The Meaning of Life (and other things)

I have had some thoughts percolating around the ol' cerebrum the past few weeks.  I have been somewhat hesitant to blog about them as I don't want the wrong message or perspective to come across.  As I sit here and look at my screen and contemplate the concept I want to write about, I truly have no idea if this is going to positive, negative, somewhere in between or a jumbled mess of unconnected gibberish. 

-On a side note, gibberish starts with a G, not a J.  Learn something new each day - check!

Moving on.  There have been several posts and conversations as of late about impermanence.  This is nothing new. The topic I am sure has been around literally since the dawn of modern man.  Literally.  There are endless motos, sayings and mantras dedicated to this that we hear or even repeat over and over, but how many of us take the time to understand this concept and let it permeate our thoughts, actions and everyday approach to life.  "Live each day to the fullest!", "Seize the day!", "Carpe diem!".  We've all heard them and yes we've said them even exclaimed them, but do we live them?  I know I don't, at least not all the time.  If you think about it, it's actually pretty hard work.

-On a side note, the "I before E except after C" rule doesn't apply to "seize". Learn something new each day - double check!

Mike, you ask, how does one go about living each day to it's fullest? Once again, another spectacular question!  

Let's get to it, but first...

The writer of this post is in no way claiming to be a philosopher, guru, sage, scholar, wise man, theorist, great thinker, speculator, or dreamer. - Correction, apparently he does claim to be a dreamer.  The thoughts and opinions are those of said writer, who self admittingly is fully aware that if shoes were clues he may well indeed be barefoot.  

This is not a simple question that can be answered in a blog post, a self help book, a newspaper column or even on a bathroom wall.  But we will try our best. To even come close to understand how to live each day to the fullest, we first need to understand the meaning of life.  Yup, the greatest question of all time (well, second only to "may I have another piece of cake?").  Now, given the potential audience this post is sure to reach, it is not lost on me that I am probably well out of my league on this subject, but that's what the above legalese is for.  

So what IS the meaning of life?  That really depends I suppose.  Whose life are we talking about?  Woah, just hang on a sec. Put those eyebrows back down and hear me out.  I am not saying that a life's meaning is extrinsic and is defined by others, just the opposite in fact.  It is your life and it is up to you to give meaning to it.  You can certainly allow your "meaning" to be influenced by others, but it truly rests with you.  Only you can answer that question.  And the truth of it is, your meaning will evolve over time maybe even change completely. As you grow, learn, experience life and everything around you, your values and understanding of life's nuances and quirks can't help but to change and evolve thus affecting your "meaning of life".

TRANSPARENCY CHECK ... I feel it is important to explain that I have been writing this post for over a month now.  As thoughts and concepts related to this pop into my brain I have been adding to it.  Even in this short period, I feel that things have evolved for me and my intent today may even be slightly different than when I started this post.

So then, now that we got that out of the way (sort of), how do we "seize the day"? Well, maybe it is simple.  So simple really that anyone can do it.  All you need to do is follow my 6 step Seize the Day Program, offered in this post at the incredibly low price of nothing!  "Mike, how can you offer such an amazing program at such low prices?" you may ask. Cuz I'm crazy, crazy, crazy.

Step one - Start to understand your values.  This doesn't need to be overly comprehensive at first, but you need somewhere to start.

Step two - Define your intent. 

Step three - Set short, mid and long term goals that align with your values and intent.  Again, these do not need to be comprehensive but you have to start somewhere.  

Step four - Review your goals each and every day.

Step five - Take action and make decisions that support your goals each and every day.

Step six - Re-evaluate and go back to step one.

Understanding who you are (all the good, the bad and the ugly) is self awareness.  Self awareness is key to knowing how to become the person you want to be. If you take consistent action each and every day that support your goals and your intent, and regularly re-evaluate your values, intent and goals, you will seize the day.

For me, I like to think I am fairly self aware.  I do know who I want to be.  I even know how to get there.  My problem is the consistent action, the staying on track and ensuring my intent and goals are aligned.  This part is not so simple.

How does this relate to kung fu?  C'mon really? 

Thanks for reading

Mike