I don’t want anyone to get the impression that “to be happy” as the meaning of life is an oversimplification. The idea of “to be happy” is like a many faceted jewel. Each facet is essential to the brilliance and flash of the jewel. If one facet was overlooked and not polished to its maximum, the whole jewel would suffer. It would be less than it could be.
First, for example, we would need to explore together the words “to be.” “To be or not to be,” from Shakespeare, is one of the most famous of all phrases developed around the idea of “to be.” And it is a real challenge for every human being. Whether we will simply wade through this world waiting for the end or shall we BE. What I mean by that is to be conscious of oneself and of one’s world. I think you might be amazed at how many people wade through life totally unconscious of what is “swirling around their knees.” I often think that they think it is nothing more to life than sunrise, sunset, one day after the other, endless monotony. Even the challenges or problems of their lives begin to make up part of the monotony. “To be” means to awaken; to know what’s going on in your mind and spirit and how that relates to what’s going on in your world.
“To be” means to get hold of yourself and understand WHO you are. It means to get away from defining yourself as what you do. Now I do not mean to belittle what you do at all. Your occupation or vocation or job is important to you and important to your community. But it is not who you really are. Who you really are is much larger and grander than what you do. And I mean this sincerely whether you are a trash collector or a CEO of a large corporation or something in between. For if your occupation were suddenly taken from you, for whatever reason, what would you have left? Who would you be? What would your reason for being be?
These are ideas and questions that need pondering by everyone. Man, this sounds pretentious sometimes. I certainly do not mean to suggest that we have “airs” of any kind. But it’s a profound subject and one very worthy of your attention. So, I hope to give it depth and weight and I hope you’ll forgive anything that sounds pretentious.
(I apologize if you have read this blog before. A while back, I accidentally blow my blog off the Internet. Had to start all over again.)
I recommend The Barking Unicorn. It is an excellent and interesting blog.
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