Perfect Life

Perfect Life

Scott Peck, in his book, "The Road Less Traveled," opens
with the simple sentence "Life is difficult." I think all of us
would agree. He goes on to say that once we understand
and accept that life is difficult then we can begin to
transcend it.

In other words, once we understand and actually accept the
difficulty of life then this difficulty no longer matters, because
we expect difficult times. The real problem most of us run
into is that we expect and even desire that life should be
easy.

I'd like to go beyond this notion of difficulty and assert that
life is perfect just as it is. This is a concept I've been giving
thought to for several weeks. Before you write me off as a
lunatic, let me explain some things. Perfect is defined in the
dictionary as "without blemish."

In order to believe that life is perfect, just as it is, you will
need to understand and "buy" into some new paradigm
shifts.

These are:
1. All we truly have is right now; this very moment. We
cannot live our lives in the past (although some do) and we
cannot live our lives in the future (although some do this
also). Attempting to live life in the past or the future is too
rob ourselves of the now, because now is all we have.

There was a time in my life when I continuously lived for
some future time, "when I get my college degree," "when I
get my masters degree," then I will have arrived and I can
finally be happy and enjoy life. Life doesn't work that way.
And I must admit that I missed out on a lot of life because I
didn't know how to live in the now. You've heard the
expression, "Stop and smell the roses." Do it now, you
might be dead tomorrow.

2. There are no coincidences in life. This is a biggie. There
is a reason for everything that happpens to you in this life
(although the reasons may not be clear at the time they
happen and may never become clear in this life). I hear
some of you screaming, "What about the bad things?"
Those too are included.

In his book, "The Seat Of The Soul," Gary Zukav asserts
that the earth is a school of learning and that we (the souls)
incarnate physically so that we can come here to learn and
grow spiritually. Thusly, everything that happens to us in life
happens for a reason. I used to not believe this. I do now.

A man at age 47 woke up in the Cardiac Intensive Care
Unit after having undergone bypass surgery last year. He
came really close to meeting the "Grim Reaper."

Before the surgery, he was in his cardiologists' office and he
even asked out loud, "why is this happening to me?" The
doctor responded, "How many McDonalds cheeseburgers
have you eaten over the course of your life?"

"No more than anyone else," he responded. "Precisely,"
said the doctor. That man is me.

By pass surgery was truly one of the best things that ever
happened to me. Through that experience I gained a new
perspective, appreciation and gratefulness for life that I
could not have acquired any other way.

From that experience I learned what my true purpose in life
is. Engaging in that purpose gives me great satisfaction and
fulfillment.

Life is a gift. Live it, all of it, and learn from it.
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Article by: Steve Pilkington (c) 2002. Steve is a
Personal/Professional Development Coach. You can
subscribe to his FREE ezine "Create The Life You Are
Meant To Live" by sending a blank email to:
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