Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Ordinary

They say: Ordinary people can do extraordinary things.

I am obviously an ordinary person. Somehow, I feel like there's an extraordinary thing somewhere out there waiting to be done by someone like me. I've felt it my entire life. The problem is, I don't have a clue what it is or where to find it. What I do know is this: Our world is currently broken.

I see the world we should have clearly in my mind. It's one that has no place for things like homelessness or famine. In that world, nobody ever goes without water or food. There's no need for currency... everyone already has equal access to everything. When people get sick, they don't lose their life savings. And they don't feel the need to bring weapons everywhere, because they aren't afraid anymore. Kids don't get hurt at their schools... and teachers show up because they actually care. Religious leaders encourage their followers to embrace others and peacefully co-exist... I could go on and on, but what purpose does it serve? This world is merely a figment of my imagination.

I'm just hoping that someday we will wake up.

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Sheltered

One thing I have never had the privilege of relating to:  The thought of being born, living your whole life, and eventually dying... all in the same place. So many people pride themselves on this concept. It happens everywhere. They live their entire lives in the same place. Never exploring beyond the boundaries of the familiar and comfortable. Never opening their minds to take in new ideas and new cultures... new ways of thought. While I'm happy that these people find pride in this process, it makes me sad. There is an entire, vast, complex world out there.

How can one not want to get out there and explore any of it? It blows my mind.

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Conundrum

A hypothetical question for you...

Your two options. Do you...?:

A) Hide most of your true feelings. Continue to pretend that many things that happen in the world around you don't often claw at your soul and pierce your heart. Conform to the normalcy of society in the hope of finally finding a sense of belonging and acceptance.

B) Expose your true self. Open up more and let out all of the repressed feelings. To "be yourself" - in the process possibly alienating most of the people you know, likely losing any drop of respect for you they might have had left.

Conundrum...

Which do you choose?

(Is there such thing as a full-life crisis?)

Thursday, August 8, 2013

A Stupid Rant About Jelly Beans

I had a jelly bean today. And when I say I had a "jelly bean", I actually just mean that I had a specific thought. (No actual jelly beans were consumed by me today.) It's just that thoughts are basically like jelly beans. So here's mine...

Every waking moment of every day, we are bombarded with ideas. Random ideas. These ideas constantly ambush us from every possible direction. Picture a big, empty kitchen with large windows. Picture a smooth counter in this kitchen that stretches past your wingspan. Now, picture a large, open jar in the middle of this counter. The jar is filled half-way with jelly beans. This jar represents your mind. Each jelly bean: a random thought.

Your mind processes thoughts as your body would consume a jelly bean. It takes a thought, savors the color, the aroma, the texture... and the taste. It fully analyzes every detail of the jelly bean until finally it's exhausted and digested. Your mind then moves onto the next jelly bean...

So, as we mentioned, your jar is already half-full of thoughts, each and every one of which need to be given your mind's full attention in order to process. But we distract ourselves. We distract ourselves with things that end up only dropping more jelly beans into our jar. Every single day, we subconsciously collect more and more jelly beans in our jar... at a rate much faster than we can digest those already in our jar. This eventually results in our jar overflowing with information. Bits and pieces of solid thoughts that splash around in our minds. Some of these thoughts are special. Some of them have the potential to be life-changing. Most are not. However, it's in your best interest to allow your mind the time to correctly digest each and every thought. After all, your mind is the world's finest file cabinet of information. But if not given a proper chance, it will eventually overflow. Perhaps spilling over the counter. Perhaps filling the kitchen. Perhaps even eventually filling the house and spilling outside... leaving your peace of mind and serenity feeling buried alive.

This is when stress thrives. Our minds crack under the pressure of trying to keep up with the incoming thoughts. This is unhealthy. I picture meditation as a way of stepping back from the jar. Back from the counter. A way of telling the world, "Stop! You are not putting any more jelly beans in my jar today."  This is the action that helps most. It allows your mind to stop letting in new information - even if just for a minute - and lets you focus on the digesting of those many jelly beans you already have in your jar. 

In such a demanding, hyperactive, distracting world, it's hard to find peace. But sometimes you just need to stop. Stop everything you're doing, close your eyes, take a deep breath and enjoy a mental jelly bean. Have two. Or three. Or more. The more you take the time to enjoy, the better you will feel. The lighter your mind will feel. Enjoy everything you have while you still have it. You can never enjoy too many. I promise, once your jar nears empty, many more delicious jelly beans will find their way to your bowl.