Weekly Observance

It’s been a good week, all in all, and I’m ready to start the weekend. There have been a lot of interesting things I’ve noticed and learned. Being alive in this realm is, as always, an interesting endeavor, and each thing I see or perceive is added to the collage of I. Here are this week’s findings.

1. The Power of Perception – It shouldn’t be news to anyone anymore – countless philosophers, psychologists and enlightened souls have told us this time and again, and yet, it seems that still people have no idea the power they have over their own world views. It is very simple – your life is what you believe it to be. It is up to you whether or not you enjoy being human and walking around on this plane of existence. So many tired old sayings could be quoted here – If life gives you lemons, make lemonade… Such clichés are the adages of our world. But what is truly amazing is that so few people seem to take them seriously. Why do we ask “why me?” Why are we so quick to lay blame for our troubles? There is no such thing as a bad life. There is only how you live it. It doesn’t take a saint to enjoy life when you hit some snags in the road. It only takes a shift in perspective. I have seen more miserable ‘privileged’ people than I care to think about. And I have met and known some positively sunny individuals that many would say got the wrong end of the stick. The difference was in their perception of what it was to be alive, and whether they recognized that they were alive at all. There are trials in every life, some big, some small, most of them immeasurable by any standard but the individual’s, but these do not have to make you bitter and resentful. There’s no need to ask “why is this happening to me?” It is, it will, and it has. It is life. And life is both blissful and painful, but without these extremes you couldn’t appreciate or respect either one. Next time around, if you don’t like it, stay home. But in the mean time, deal with it and be quiet. The rest of us are trying to learn something.

2. The Beauty of Being Alone – It’s good to be alone sometimes. To be alone with one’s own thoughts, when no one needs you, no one is talking, and you’re perfectly content to just be silent, existing in this moment of temporary freedom from aural, mental and physical connection to another. The feeling is incomparable. Try it some time. You may be surprised at just how much you’ve missed yourself.

3. Get Up Earlier – I am one of those snooze button people that get up at the last possible minute, but I have learned that this little habit is ruining my life. And I know why. It is very hard to have a positive outlook on your world when you’ve forced yourself to have to move ten times faster than is strictly natural as soon as you get out of bed. So I am teaching myself to get up earlier, whether I feel like it or not. By doing this, I will avoid being late, I will lower my chances of forgetting something on my way out the door, and the world will not look like such a cruel beast with all its sunlight and brash optimism. Maybe, with practice, I might start to enjoy mornings. Either way, the rest of humanity should not have to suffer just because I sabotaged my outlook before the day’s even begun.

4. The Haze Makes the Viewing Hard – No matter how hard I try to see clearly and understand my world and my existence, the viewing is never easy. There’s this haze, you see, created by my emotions and my preconceived notions. I have learned that we all have a haze, and the haze is thick. It is deceiving and tricky. I am learning to tread lightly and pause between steps, both hands out in front, in an attempt to navigate the confusion before making judgments or knee-jerk reactions. Most of the time it takes a second or third look before we can really know what we’re looking at. And even then, sometimes in the haze, things can change.