There is an Old Ancient Chinese Proverb: May you live in interesting times. This is supposedly seen as an extremely wicked curse, when actually it represents the complete opposite. The idea is that as humans we all naturally resonate to a humdrum life of routine habits which pacify our soul/sole existence. Deep within us all, there is a desire to feel alive again, buzzing with premature anticipation that one day we will be able to touch the part of us that has somehow been pushed to the background. Unfortunately although at first these magnificent temptations seem too good to be true and almost impossible to resist, most times they are tests sent to us in disguise to wake us up from our pointless, monotonous and unpurposeful slumber. As we walk through life with our eyes wide shut. Whilst the experiences in themselves reveal the true value of the test at hand fairly quickly, the side effects can send our stress levels soaring higher than a bird in flight; thrusting us into a rude awakening, as our feathers are scorched by the suns beautiful yet hypnotic rays of warmth and colour. Opening up a new chapter can often mean closing a previous one, and sometimes this feels as if we have just opened up Pandoras box. It hurts, it always does and it always will. Most times during these periods it is found that we are completely unequipped to cope. Due to this we dig deep down to the core of our being in which to bring forth some of our rawest instinct and courage, in order to adapt, if we are not to be ripped apart. Life has a peculiar way of making people shed their skin, even when all appears to seem quite contented. By continually living a life that is always warm and fuzzy, we become dull, lifeless and unsympathetic to the sorrows of others and certainly detached from them. It is in this state of unconsciousness that we dissolve our purpose for living; to the point that we simply end up not caring anymoreafter all life is good to usand when was it exactly when we just stopped caring? My attitude towards change, whether bad, but more specifically when it is good, is that it disturbs our present comfort zone. This then creates anxiety because it represents having to face up to times of complete uncertainty. I often wonder where the thoughts originally come from when we have them and as to the real reason why. Thoughts that instigate starting a family; having more children, getting married/divorced, starting an affair, changing a good job for a low paid job with risks, moving to another country. These examples are all self-motivated desires that urge us strongly to follow these feelings through because they are too strong to ignore. The other type of situations that are out of our control are such things as health issues and family problems. All examples have probably been set in place to make us ask ourselves if we are really happy with our lives, or just clinging onto a delusional safety net. So with all this in mind it is usually through those things that seem to be negative by comparison, where we are really able to find true contentment, inspirations, hidden talents and new found skills and abilities even if it means having to start all over again from scratch. By breaking free from the chains we have wrapped around us so tightly, we indeed experience far more interesting times for which, in turn makes us far more interesting people. It is during these supposedly absolute dire catastrophe's, that we not only learn to survive our trips to hell and back, but find out who we really are in the process. And that we never really needed to reach out to the warmth of the suns rays for it was locked up inside us all along. Ok, so we need a little friction to upset the apple cart occasionally, if we are going to question anything at all in life. If you can see past all the blood, sweat and tears you will realise that you have changed in some way, sometimes for the worse but most times for the better. Every time you learn the hard way you really move one step forward towards evolution. If you understand this and embrace the challenges as a test of spirit and know that with faith and understanding you can achieve a life of purpose, you will never have to become a victim to your circumstances because you have acknowledged that the illusion of Fear is in Fear itself. Everything changes, nothing changes and in the end everything is the same. The only thing permanent in life is Change. It is with this that I point out to you now that if anybody ever says to you May you live in interesting times know that they are actually wishing upon you the Gift Of Life. |
