It’s easy to spend most of our waking hours following a mindless pattern of habitual behaviors. Everyday we have to do this or that, or get up at a certain time for jobs or kids, or exercise classes, etc. These are the habits that define our lives. They are like guard-rails on a highway overpass because these are things that we MUST do—they keep us in line, on task, at full-forward momentum to prevent us from overshooting our daily path on the way to fulfilling our life goals.
But because of that daily pattern frequency they become more automatic behaviors—learned habits—mechanical repetitions we slip into without much thought or consideration.
As our boredom and fatigue increase with task repetition we sometimes ask ourselves, “Are all of these habitual ‘doings’ necessary?” And the answer is usually ‘Of course they are or I wouldn’t be DOING them.’
And that’s the problem: Perhaps we haven’t defined our life’s purpose yet so that our daily efforts more accurately reflect our ‘clarified intentions’ rather than relying on mindless rote behaviors that get us through each day.
The biggest problem with automatic behaviors is that as Mark Twain suggests, ‘familiarity breeds contempt’. While contempt is a strong descriptor here it might simply suggest a loss of respect for the situation or relationship because of becoming overly familiar with it, but it can also mean that we lose interest in what we are doing and why we are doing it. We may fail to pay attention to what is actually happening during the process of what has become a repetitive behavior.
This subject that seems so simple and blasé is actually quite complex. To clarify your life’s intentions you need to first be aware of what your intentions actually are.
So what are your life’s intentions?
- Are you on a journey toward greater self-awareness and soul-fulfillment or are you on a trajectory toward accumulating exterior rewards like wealth and accolades?
- Are your relationships loving and nourishing or are they more purposeful and advantageous?
- Are you so focused on an event at the end of the day that you lose interest in all the hours prior to it?
- Are you excited and passionate about your life, and if not, WHY not?
- Were you ONCE passionate about your life, and if you aren’t now, what changed?
- What would make you excited to wake each morning, ready to dive into the day ahead?
- Maybe that ‘BE HERE NOW’ philosophy is peeking at you from the sidelines of your life, but is it important enough to you to heed the call? (Coined by Ram Dass’ book title and teachings.)
- I think it was Thich Nhat Hanh who got through to me on how important each moment is to increasing our awareness of LIFE itself, so I credit him with that awareness in me. Here are a few of his words on ‘mindfulness’:
“With mindfulness, you can establish yourself in the present in order to touch the wonders of life that are available in that moment.”
“Many people are alive but don’t touch the miracle of being alive.”
“Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the whole earth revolves — slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment. Only this moment is life.”
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When we clarify our intentions on how and why we live our lives, it enables us to refocus our efforts on what is most important to us. It also enables us to recognize the true miracle of each breath we take and the importance of each beautiful, sparkling sunrise that we witness.
Life is simply for living and appreciating its endless wonders. If you’re not feeling that yet, you will.
FINDING YOUR TRUTH 