Think As Inc

WALKING TO YOUR GRAVE

September 28, 2009 on 8:53 pm | In life coaching | No Comments

I attended a lecture on happiness by a master yogi from India.  On the topic of certainty and uncertainty, he noted that the only real certainty we have is how every one of us with each and every step is walking to our grave.  We may have lots of steps left, or we may have few.  We may have an idea of how many (if we have a diagnosis of illness for example), or we may be taken by surprise.  The point he made was to choose happiness each and every step of the way.

Do not take life too seriously.  You will never get out of it alive. – Elbert Hubbard

That quote is a funnier take on the same idea:  if living life to the fullest is our goal, then we all end in failure because we all die.  So don’t worry too much in-between.  I don’t point this out to minimize any concerns you have.  You can’t wish your fears away and be carefree on demand.  Your business idea may fail.  Your career may stagnate.  You may be entering 2008 with the same resolution from 2007 because you haven’t achieved that pesky goal yet. 

But it won’t be better to not even try or to wait till a better time or to pick a lower standard.  You’re dying!  You’re dying figuratively, if you believe (as I do) that giving up on your dreams is a form of death.  You’re dying literally, since barring a medical miracle (and cheaper healthcare to afford the miracle) we all are going to die. 

What do you want to do before you die?  If you had one year left, what would be your priorities?  If you had two, what then?  Since we don’t know, fill in your list for more — five, ten and twenty years from now.  If the business idea or career promotion or pesky goal is not on the one-year list, drop it for now and pick something that resonates more immediately.  Turn fear on its head and paralysis into action, and take a step.  Then, as you’re walking to your grave, pick up as much happiness as you can along the way.