Imagine yourself on your death bed. What can you say about the life you have lived? Are you satisfied, or do you have many regrets? Can you now, as you sit at your computer, say that you are living your life to the fullest? These are just a sample of the many questions I have been asking myself over the past few weeks.
What does it mean to live your life to the fullest? Perhaps it means to live a life of happiness. According to South Asian philosophy, happiness is defined as the lack of suffering, and suffering being defined as a gap between the person you are and the person you desire to be. In order to eliminate suffering, you can either strive to be the best person you can or, to be blunt, lower your standards. I imagine few people, especially in the western world, would choose the latter. That leaves us with striving to achieve all that we desire. And that gives us the power to quite literally change the world.
I must address immortality. Of course, no one wants to die, but we must face it at some point. If we eliminate suffering in our lives by striving to achieve what we desire, we can leave our own personal mark on the world. We can influence future generations of thoughts and actions. We can influence others in order to eliminate their own suffering. By leaving our own mark in the world, we are in a sense immortal.
You are important! You have thoughts and experiences that are unique! Just imagine the extent of the knowledge that you possess, what you can teach others, and what you can learn from them.
Take action and speak up! Strive for happiness and be the person you want to be. Share thoughts and experiences, and be open to the thoughts and experiences of others. Together we can create a ripple of change throughout the world.
Karissa Martin
Silent River Kung Fu
Stony Plain, AB
PS. This was the long winded way of telling you journal.
