Click here to Introduction
What It Means "To BE"
I think most individuals can agree; anyone worthy does what they are able, when the moments present themselves, to encourage others to live a better life. Not everyone seeks out those moments, and we all have different definitions of what exactly a "better life" is, but even in those sub-conscious imprint of the witness our lives are, there is still the teaching. Those who don't agree to this idea, are likely the same people who set out to negatively impact the world. In spite of previous experience, I will believe that people are still basically "good", even if they can't be, all the time.
So even though it may not be the number one thought on our mind, every time we start a new day, we set out to make the world a better place. Sometimes that means going to a job we hate, to put food we like on the plates we don't even notice. Sometimes that means picking just the right blanket because, it doesn't only look good and blend with the visual serenity of the atmosphere, but it is a gentle caress against skin that works too hard at a job they hate. Sometimes it's setting forth with great purpose to enlighten the poor souls enslaved to the financial realities of this world. Each individual has a different way of making the world better.
Making the world better is my number one purpose in life. This is greatly my grandfather's fault, who impressed me with the idea that I make a great difference everyday in someone's life. I learned the hard way, my grandpa did not always tell the truth: not every single person out there loves me, (that would definitely be an indicator of age in this "Stranger Danger" world) even if they do call themselves "family". So people are different. There are not all brought up the same; exposed to the same experiences and perceptions. Difference is good, because each of us has to have our own purpose.
If each has a purpose to work toward, and we all do it in individual ways, how are we ever to achieve peace in this mechanism of existence? Even the best of machines have to be put together in a specific way in order to work well. Obviously we don't have it quite right yet. Whatever we may believe is the engineer of this machine, nothing works well together if each part does not do it's assigned job at the moment it is called upon.
Because maybe it's not about working toward a common goal. The more complex a thing is, the less likely one part is aware of the other. When learning a new musical piece, each instrument or vocal section will often separate to learn their own part. Even then, the piece is broken down, movement and measure. Practice and warm ups take time and effort, but in the moment; when each piece has been put together in just the right way, each participant doing exactly what they were intended to do, that awareness beyond the individual creates a supreme moment. Sometimes this happens in a rehearsal, others it is that final performance. For the soul of a musician, it is not about the performance, but the moment these parts come together in rare perfection.
Trying to work toward a specific goal may be part of the problem. There was always drive in my grandfather. It didn't matter that he was retired. It didn't matter that his health was always a concern. He was always driving everyone around him to do more; to be more.
In all our conversations, I somehow missed the lessons on how to simply be.
We talked a great deal about the past. I likely know more history than anyone else I know. Especially family history. Grandpa really liked to talk about family. We talked a great deal about the future. Grandpa had lots of plans for me, and none of them were small. He once told me I'd be "the next Oprah". Although we did many things, exploring everything we could, we never really talked about how to exist in the moment. We talked about how the brain worked and what we could do to use it better. We talked about how our interactions with children affected the adults they would become. More often than not, Grandpa was forward thinking.
I carried that forward thinking into my current life. I am often thinking about what I need to get done in order to somehow improve current circumstances. From how to make more money, to how to better arrange the room I'm in for the comfort of the family, I am often thinking of the future.
As a pre-school teacher and god-mother, it has usually been part of my life to consider how I can best impact the evolvement of these young charges. I cannot tell you how many times I have asked them, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" thinking that a wonderful question, allowing for their imaginations to soar.
Don't get me wrong; it's not a bad question. I think maybe it's not the important question we have all thought it was. Maybe it's not as important as we thought to encourage them to get a degree in any field they could choose, no matter what daily job they may achieve. Maybe their daily job, or even their ultimate career goals isn't even what their life's purpose is about.
In general, our society is getting better at teaching children that life is not easy for everyone. Children are more aware of natural happenings and their impact on people. That alone has made them more aware of human suffering. More of our society seems to be suffering as well. I do not know any family who has not been affected by depression and anxiety in a direct way. So we continue to encourage our children to grow up to be something that decreases the suffering of this world.
Yet I sit here, what we call a "grown up" and I, like just about everyone else I know, still wonder what I want to make of myself. When did what we want to be, become some divine purpose that is expectedly un-obtainable? I have to be realistic. Yes, I understand that, but I do not have to continue to reach. Not all goals fit into neat categories.
I say I want to make this world a better place. For me there is no higher goal. So I do. I don't have to get a degree telling me I am certified to help someone feel better. I do not have to be able to put food in my mouth before I can help someone else eat. Sometimes it is more important to have an end goal than it is to reach that goal. I am starting to think that it is always more important to stop, and be the end goal, instead of just trying.
The next time I have the opportunity to ask a child, I will change my question from "What do you want to be? to "What are you?". Or maybe I will just ask it of you and I.
So even though it may not be the number one thought on our mind, every time we start a new day, we set out to make the world a better place. Sometimes that means going to a job we hate, to put food we like on the plates we don't even notice. Sometimes that means picking just the right blanket because, it doesn't only look good and blend with the visual serenity of the atmosphere, but it is a gentle caress against skin that works too hard at a job they hate. Sometimes it's setting forth with great purpose to enlighten the poor souls enslaved to the financial realities of this world. Each individual has a different way of making the world better.
Making the world better is my number one purpose in life. This is greatly my grandfather's fault, who impressed me with the idea that I make a great difference everyday in someone's life. I learned the hard way, my grandpa did not always tell the truth: not every single person out there loves me, (that would definitely be an indicator of age in this "Stranger Danger" world) even if they do call themselves "family". So people are different. There are not all brought up the same; exposed to the same experiences and perceptions. Difference is good, because each of us has to have our own purpose.
If each has a purpose to work toward, and we all do it in individual ways, how are we ever to achieve peace in this mechanism of existence? Even the best of machines have to be put together in a specific way in order to work well. Obviously we don't have it quite right yet. Whatever we may believe is the engineer of this machine, nothing works well together if each part does not do it's assigned job at the moment it is called upon.
Because maybe it's not about working toward a common goal. The more complex a thing is, the less likely one part is aware of the other. When learning a new musical piece, each instrument or vocal section will often separate to learn their own part. Even then, the piece is broken down, movement and measure. Practice and warm ups take time and effort, but in the moment; when each piece has been put together in just the right way, each participant doing exactly what they were intended to do, that awareness beyond the individual creates a supreme moment. Sometimes this happens in a rehearsal, others it is that final performance. For the soul of a musician, it is not about the performance, but the moment these parts come together in rare perfection.
Trying to work toward a specific goal may be part of the problem. There was always drive in my grandfather. It didn't matter that he was retired. It didn't matter that his health was always a concern. He was always driving everyone around him to do more; to be more.
In all our conversations, I somehow missed the lessons on how to simply be.
We talked a great deal about the past. I likely know more history than anyone else I know. Especially family history. Grandpa really liked to talk about family. We talked a great deal about the future. Grandpa had lots of plans for me, and none of them were small. He once told me I'd be "the next Oprah". Although we did many things, exploring everything we could, we never really talked about how to exist in the moment. We talked about how the brain worked and what we could do to use it better. We talked about how our interactions with children affected the adults they would become. More often than not, Grandpa was forward thinking.
I carried that forward thinking into my current life. I am often thinking about what I need to get done in order to somehow improve current circumstances. From how to make more money, to how to better arrange the room I'm in for the comfort of the family, I am often thinking of the future.
As a pre-school teacher and god-mother, it has usually been part of my life to consider how I can best impact the evolvement of these young charges. I cannot tell you how many times I have asked them, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" thinking that a wonderful question, allowing for their imaginations to soar.
Don't get me wrong; it's not a bad question. I think maybe it's not the important question we have all thought it was. Maybe it's not as important as we thought to encourage them to get a degree in any field they could choose, no matter what daily job they may achieve. Maybe their daily job, or even their ultimate career goals isn't even what their life's purpose is about.
In general, our society is getting better at teaching children that life is not easy for everyone. Children are more aware of natural happenings and their impact on people. That alone has made them more aware of human suffering. More of our society seems to be suffering as well. I do not know any family who has not been affected by depression and anxiety in a direct way. So we continue to encourage our children to grow up to be something that decreases the suffering of this world.
Yet I sit here, what we call a "grown up" and I, like just about everyone else I know, still wonder what I want to make of myself. When did what we want to be, become some divine purpose that is expectedly un-obtainable? I have to be realistic. Yes, I understand that, but I do not have to continue to reach. Not all goals fit into neat categories.
I say I want to make this world a better place. For me there is no higher goal. So I do. I don't have to get a degree telling me I am certified to help someone feel better. I do not have to be able to put food in my mouth before I can help someone else eat. Sometimes it is more important to have an end goal than it is to reach that goal. I am starting to think that it is always more important to stop, and be the end goal, instead of just trying.
The next time I have the opportunity to ask a child, I will change my question from "What do you want to be? to "What are you?". Or maybe I will just ask it of you and I.