November 8, 2012

Death Can Teach You How to Live

By Lisa Basquez on October 31, 2011

Dear Reader,

I come to you in the form of this article simply because I have found I have no other way to get through to you. It seems that most times when we meet, our encounters are quick, superficial and you quickly push your awareness of me from your mind.

Our relationship wasn’t always this way. When you were a child, you couldn’t understand me and so you thought of fun & interesting ways to grasp me. When it became too much, you simply put me out of your mind and went on your way. As a teenager, you recklessly pursued me as you thought you were invincible and that your virility would keep me at bay. Now, your awareness of me is limited to brief encounters and you cope with me by imagining that somehow, you are the exception.

It saddens me that you ignore me…that you deny my very existence. I have so many wonderful things I want to teach you if you would only stop for a moment and encounter me. People fear me but that is only because they don’t know me. Those who have explored me and my lessons have come away much more vibrant and alive… I really want that for you too.

When you avoid me, it’s your way to try to deny the passage of time but ignoring the truth doesn’t make it any less real. Time is passing… you are getting older… your parents are getting older… your children are getting older, and at some point—you will face me. How you live until then is what is really important to me.

You see, when you take the time to know me you will find that I am really much more of a silent partner in your life, inviting you to live. Remember Randy Pausch, author of The Last Lecture? When he realized that he was on his way to meet me, he took the time to make sure that the important things he needed to say were said. He passed on the lessons of his life to his children and became an international sensation as many people pondered how he could be so ALIVE while he was dying. I don’t want you to be diagnosed with terminal illness to learn how to live so I’m sending you this invitation in the form of a blog: Meet me and when you do, let me teach you how to live.

To become aware of my presence in your life is the key to living a vibrant life. When you are aware of me, you waste less time on unimportant tasks and spend more time on what really matters. You accomplish the things you’ve always wanted to but never did. Inviting me into your world injects a certain poigniancy, even an urgency to really live life well. It brings the awareness that life is so fleeting and can pass us by in a moment and with that awareness, you can begin to drink deeply of the cup called today. You will learn that you can even face what scares you and come away stronger.

It is now officially fall 2011. It is a perfect reminder that, no matter how hard you try to hold it back, time still passes. It is also a good time to ask yourself: how will I choose to live from today on?

We will meet again. Hopefully, not before you learned what I want to teach you.

Sincerely,

Death

Source: http://www.positivelypositive.com/2011/10/31/death-can-teach-you-how-to-live

The Currency of Life

There are times in our lives when we are rich, and times when we are poor. There are times when we are somewhere in between, and content to be so. There is always someone who is richer than we are, and always someone who is poorer. We are never on, true, equal footing with anyone else in this regard.

We define our lives and ourselves in these terms. By what we do, and how much we make - How much money we make. There is upper class, lower class, and middle class. There is First World, Second World, and of course Third World.

We, as human beings, tend to only describe ourselves, and others within the boundaries and limitations of money. There is always the question of value. How much something is worth. Even, how much a person is worth. Though money is a renewable resource - When you run out, you can always get more; there is a limited amount of it, It is not easy to come by, and it is very easy to loose. Still, even at our lowest financial points, we find hope… We tell ourselves that things will get better. The tide will turn, and put us back in the game.

I believe that that ability to “get back in the game” takes us out of the game all together. The Game of Life, that is. Our lives are built on the pursuit of the mighty dollar. There are things we have to buy, and money is the legal tender for everything… Well… Not everything.

What price should we tender for a full, rich, splendid, exciting, dare I say priceless - Life. You can’t buy a life filled with wonder, with money. As the clichés go, “Money can’t buy you love, or happiness”. And even if it could, what form of currency would, or should, we use to buy this blissful state of utopia. US Dollars, the Euro, the Yen, Produce, Animals, even other People… There are so many different things that people use to purchase other things. It’s actually kind of weird, isn’t it, that we use physical things to buy etherial things. Happiness, love, joy, hate, misery, emotions in general are etherial. They are not of this world. They are a state of being, and that can not be bought with material things.

But there is a form of currency that can actually buy you the most desired of things… The Adventure of Life. The Life experience is expensive, and what we spend on it is much harder to come by than money, and even easier to loose. The problem is, that it, unlike other forms of legal tender, is not renewable. It is also not bankable - You can’t save it up for a rainy day. You spend it as fast as it comes in. Most of us just throw it away. Most of us never realize, until it’s too late, how much we have, or don’t have.

This form of currency is Time, and it is quite possibly the most valuable commodity in the world. And though, in terms of Time itself, it is infinite; in terms of human life it is very finite. It is the only thing necessary to experience all the wonders that life has to offer. You don’t need money, or things. All you need is Time. And with Time, every single person in the world is on equal footing. It’s not how long you live, or how soon you’re taken form this world; it’s how you “spend” your Time. We are always looking for new ways to spend our money. You get your paycheck, or your bonus, or just a gift; and it immediately starts burning that proverbial hole in your pocket. If we put half as much energy into figuring out how to spend our Time, as we do trying to figure out how to spend our money, we’d all be wealthy beyond our wildest dreams. The truly beautiful thing is, that everyone has the same amount at any given moment. No one’s pockets are any fuller than anyone else’s pockets. We reach inside, and we all come out with the same amount. It is, perhaps, the common thread. That thing that truly binds us all. It is certainly the only thing, within the grasp of our limited understanding of things, that is equal in all things.

Time is the currency of Life. It is always there for the taking. Just reach out and grab it. And remember to always…

…Spend it wisely

 

Source: http://www.activistpost.com/2011/10/currency-of-life.html