Year after year passes by as we make a living and miss out on the most crucial things in life. Often, it takes decades to understand this.
After watching a provocative movie, reading an inspiring book, or having some sort of epiphany, we may consider committing to the most important things in life. But, unfortunately, we usually do everything except for those very important things we said we would do. Year after year passes by as we make a living and miss out on the most crucial things in life. Often, it takes decades to understand this. Upon facing important life events, such as experiencing the death of a loved one, or becoming ill and bedridden, or just simply getting older, we may then reflect and realize what we missed out on. Here is a short piece, from my mind to yours.
Mindful Speech
Many of us lose our relationships with our loved ones because of our way of talking. After several years pass by and we lose our bonds with several loved ones, it becomes clear that our intentions and thoughts – however benevolent they may be – are invisible, and the only communication bridge that connects two people is the way we speak.
Why should it cost us so much and take so long to realize this, when we can engage in healthy and mindful speech right now?
Quality Time
For the sake of work and home duties, we are unable to spend time with our loved ones. We realize this after going through a tragic time: parents die, relationships grow apart, and children become adults.
A Meaningful Life
We spent an enormous amount of time with technology in our daily lives. Most of these encounters produce no substantial, positive outcome. We can positively improve our life if we spend more time on things that will bring us deeper meaning.
A Healthy Body
Giving in to temptations, we develop destructive habits. Though we seem to be physically well now, destructive habits bring their bad consequences later in our lives. Why should we take it lightly when this issue is the most important thing in our lives – our health.
Go, travel!
Traveling abroad expands our worldview. On an ultimate level, travel is unnecessary for the meditator, and sometimes it is actually possible to develop an expansive view, free of prejudices, without this exposure to the further reaches of the outside world. But many of us are quite literal and need to see different parts of the world to expand our view. Although we may want to travel, one of the issues preventing us from traveling is our need for comfort. If we look carefully, comfort is not the most essential thing in our lives. If our lifestyles allow us the privilege of traveling, then, with attention to the ecological impact of our movements, we should seize the opportunity, and go.
Finding Values Outside of the Workplace
Working too much? If we are unable to see values beyond our work, we should be concerned. There are tons of positive values in life that are outside of our work life, so keeping some time dedicated for those values will allow us to have a balanced life.
Learn to Explore
The education system that we go through from toddler to youth is inadequate for many things in life. We often feel unequipped and unprepared in terms of unpacking life situations. Therefore, we should continue exploring other disciplines, to become not just an educated person, but a wise one.
Decisiveness in an Uncertain Environment
With our indecisiveness and unwillingness, some of us continue on with a life situation that we do not like at all, in a toxic work environment where we totally dread being. But simply because we have developed a level of comfort with it, we may stop taking an active role in trying to change it. A lot of the happy success stories that may inspire us begin with a person taking a decisive role in a very uncertain environment.
Action above Daydreaming
Daydreaming is just imagination, whereas action can and always does yield measurable outcomes. When we waste a lot of our time daydreaming instead of committing to producing results, we are often enchanted by our own imagination, and the work that produces results can appear bland and substandard. Bad news! We are trapped in the web of our own mind play. Instead of waiting for the perfect conditions or expecting someone to prepare the conditions for us, we should actually, physically do something now, a little bit every day, to make the daydream a reality.