All of us are trying to be someone, accomplish something, get somewhere, to complete a cycle, to make more money, to work harder, faster…and for what? To what end? To buy overpriced homes that make us slaves to our work, to invest in stocks that rise and fall, to finish college that may or may not get us the “job” we hope for, a job that could one day become a thorn in our side. As humans, we have a tendency to hold onto things tightly. We hold onto people, possessions, assumptions, old beliefs, work that no longer supports our way of living, and people that do not resonate with our way of being.
Life is meant to be lived fully; it is meant to be savored, relished, risk-driven, and adventurous. Each day gives us new opportunities to do, be, help, rise, and show up. The next morning gives us the opportunity to do it over again, in a new and improved way, better than before, meeting new souls and reaching for dreams that allow us to release our legacy to the world. I have a quote in my living room that I look at on a daily basis to remind me of such a path. “The journey is the destination.” This means that the ride does not begin when I launch my new hit single, when my children’s project gets picked up, when I make a certain level of income, when my kids leave for college, or when I drive a Tesla; it means that my life is right now. It means that time spent arguing is precious time taken, that robs our joy. It means to dwell in anger or tirades is pushing away the people and circumstances that matter the most to us.
My cousin has a quote hanging in his home that I have always admired. “Pay attention to the little things, because one day you will understand that all of life is the little things.” In the video I share with you this week, life is referred to as “the dance or the music.” The video reminds us, “when you listen to a song, you do not rush to the end of the song.” Life is the song. Sometimes we are impatient with life, because we suffer from attachment. We are attached to our past, our old emotions, our stories, our pain, our routines, and we are unwilling to collaborate and build something new that nourishes our spirit and soul to its core.
Our lives are full of distractions instead of meaning; society distracts us, Facebook distracts us, menial jobs distract us, games distract us, unconscious people distract us. We are being called to greater heights. It’s time for us to listen and pay attention. You are not your job, you are not what you own, you are not your title or profession, you are not your status, you are you. Focus on who that is.
As a society we focus on the negative, on mistakes, flaws, on what’s missing, instead of on everything we have, and everything we’re grateful for. At times we’re blind, stumbling, waving our arms around in the darkness to find our way. If we’re fortunate enough, we have people around us to show us the light in the moment we can’t see it ourselves. We have people around us who understand and nurture us back to the place where we recognize ourselves again.
My hope is that we all find our dance, the one that brings us and others close to us, the most joy…that we can dance our way through life, enjoying all the steps, and all the places that the dance takes us. And as we change, so does the dance. As our environment changes, so does the dance. To have compassion, to seek to understand, to flourish in joy and love, to do good, that is to have lived. Our concern should not be that we are afraid of dying, but that we have merely just begun to live.
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