Frank is having a difficult day. He realizes it immediately upon waking, after tossing and turning all night. He feels physically and emotionally drained. Within a few minutes, his day gets worse when he steps under the shower before noticing that he’s out of soap. Later, at work, he bumps into Jim and Elaine and immediately feels poor when they share details of their recent trip to Fiji. He knows that his trips to Cuba the previous winter pales by comparison. The icing on Frank’s Day occurs when he notices women in the office flirting with Doug, a new employee, who’s young, athletic, and handsome. By his own definition, Frank is old, overweight, and out of shape. Why, Frank asks himself, must life be such a struggle?
What Frank doesn’t realize is that life isn’t out to get him. Life doesn’t have an agenda to bless some and curse others. It’s an impartial force, operating impersonally. Unbeknownst to Frank, his biggest problem is that he’s unaware that the quality of his life is directly related to the nature of his thoughts about his life. On the day that Frank knows with absolute certainty that his life is terrible, the following is happening outside of his awareness:
When Frank was getting out of bed, a man named George, aged sixty-seven, is waking on a city sidewalk grate, after spending the night shivering in the only clothes he owns. While Frank was muttering about a missing bar of soap, a young African girl named Nale, who has never experienced the luxury of a shower, is desperately missing her mother, who died of AIDS the previous day. Regarding Frank’s trip to Cuba, he’s unaware that the average Cuban earns approximately $25.00 per month. And while Frank was belittling his physique, a man named Richard, who’s been in a wheelchair since a car accident, still dreams of the mobility that Frank takes for granted.
The point of relating such different lives isn’t to make us feel better by contemplating the plight of others. I’ve employed contrast to help awaken us to a new way of thinking about our own lives; to experience the immediate benefits that occur when we govern our attitude. In doing so, we become masters in the art of living. Such is not reserved for a privileged few, and we don’t have to trek to a mountaintop to attain our degree. If we’re willing to welcome our own evolution, via lessons in the trenches of life, every down will yield an up; every detour will lead to a more meaningful destination.
There are tremendous benefits when we “stay in the is-ness of life.” Stress, anxiety, and discomfort arise when we resist life; which is just another way of saying “I want life to be other than it is.” Resistance robs us of the inherent beauty in the present moment. A wiser approach is to align, here and now, with the flow of life. When we do, we’re enabled to experience peace without demanding that life change to suit our needs.
Accepting life in the present moment doesn’t mean foregoing our dreams. In fact, when we’re at peace we become an open conduit to intuitive nudges that will help us fulfill them! Once we truly know what we desire, our task is to remain strong in our faith that the way will be revealed. For those who question whether this can actually help us create a better life, my suggestion is to “try it, and see for yourself.” The process of attracting what we desire begins…in the time it takes to change our thoughts.
Dare to dream (and care for one another).
With heartfelt regards,
Art
Copyright © – 2020 – R. Arthur Russell
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