your legs, your arms, your clever fingers, the way you move.

You may become a Shakespeare, a Michaelangelo, a Beethoven.  You have the capacity for anything.  Yes, you are a marvel.  And when you grow up, can you then harm another who is, like you, a marvel?

You must work–we must all work–to make the world worthy of its children.

Pau Casals 

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I went running today, which in itself isn’t that unusual.  It was a very long run, almost two hours, so I was a bit tired near the end of it.  But something happened that was kind of cool, and definitely worth thinking about.  As I ran past a woman who was on the same trail as I was, she said, “You’re doing great!  Keep it up!”  She was a woman I didn’t know, and whom I probably never had seen before.  But she took the time to pass on some encouragement to a complete stranger, which was a very nice thing for her to do.

There are the cynics who will say that the encouragement couldn’t have been helpful, since I didn’t know her and she had no idea if I had been running for ten minutes or ten hours.  She also couldn’t have had any idea if I really was doing great, or if I was running much slower than usual.  But I’ll let the cynics say what they might–the fact is that this little bit of encouragement from a complete stranger definitely did help, and it definitely did make the last few minutes of my run much more pleasant, and probably a bit easier, too.

No matter whether she was a complete stranger or not, she brightened my day with a few simple words.  She acknowledged my presence, and she acknowledged the fact that I was working hard at something.  She gave me credit for doing something for myself like running, and she recognized that it was probably somewhat challenging.  And she did all of this with just a few words in passing.

I try to be as encouraging as I can to people, but I never know whether or not my encouragement is well received or not.  After today, though, I think that giving encouragement will be all that much easier for me, even if I’m giving it to strangers.  For I now know what it’s like to get it from a complete stranger, out of the blue, and it felt pretty good.  Perhaps I can make others feel pretty good by giving my sincere encouragement where encouragement is due.

Our workaday lives are filled with opportunities to bless others.  The power of a single glance or an encouraging smile must never be underestimated.

G. Richard Rieger

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Peace of mind and peace of heart come usually as the result of decisions that we make.  And more often than not, that decision is simply to drop (or not to drop) something.  To drop it out of our minds and leave it be while we move on to more productive and healthy and helpful thoughts and pursuits.

Two family members and I were treated extremely rudely by a man at a car dealership on Saturday.  There’s no need to go into details, but we ended up walking out of the place after spending two hours with two other people trying to make a deal on a car.  This third person came and treated us very rudely, and we felt it best to leave.  We weren’t going to let that man ruin our peace of mind, though–even though it would have been quite easy to stew and steam all day long at his mistreatment.  We simply moved on to another dealership where we (fortunately) weren’t treated poorly, bought a car there, and left behind the rudeness and the insulting behavior.

Did someone insult you recently?  Well, that says more about them than it says about you, so leave it behind and keep your peace of mind!  Did you lose something valuable, or make a huge mistake on something important?  If you berate yourself too much for it and destroy your own peace of mind, just how will that help you?  Are you worried about your future?  That worry could be taking away your peace of mind right now, while if you hold on to that peace, you could make decisions and take actions now that could make your future brighter.

I’m not always good at holding on to my peace of mind.  But I do know that when it’s not with me, it’s not the result of external circumstances; rather, I’ve allowed it to slip away due to things that I’ve decided to hold on to instead of letting them go.  Peace is one of the most valuable parts of our lives, and when we experience it we’re healthier, happier, and more productive.  So why would we make the decision to hold on to things that take that peace away?  We seem to be conditioned to think that if we lose peace in our minds and hearts, it’s the result of outside circumstances.  The truth is, though, that those outside circumstances don’t cause us to make the decision to hold on to them.  That decision comes from inside ourselves, and it’s one of the most destructive decisions we can make.  Letting go and moving on, though, are two of the most positive decisions that we can make.

Quiet minds cannot be perplexed or frightened, but go on in fortune or misfortune at their own private pace, like a clock during a thunderstorm.

Robert Louis Stevenson

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I believe that it’s true that we have to decide over and over just what we stand for in life.  I believe we have to decide constantly because what we think, what we believe, and what we feel changes as we grow older and learn more about life and more about ourselves.  It seems to me as I meet and get to know more older people, I learn how important it is to trust ourselves, to trust our hearts, and to trust our intuition.  And these parts of ourselves can help us to learn just what we stand for in life.

Do we stand for honesty?  Integrity?  Fairness?  Kindness?  All of the above?  None of the above?  We all have certain areas that affect us more strongly than others, certain topics that make us feel more strongly, that arouse our passions, much more than other areas do.  When we learn to recognize what they are and to trust our feelings about them, then we can start to learn what we stand for in life.

It’s hard to conceive of someone standing for the same things at 80 as he or she stood for at 20.  I know that in my life, my thoughts and ideas and passions have changed considerably over the last few decades.  There are certain things that I considered to be extremely important years ago that no longer feel so urgent to me, and other things that are much more pressing.  For example, the tendency to encourage other people was very weak in me when I was younger because I didn’t think that anyone would be affected by my encouragement back then.  Now, though, I realize that it’s important to encourage others because I have no idea at all what will affect them and what won’t.  And there’s a good chance, I’ve learned, that my encouragement will be not only heard, but helpful.

Many people prefer not to stand for anything, choosing instead to allow life to go on without thinking about their own contribution to it all.  And because they never really consider the contributions that they’re making–or could be making–they often end up not contributing at all.  Taking, probably, but contributing, no.

I hope that when the end of my life here on this planet rolls around, I can look back and say that I really stood for something, that I tried to teach others about something very important.  And it won’t matter if what I stood for at 20 was the same as what I stood for in my 60’s–as long as I’ve examined my heart and my conscience and trusted what they had to tell me about where I should stand and what I should do.

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I was just thinking about how much we ask ourselves and each other “What’s next?”  It’s a short, simple question that we hear quite a lot, even if it’s not always in those exact words.  We spend a lot of time and effort and energy looking towards that next thing, very often neglecting what’s going on now as we keep our focus on possible futures.  But any possible future that we consider is simply that–possible.  No more, no less.  But what’s here and now is definitely real, definitely a part of our lives, and it’s extremely important that we make the most of our present moments in order to build a string of positive moments that one day we’ll look back on as a positive life.

So I want to keep asking myself another question instead of “What’s next?”  I want to ask myself “What’s now?”  I want to keep focused on the present moment so that I don’t lose any opportunities that are right here and now, so that I don’t neglect any chances that I have to contribute to life and living.  I want to ask myself “What’s now?” so that I can remind myself that in my life right now are many beautiful and positive things, many of them just waiting for me to notice them and become fully aware of them.

Many people spend their lives constantly waiting for whatever’s coming next.  It’s easy for us to anticipate some coming thing, some better job or some great opportunity, or some spectacular event that’s going to add something great to our lives.  But what’s it going to add to?  It’s going to add to what we have right here, right now, and that in itself is pretty spectacular, too.

The only time that any of us have to grow or change or feel or learn anything is in the present moment.  But we’re continually missing our present moments, almost willfully, by not paying attention.

Jon Kabat-Zinn

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I’m fascinated by the concept of abundance.  It amazes me to think of just how much abundance is available right here, right now, on this great planet that we call home.  And it distresses me to witness, time and again, human beings arguing for lack, arguing that they can’t tap into that abundance, that they’re somehow doomed to go with less their whole lives long.  Life’s abundance is here for everyone, no matter who they are or what their skin color, but for some reason we prefer to think that we’re to be doomed to suffer life’s limitations, that the abundance is for other people.  And as long as we think that, of course, guess what we’re setting ourselves up to receive?

I’m not as wealthy as many other people on this planet; in fact, no one really would call me wealthy at all.  But one thing is for sure–I’ve never had to do without many things.  I’ve always been blessed with enough food to eat and clothes to wear.  I’ve always had a roof over my head, a car to drive me places, friends to talk to, even computers to work on.  I’ve had books to read and stereos to listen to my music on.  My life has been very abundant, even if I don’t have a yacht to spend my weekends on or a million dollars in the bank.

But I see many people refuse to take an extra college course that might help them to get a raise or to find work that pays better.  I’ve seen many people hoard their money and refuse to take vacations in beautiful places that could re-energize and re-invigorate them.  I know a lot of people who spend their money on frivolous things that they don’t need at all, only to be “unable” to do things that could help them to advance in their lives.  And how many people do we all know who refuse to take risks, thus dooming themselves to continue on in jobs or in lives that are unfulfilling and unrewarding?

This life offers all of us many beautiful things and experiences.  Abundance is all around us, but we have to reach out and take it, live it, and feel it.  I don’t want to reach the day I die and regret not having experienced as much of what this life has to offer as I can, so I have to do my best today to recognize what options are there before me and do my best to make them a part of my life, a part of my experience, a part of who I am.  It’s up to me.

The abundance of God is like a mighty ocean, so vast you cannot possibly exhaust it or cause a shortage for others.  You can go to this inexhaustible ocean with only a small cup and bring away only that small cup of bounty and blessing.  Or, if you have faith enough, you can take a bucket and bring away a bucketful.  It makes no difference to the ocean.  Nor does it matter how often you go.  Abundance is always there.

Henry T. Hamblin

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