Today's
Meditation:
Willa
Cather said much the same thing when she said that the end
is nothing, and the road is all. It's far too easy
to keep focused on the idea that reaching our goals will
determine if we're successful or not, and the reality is
that the important thing is how we live as we're striving
to reach those goals. Are we walking all over others
in our attempt to be "successful"? Are we
keeping our eyes open for opportunities to help
others? Are we allowing others to be who they are
and do as they choose rather than trying to control their
actions in order to make them correspond to our wants and
needs?
Ari
Kiev's focus rightly lies in the present moment.
What can you do right this moment to contribute to your
own life? What opportunities do you have now to make
your life more fulfilling? We've all read the
stories about the men and women who are so caught up in
trying to get promoted or reaching sales goals or making
their business work that they forget to spend time with
their families. They sacrifice the positive time
that they could contribute to the lives of their loved
ones--and the positive elements that they could get
back--in order to try to achieve some distant goal that
they may or may not reach.
Far
too often, when they reach that goal they find that the
price they paid to get there wasn't worth the
"success."
Of
course, it's important to remember that some jobs have to
be done, and that sometimes we must sacrifice time with
loved ones in order to accomplish necessary tasks.
However, if we don't find a balance and make sure that
we're trying our best to live in the present moment, we
face a huge loss, one that cannot be returned to us--the
days of our lives, and the potential within each day for
fulfilling, meaningful contact with the people we love and
who love us.
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