I don’t understand something: How can any of us consider our life as anything less than perfect? We bitch and moan about how our life should be something other than it is. We are so quick to blame our job, our ex, our parents, or our family for why our life isn’t what we expected.
“I shouldn’t be in this situation.”
“I should have more money.”
“I shouldn’t have to deal with this illness.”
“I don’t want to be alone.”
So many times we walk around with the attitude life isn’t fair. We witness injustice every day on the news and see signs of unfairness all around us, but is it really? Let me explain:
Have you ever held someone as they took their final breath?
Have you suffered along side another who has battled ALS, MS, Cancer, Parkinson’s, or AIDS?
Have you witnessed a perfectly healthy person turn for the worse in just a short time?
We all live our days trying to forget that we are only here for a short time. Our existence on this planet is but a mere dot in comparison to the span of time of human history. We all live with this existential reality but we do anything we can to forget about it.
And
Then
We
Remember.
Knowing our life is but a mere dot, why do we waste precious time and energy complaining or being victims? Look in front of you; chances are there’s many human beings that love you, and many you love.
You may have pain.
You may experience loss.
You may face abuse.
You may lose your house.
You may teeter between life and death for a season.
You may battle depression, loneliness, or drug abuse.
No matter what you may face, your life is still perfect! You may think I’m crazy but hear me out: good or bad, it’s all perfect in the end. The movie Dead Poets Society quotes a beautiful poem by Walt Witman that goes like this:
O me! O life!… of the questions of these recurring; of the endless trains of the faithless… what good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer. That you are here–that life exists, and identity; that the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.
That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.
What will your verse be?
So what will your verse be? Do you have any idea the contribution you want to give to society–or better yet, the contribution you want to leave to the few loved ones that surround you?
While on my honeymoon over six years ago, I read this quote by Richard Dawkins in one of his books and it stayed with me for a long time. I would say this quote challenged my thinking and was one of many things that helped pull me out of an ugly depression I was stuck up to my eyeballs in. Here it is:
We are going to die, and that makes us the lucky ones. Most people are never going to die because they’re never going to be born. The potential people who could have been here in my place, but who will in fact never see the light of day, outnumber the sand grains of Sahara. Certainly those unborn ghosts include greater poets than Keats; scientists greater than Newton. We know this because the set of possible people allowed by our DNA so massively outnumbers the set of actual people. In the teeth of these stupefying odds, it is you and I, in our ordinariness, that are here. We privileged few, who won the lottery of birth against all odds, how dare we whine at our inevitable return to that prior state from which the vast majority have never stirred?
So your life isn’t perfect; you have problems, you have pain, you have disappointment. We all do. We all could have plenty to complain about if we chose to look at our life through stained glasses.
But what if you cleaned off the glasses and take a closer look? You might see just how amazing you are. You might see that in the entire universe there is only one you! When you stop comparing yourself or your life to others, you can begin to see the beauty that is you. When you choose to let go of the past that haunts you, you can start to notice how perfect your life is in the present moment. When you stop obsessing over the future–as if you have any control of it anyway–your fear and anxiety will melt away.
Compared to nobody else, you are perfect exactly as you are!
Even with that walker or wheelchair.
Even with those warts or scars.
Even with that extra weight or imperfectly shaped (says who?) body.
Even with your past mistakes and current situation.
You are here! You are in the powerful play of Life! You are contributing a verse in this powerful play! What will your verse be?
I don’t understand something: How can any of us consider our life as anything less than perfect?
What’s wrong with you?… Nothing!
Peace my friends!
~Travis
