We live in a world where we are busy being worried about all the wrong things, at all the wrong times. We all believe that we are entitled to everything that we have and never truly appreciate anything that we have until it’s gone. We take too much for granted- only when those things are gone do we realize how important they truly were to us.
As many of us know, the East Coast got slammed by Sandy, which is the second worst disaster to hit the United States after Hurricane Katrina. As many experienced having no power, gas, heat or hot water for days, it was a true shock to them and showed many of us that at any moment the basic necessities of life can be taken away from us.
It was a reality check; it showed us that we are not invincible and that we ought to appreciate how easy we have it here because many around the world don’t nearly have the luxuries that we have in the U.S.
Besides the basic necessities of life that we need to appreciate we also need to appreciate life itself. We only truly get one shot at it and we are blessed with being the most dominant species to walk the planet. But nothing is forever- loss is inevitable and time does pass.
We have to understand that we will not have everything we have now forever and that waiting until after it’s gone is not the time to sit and wish you would have done more when you had the opportunity to do so. Most of the time we take our lives and all that we treasure for granted, and don’t really know its true worth until it’s not around.
The problem with us humans is that we think we will have things forever and don’t ever get reality checks like the one given to us by hurricane Sandy. We feel no compunction to get off our asses to do the hard things that are necessary to honor and cherish them.
If we give in to the childhood fantasy that everything just takes care of itself, we do not feel the conviction of responsibility to do all that we can to preserve, protect, and invest in our lives, each and every day. That is the problem with our society.
We need to have a sense of awareness and be thankful for everything we have at all times, not just on Thanksgiving, via Twitter.
We don’t ever live in the moment anymore and always have other things on our mind- things that we incorrectly deem to be of greater importance- and are never happy with what is in front of us. We think we can have better.
That is not living. That is not enjoying life. We need to be present in life; we need to enjoy every moment for what it is worth because if there is one thing I have realized, it is that that moment, once it passes, is gone forever.
Without the awareness of the passage of time we let opportunities slip by rather than seizing the moments when they come. How many opportunities do we let pass us by while transfixed under the spell that we will get another tomorrow? The opportunity to step up, to take a risk, to do the right thing, to make amends, to say, “I’m sorry” or “I love you.” Life is too short to keep these things bundle up inside.
As human beings, our first-order inclinations are toward survival and self-protection. If we are honest, we can acknowledge that this leads to a kind of laziness. We want to hide out, to shirk responsibility, to let someone else do the dirty work. Left unchecked, this natural human urge keeps us in our cocoon where we never get anything substantial done, and never get anything much out of life. Now that’s depressing.
The good news is that, if we can develop the courage to face the fact that loss is an inevitable part of life, we help create the conditions in which we can get up and get rolling. Herein lies a paradox. It is only when we see ourselves within the limitations of time that we can become aware of the value of time.
This is the path to a most desired state: living in the moment. Here, we can be guided by a set of much more uplifting sayings like, “Carpe diem” and “Be here now” and “No regrets.”
You need to live in the moment and appreciate everything and everyone you have around you. Be present in life, not always worrying about what is going to happen next. Life is made up of the moments that are to be cherished and when we are on our last days that is what we are going to remember.
Allow yourself to create those memories and value them because they are worth more than anything money can buy. You can’t buy happiness, but you can create it.
Preston Waters | Elite.
