After contemplating what my first blog should be, i concluded it should have something to do with the title of my blog... go figure. If you're not familiar with the symbols used above the title basically says, "The journey is what brings us happiness, not the destination." I picked that quote up from the movie The Peaceful Warrior and it rattled me. Here is the scene below:
Now, i certainly didn't take this scene at face value. Like most things, i analyzed it to death. In the movie Socrates (Old Guy) never tells Dan (Young Guy) what happiness is, he simply asks, "Are you happy?" Dan responds with, "What does happy have to do with anything?" and Socrates says, "Everything!" There is a clincher though. Happiness is subjective; If i'm to have it, i must know what it means to me.
Happiness to me, is the self-respect i give myself when i allow my Mind, Body, and Spirit to work congruently at embracing life. I put self-respect in there because happiness is a choice. If you're not choosing to be happy, then you're choosing to be unhappy, which leads to suffering. If you YOURSELF choose to suffer, what does that say about your level of self-respect? Next, I chose mind, body, and spirit, because it covers all facets of the human enigma. Lastly, i chose embracing life; Taking whatever life throws at you and finding a positive meaningful purpose for it. It means, accepting the fact that what happens in this life is ultimately out of your control; Surprises are around every corner. However, you can control the meaning you attach to those surprises and how the mind, body, and spirit will act accordingly.
What value does the destination have without the journey? What do you cherish more: That which is given to you or that which you have earned? Are you proud of your degree or, are you proud of what you went through to accomplish and achieve that degree? Do you smile when you see yourself in a photo with a bunch of friends because you like the paper it is printed on? Heck no! You smile because that photo represents a moment in time, a journey, and you embracing life. The destination means nothing without the journey. It is the journey which adds to your self-respect or takes away from it. It is the journey that causes you to smile with pride or frown with sorrow. It is the journey you reflect back upon when you're old and grey laying in a hospital bed. Remember one thing though...
What you do during your journey isn't as important as how well you do it.
All of the above is great, but what does it mean in context? Take the clip for instance, Dan is embracing the struggle to the top of the hill to see what Socrates wants to show him. Ultimately, his struggle (throughout the movie) and his recognition of the lesson, added to his self-respect and strengthend his mind, body, and spirit. The journey brough happiness to him, and he chose to accept it. So many people in this life choose the opposite. Many people believe that they don't deserve it, which ties back to self-respect. They believe they are less than everyone else, less than those who are happy, and therefore deserve less. The truth is, as Socrates would say, "You will never be less than anybody else. Just like you'll never be more than anybody else." That being the case, then you deserve to be happy... you owe it to yourself. There is a great rule of thumb that says, "Anything you can do unhappy, you can do better happy."
Life is a river than flows in only one direction, forward. You can either fight the current and drown sorrowing in the past, or, let the current carry you and enjoy the ride. Embrace life, and choose to respect yourself by allowing your mind, body, and spirit to be happy right now. Stop sorrowing about the past, stop worrying about the future, and be happy in the present. All it really comes down to... choice.
No comments:
Post a Comment