Life is nuts. It’s a big ball of awesome, terrifying, exhilarating, incredible, life-changing, and confusing events and things. Each of us only lasts on this planet a short while. It may seem like you’re here for a long period of time, but when you really think about how long everything else has existed it puts things into perspective. In the grand scheme of things each individual is only a small cog in the complex organism that is our world. But even though that’s the case, each one of us has an important part in shaping our world’s story.
Too many people go through life on autopilot just trying to get through every day. Many of us forget the effect we can and do have on everyone and everything we come across. Life is too short to not think about how you’re affecting the world around you. At the end of the day all we truly have is our relationships with others and our pride in ourselves. It’s up to each and every one of us to decide how we’re going to spend our time developing both of those things. To me, the one thing one should be sure of is that they’re happy with who they are and what they’ve done at the end of the day. If you can go to bed knowing that you’ve positively impacted others around you and that you’ve help promote your own self-growth, you’ve done your job for the day. Albeit, I’m not saying I’ve figure out the answers to life’s mysteries. If anyone thinks they have I would really like to know.
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So, even though I don’t know the answer to all of life’s mysteries I am fairly confident I understand certain things that each of us should avoid, both in our actions and the things we encounter, and that’s what taken me to the conclusion that we should make sure we’re happy with ourselves and our actions at the end of every day. We never know if we have another hour to live, let alone another day. Given that, why would we waste any of our time negatively impacting the world around us? We may not be in control of every aspect of our respective lives, but in the parts we do control, we should all make a concerted effort to impact the world in a positive way. This involves our actions both when we’re alone and while with others.
Someone can tell who they really are by reflecting upon what they’ve done and thought about while being in the company of none other than their own mind. Think about it: when you’re alone you don’t have other people telling you what to do or what to think. When you have the time to do whatever you want to do your real self rears its head. I’m talking about the time where you don’t have to do anything for yourself or anyone else, where you are free to do whatever you are capable of doing in that specific moment.
What do you like to do when you’re alone? Maybe you enjoy placing yourself in front of a screen where you can immerse yourself in a world that distracts you from the pains and nonsensical aspects of your life. Maybe you like to work out or engage in sport in order to improve your physical health. Maybe you think of funny jokes and stories to tell your friends next time you see them. Maybe you even like to ponder on life’s endless mysteries and come one step closer to figuring out the answers to the intricate problems that pose themselves to us on a daily basis. Regardless of what you do during your free time though, you can’t deny that you’re doing it because you’re at least somewhat drawn to do it. However, if what you like to do in your free time negatively impacts someone or something you need to take a long and hard look at yourself. If you use your free time to plot how you’re going to screw someone over, or cheat on that test you have tomorrow, or how to make yourself look superior to someone else, you need to think about why you are doing that. If you’re doing any of those things, clearly at some point on your journey of life you’ve been misguided, not guided at all, or have chosen not to listen to the wisdom of those who have come before you. I don’t understand how some people are okay subjecting others to treatment that they themselves would not be okay with if done to them. That just doesn’t make any sense to me.
When it comes to time spent with and around others the same things seem to apply. It’s not hard to see that you probably shouldn't harm someone in a physical or emotional way or intentionally make someone feel intellectually inferior. Just because you’re with a group of people doesn’t give you the right to treat those around you in any way you please, even if you think it’ll make others laugh or like you more. In fact, those are precisely the type of people you don’t want in your life; they will only stray you farther from the spiritual path that you should wish to be on. The people you do want in your life are those that will remind you (both with their words and through their actions) of the right mentality to approaching life. Once again I’m not claiming to know the answers to everything. I’m not saying that I know the exact mentality one needs to approach life with; but, when you really think about it you know which types of people promote toxicity in your life and which ones promote your own positive self-growth. All it takes is a little reflection.
In this beautiful and messed up world we live in every one of our actions or inactions has an impact. This may be on someone else; this may be on something else. You would be foolish and naive to think that you don’t matter. Every single one of us matters. We all affect and help shape the world around us, whether we realize it or not. Given that, it would behoove each and every one of us to go through life aiming to be a bit more conscientious and kind to the people and things around us. The world would be a better place because of it.
“The most profound relationship we’ll ever have is the one with ourselves.” - Shirley Maclaine
