Experiment With Your Life!

 Seventeen years ago I was given the best advice of my life.  I received this radical wisdom on the very first day I attended the Unity Church of Boulder (Colorado) and listened to Minister Jack Groverland.  Over the next twelve years of Sundays Jack repeated his sage advice often: “Experiment with your life.”

I was intrigued by his message that first day, and scared at the same time.  At age 41 I was pretty much run by routine.  I had a good life and I didn’t think messing with it was such a wise idea.  Thankfully Jack is relentless and brilliantly insightful about human beings.  My life changed dramatically over the 12 years I listened to Jack and practiced what he preached – changed from the inside out.  And the biggest change?  I came ALIVE!!!

Do you ever feel bored?  Uninspired?  Chronically Tired?  Disinterested?  Short tempered? Distracted?  Lethargic?  Complacent? Unable to sleep?

It turns out that human beings NEED change.  Yes, I know we all fear it, but that is a discussion for another day.  Human beings require mental, emotional, physical and spiritual stimulation.  Without change we stagnate.  Our hearts, minds, bodies and soul must be refreshed by connection, ideas, movement and inspiration that is not ‘same old, same old.’

One of the reasons that kids are so joyful and energetic is that they are continuously involved in experimentation.  It is what they do all day, every day.  For them it is all new, new, new – and intriguing and fascinating.  When was the last time you felt that way about your life?  Well guess what, if you want things to be different (interesting, dynamic, engaging, exciting) – you need to think and act differently.  If you are not changing, you are stagnating. 

Everything about life is based on change and renewal.  Think of the seasons.  Thing of the life cycle.  Think about your body!  It is actually a new body every year because all its cells are replaced with new cells!

As we move into adulthood we relegate more and more of our living to routines.  This obviously saves time and energy.  But the downside is that life becomes more and more lifeless.  And all those symptoms listed a few paragraphs earlier are a direct result of the deadening of our lives.

YOU are meant to be a dynamic organism: growing, changing, expanding, creating, refreshing yourself continuously throughout your life!  PLEASE: Experiment with your life!  Take a fresh look at everything you think, do, say, and feel.  Experiment with small changes and move on to more meaningful ones.  For the biggest rewards of all consider rethinking WHO you think you are – on all levels.  You just might surprise yourself!

Living in the Present

The best remedy for a painful, troubling, or disappointing past is living in the present.  Today's experience of life will be determined by the lens with which you view the world, your life, and your circumstances.  Every single moment each of us is writing the story of her/his life.  What story will you create today?

Today you get to decide if you will experience the world thru the lens of your past, or thru the lens of the story you wish to create for yourself.  Who is the person you want to be?  What is the life you want to live?  Today you can begin a new story simply by being that person you envision and making choices congruent with the life you want.

The past no longer exists.  There is only now.  And now creates the nature of tomorrow.  IF you allow the past to be the past, it does not matter what mistakes you believe you made, what hurt you experienced, what you failed to do.  All you need to salvage from the past is a clear vision of what worked, what did not, and who, where, and what you want to be now.

'Living in the present' is more than being in the present.  You are in the present because that is all that exists.  Living in the present means bringing all you are and all you want to be to this moment, and leaving all the stories of the past in the past.  It means being, in this moment, the truth of who you are at your deepest level today.  

Today, begin your new story.  Forget all that has been.  Express all that your soul envisions.  Use each and every moment to write the life you truly want into creation. You and only you are the author of your life.

The Unexamined Life

Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living."

In our fast paced world, it is far too easy, and common, to lost sight of the absolute magnificence, majesty and magic of life.  PLEASE, stop for just one moment and reflect on this incredible experience we call life.  Leave all the nitty-gritty details and complications behind, ever so briefly, and let the sheer awesomeness of the wholeness of life remind you what a precious gift it is.

The trait that most distinguishes human beings from the rest of the beings with whom we share this planet is that in addition to living our lives we can reflect on our living.  We can examine, analyze and ask questions.  We are consciously aware of our own existence and capable of viewing our thoughts, words and deeds objectively as well as subjectively. We can look at how we are being, and make assessments about the quality and value of what we see.  And we can choose something different.

I do not wholly agree with Socrates.  Life is such an amazing gift that I think IT WOULD still be worth the experience even without reflection.  I also think that those who choose to go through life without examining the experience they are having/creating, actually experience a mere shadow of the fullness of life.

Life is a creative process.  It is your own personal work of art.  Every moment of your life you are creating who you are.  In every moment you can reflect on what you have created, what you are currently bringing into being, and where you actually want to go with your creation.

You are the author, the sculptor, the painter of your life.  Take courage and express the truth of you.  Question the stories you have been told all your life, the rules and codes that other people have expected you to incorporate in your living. Question yourself as well.  What beliefs do your thoughts, words and actions express?  Do you truly embrace those beliefs?  Have you chosen them, or were they chosen for you?

You are responsible for what you are expressing - even when you did not choose the beliefs from which those expressions spring.  You are responsible for choosing differently.  You are responsible for the work of art/life you are creating.