A brief look at how the choices we make change who we become.

    We all have just one shot at this life. What we do with it is up to us. But besides what we do with our life, there is a vital understanding that we must come to in order to fully appreciate the value of the opportunity that is placed before us every day that we wake. I'm not sure who said it or where I read it, but I remember hearing one time the quote, "Life is not a dress rehearsal, it's the real thing." That is exactly how we should treat life.

    This is not the practice round. There is no second chance for us. If there is something that you truly want to do or to become, if there is a core desire at the heart of your soul that you want to realize, if want the fulfillment in life that you truly desire, then you had better get out there and get it. What can you do today to bring you closer to where you want to be? Why wait? What is holding you back? Is that something that binds you and keeps you from achieving you dream worth more than your dream? How many more chances will you have? Can you afford to let the ones that come to you pass you by? What would it be like to truly live with passion, for passion, and because of passion? You see, it is the pursuit of passion that drives us to success. We must identify our passion, that something that moves us at our very core and reach for it with every ounce of our strength. You can't afford to let the distractions of life stand in your way. Are you pursuing your passion now? Why not? Remember we only have one shot at this life. We don't get to go around twice. If you want it, you have got pull out all of the stops, quit messing around and go for your dream.

    Our choices direct our lives and determine where we will arrive when we reach our final destination. Out of all of the choices that life presents us with, I have narrowed the effects of such down to three different paths in life. The first path is the path of advancement and positive growth. The second path is the path of degeneration, decline, or negative growth. The third and final path is the path of stagnation or absence of growth. Which path are you on?

    The first path, the path of advancement and positive growth, is the path that most people would rather be on. It is here on this path that people can see continual progress towards the realization of their dreams and aspirations. The travelers on this path are making incremental steps towards their ultimate successes. Most of them are closely in tune with the desires of their heart, and they feel that they are part of a larger whole. A few of them have even come to realize that their success builds into a larger framework of universal success and victory. In this light, they take this life much less personally, and are less hindered by an overpowering ego, as they see not just a plan that is theirs in motion, but rather an infinite progression of advancement in which they are included. But nevertheless, whatever their place on the chain of enlightenment, those traveling the path of advancement and positive growth have all decided to make a positive alignment with their environment and to take positive action in that blink of time that they call their lives.

    The second path, the path of degeneration or negative growth, is the path that people begin to travel when life overwhelms the soul and the force of distraction sets in. While only a minute portion of its travelers are there intentionally, the path of negative growth, is full of people who have all arrived there due to specific choices that they have made, whether consciously or not. This path contains people who are losing ground. They are the ones taking one step forward and two steps back. They have become estranged from their passion in life. They don't know what their dream is anymore. They can't see themselves as part of a larger whole. They feel lost in a sea of confusion, doubt, worry, and trouble. For some of them the pressure is too much, and they begin to travel the path of degeneration at a blinding pace, rapidly descending through the ranks of enlightenment. For me, it is a sadness beyond compare to witness this destruction of the connection that one of our brother or sister humans has with his/her soul. I have witnessed this heartwrenching spectacle before, as it occured both below the surface and for some in plain view for all to see. I have seen confusion overwhelm individuals so greatly as they lost their connection, all the while they seemed to stand on the sidelines helplessly watching themselves plummet towards destruction. "I can't, I just can't," I once heard a broken heart say. While others heard nothing more than ramblings of one emotionally unstable, I heard a heart crying out. The confusion had become too much. The passion in life had been completely lost in the fog of distraction. Hope was dying. This is the second path.

    The third path is the path of stagnation. This path is the hardest of the three to define. This is because one could argue that stagnation is the result of a lack of choice, or the path that one travels when not choosing. But not choosing is a choice in itself, therefore it takes some action or effort to choose to not choose, if only internally. Also, on the premise that life is change, I would say that the third path, the path of stagnation, is the most difficult of the three to travel. This is because stagnation is the result of no action, no directionality, no growth. Since life is change, and since we are all travelers in this life, we must be changing. We cannot survive any day of our lives unchanged, no matter how small the change may be. I would go further to say that not only is the third path difficult but that it is nearly, if not, impossible to travel. So this brings us to the two choices that we are left with, growth or decline? What do you choose?

    Imagine if you will, two paths. One path ascends into the heavens to heights beyond imagination while the other path falls far into the deepest depths of the darkness below. Up and down, the two paths travel. Now, as you imagine these two paths, imagine that they are actually the same path. This time the only thing that changes is the direction in which the travelers are traveling. Imagine the souls that occupy this path. Some are going up and some are going down. Those travelers going up look upwards to the heavens and are feeled with joy, hope, peace, and serenity. The travelers going down see only the cold darkness and the sad state of their own condition and are worried, stressed, in despair, and quickly losing hope. Now I will ask you to imagine one more thing. Imagine, if you will, that you are on that path, because you truly are. Now tell me, which way do you travel? 
    
    簡單地看一下什么樣的選擇才能使我們變得和自身相稱

    我們所有人僅有一次嘗試人生的機會.做什么完全取決于我們自己,怎樣對待人生還要對它有一個重要的理解,為了清醒時非常地感激每天擺放在我們面前的機遇的價值,我們一定要重新振作.我不確定誰說的或者在哪讀到的這句話.但是我記得聽過一次這個引用,"生活不是時裝表演,它是真實的事情,"確切地說就是我們就應該怎樣對待人生.

    這不是可以練習的循環.對于我們來說沒有第二次的機會,如果有一些事情你想去做或者成為某人,如果在你的內心有一個深切的愿望想去實現,如果你想實現你人生中真正的愿望,那么最好現在開始行動,努力獲得它,今天你做了什么讓你的理想更近一些了呢?為什么等呢?是什么阻止了你呢?是某些事情牽絆了你?讓你停止追求夢想?它比你的夢想有價值嗎?你還有多少更多的機會?你能承擔起讓機會來臨又溜走的責任嗎?與激情生活在一起是什么樣的呢?為了激情,也是因為激情,你看,是為了追求激情才促使我們成功的,我們一定要認識了解這種激情,這種激情是用我們的每份力量去獲得夢想成功的動力.你不能容忍生活中的雜事來阻礙我們前進的道路.你現在正在追尋你的夢想嗎?為什么不呢?記住我們僅有一次嘗試人生的機會,我們不會再有第二次,如果你想實現夢想,你就要撥除所有的障礙,遠離世俗紛擾,全力去追尋.

    當到達終點的時候,我們的選擇指引我們的生活,決定該往哪走,從展現在生活面前的所有選擇中,我總結了三種不同的人生道路,第一條路是前進和積極的成長.第二條路是墮落,腐化,或消極的成長,第三條路也是最后一條路是停滯不前,你選擇走哪條路?

    第一條路,前進和積極成長的道路,是大多數人都走的路,在這條路上,人們能看到在通向夢想和志向的道路上所取得的不斷的進步,這條路上的旅行者正在加大走向最后成功的步伐,大部分人的步調和他們心中的夢想一致,他們感覺他們是更為廣闊的群體中的一部分,其中有些人甚至逐漸意識到他們的成功組成了更大的整體成功和勝利的框架,以這個為指引他們就很少個別地對待人生,很少被無法抑制的自我膨脹所左右,他們看到的不僅僅是行動中自己的計劃,而是把自己包括在內的無限的上升,但是無論怎樣,不管他們在啟蒙的鏈條上所處的位置如何,那些行走在前進和積極人生道路上的人們都決定與周圍環境保持一致,在他們稱為人生的瞬間中采取積極的行動.

    第二條路,墮落或消極的成長,當生活使心靈不知所措,壓力進駐內心的時候,人們就開始走在這條路上了.然而僅有一小部分是故意走在這條路上的.消極成長的這條路上充滿了由于所做的某個選擇而走到這里的人們,不管是否是故意的,這條路包括那些迷失方向的人,他們是那些前進一步退后二步的人,他們已經變得遠離生活的夢想了.他們不再知道什么是夢想了.他們不能看見自己作為更大整體中的一部分,他們感覺迷失在生活的海洋里,懷疑,擔憂,困難,因為某些人的壓力實在是太大了.所以他們就盲目地,迅速地從啟蒙的階梯上下來了.對于我來說,很悲慘地見證了我們的兄弟姐妹和他們的靈魂在這個連接上的中斷.我以前也見證了心靈扭曲的景象,有時它存在于表面之下,有時我們都能清楚地看見.我見過失去聯系的迷茫的個體,當時,他們好象是站在絕望的邊緣,看著自己墮入毀滅."我不能,我真的不能,"我曾聽到一個心碎的聲音說道,而其它人是聽不到的,聽到的只是一個情緒不穩的散亂步伐,我聽到過一個心靈的吶喊,這種迷茫已經越來越多了.生活的激情完全迷失在塵霧中,希望正在死亡,這是第二條道路.

    第三條道路是停滯不前,這條路最難界定的.這是因為有人曾經辯論,停滯不前是缺乏選擇的結果,或者說是一個人不選擇時走的路,但是不選擇本身是一種選擇,因此,它采取行動或努力選擇不選擇,只要是內心地.同樣的前提,生活是變化的.我說,第三條路,停滯不前的路是三條路中最難走的路.這是因為停滯不前是沒有行動,沒有方向,沒有成長的結果.因為生活是變化的,也因為我們都是生活中的旅行者,我們一定要有所變化.沒有變化的生活我們不能存活,無論那種變化是多么的小,我還要說,不僅第三條路是困難的,而且它幾乎是不可能走的路.因此我們就剩下兩條路可走了.成長或者墮落,你選擇什么呢?

    想象一下,你將要有兩條路,一條路是向上攀登到達一個我們難以想象的高度,另一條路是遠遠地墮落下面黑暗的最深處.一上一下,兩條行走的路.現在你想象一下這兩條路,想象一下,他們其實是同一條路.這次可以改變的唯一的事情是旅行者走哪個方向.想象一下,靈魂屬于這條路.一些向上走,一些向下走.向上走的旅行者抬頭向上看時會感覺到喜悅,希望,和平和寧靜.向下走的旅行者看到的僅僅是冰冷的黑暗和自己所處的悲慘的狀況,擔憂,沮喪,失望,很快地失去希望,現在我讓你再次地想象,想象一下,如果你要,你正在那條路上,因為你確實在那條路上,現在告訴我,你走哪條路.