Life is like a camera. Focus on what’s important. Capture the good times. And if things don’t work out, just take another shot.”
– Ziad K. Abdelnour
I am currently in the beginnings of writing a memoir. To establish a framework, I am taking an online course that goes through the basics of writing a memoir and offers some exercises for practice. I’m not sure what motivates me to write the memoir. Perhaps it’s to share my journey so that others might relate to what I’ve gone through. Maybe my resolution of some of life’s challenges will help someone else come to grips with their own.
I haven’t always believed that life is precious. Sometimes it has felt like a curse, and I wanted to give up. But I’ve learned over the years — now that I am able to look at my life from a distance — that the hard times are there, because there are lessons to be learned.
We know that life is precious when one minute a person is alive and the next minute they are dead. Their loved ones grieve their passing, realizing they took that person’s life for granted. At the same time, we recognize that we have been taking our own lives for granted.
Life is lived in the moment, yet the memories often help clarify the moment. There’s a theme running through my life, which is probably true for all of us, if we stop to notice that. My theme has something to do with self-worth. From the beginning I have been tentative, seeking approval, afraid of making mistakes and being ridiculed.
What about you? Is there a theme or focus, a pattern of behavior perhaps that points to your purpose in life? What are you meant to learn and overcome?
What if we could know how our lives turn out? Would that be comforting or would it create even more stress and overwhelm? My guess is that it would not be helpful to know the future. For me, the future — my life — has turned out much different from what I imagined as a teenager. If I had known what would actually happen, would I have tried to change some of it? In the long run, would that have been helpful or would it have hindered my development, my personal evolution? It’s a quandary, I admit.
If you’ve lived long enough, you know that no matter how bad life can be, “this too shall pass.” We build strength through surviving and thriving despite the difficult times. To do that though, we have to have a certain amount of faith in something bigger than ourselves – be it the universe, the spirit of life, or whatever we want to call it.
Circling back to the notion that our lives are precious, consider the following reasons to be grateful for your life:
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We can move forward in life through our experiences – good, bad, and ugly – by focusing on what we want and being persistent.
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There is a reason for all the difficulties that we sometimes call failures, if we learn from them.
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Pain causes us to gain strength and endurance through greater awareness.
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We are lucky to be alive. Our lives represent a one-in-a-zillion chance of being born.
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Being grateful for what we have allows us to move out of a state of fear and into a state of love and compassion, which rejuvenates and replenishes us.
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Too many lives are cut short. If we are still breathing, we can count yourselves lucky and come to appreciate what we have in the here and now.
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Our lives are unique. No one else can have the experiences we have. We are each on a journey that is full of discovery and adventure.
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As long as we are alive, we can be more, do more, and have more. Once we breathe that last breath, the opportunities no longer exist.
If you are reading this, it means that you are still here. You have the chance to make the most out of the rest of your life and be happy.
Our True Heritage
The cosmos is filled with precious gems.
I want to offer a handful of them to you this morning.
Each moment you are alive is a gem,
shining through and containing earth and sky,
water and clouds.
It needs you to breath gently
for the miracles to be displayed.
Suddenly you hear the birds singing,
the pines chanting,
see the flowers blooming,
the blue sky,
the white clouds,
the smile and the marvelous look
of your beloved.
You, the richest person on Earth,
who have been going around and begging for a living,
stop being the destitute child.
Come back and claim your heritage.
We should enjoy our happiness
and offer it to everyone
Cherish this very moment.
Let go of the stream of distress
and embrace life fully in your arms.
-Thich Nhat Hanh