I got the idea for this blog when I heard  The Doors’ song Five to One. In it, Jim Morrison sings, “No one here gets out alive.” He’s right. We will all meet our fate one way or another. Sadly, many of us don’t consider the consequences of being mean or harmful to others. Some will expire before they ever get life right, and then it’s too late.

This is not meant to be a negative downer post. Just the opposite. I want us to live more while we’re here.

While we can’t avoid drama in our lives, and things happen to us as we live, we can control how we process our thoughts. Yes, it’s more challenging to handle the drama that comes from our interactions with others, but we can still control how we deal with it. We must look beyond the drama. That’s when life unfolds, revealing our potential and purpose.

Throughout my life, I’ve always felt a sense of unrest, that I wasn’t experiencing the life I wanted.  Sure, money and freedom are necessary for a “good” life. Still, I’m referring to having a different focus —one that’s much more constructive and ambitious: to be who we want to be and live how we choose to live.

No one gets to live forever.

We’ve got one life to live, and when it’s over, it’s over. So, what are we waiting for to live the life we want?

Let’s get on board with living a life filled with more joy and happiness, no matter what that means to us. Don’t let it take too long to realize that we have choices. We receive the gift of life at birth, and by the time we reach adulthood, it becomes our responsibility to do what we can to be happy. If you’re not happy, only you can change that.

I’ve been healing after a right shoulder surgery, and I’m right-handed. It’s been tough. I had surgery on my left shoulder on 7/31/24, and that was rough, but I still had the use of my dominant hand. Lying in bed in the middle of the night, wide awake with horrible pain, the only thing that got me through was knowing it would heal, and I’d force myself to think of all the good things going on, like being alive, healthy to heal, and being a decent human being.

Of course, these last few weeks of recuperating have also allowed me the time to think about my life choices, specifically the overuse and beating up of my shoulders. There seemed to be no rock I was afraid to lift or landscape project too big as long as I had the energy and time (albeit misused) to do it. I didn’t take into account the toll it would have on my body. I was living my life. That’s what we do. If our bodies feel good and we think we can handle it, why not do it? We can’t keep ourselves stuck worrying about what could happen.

We’re all gonna die someday. We don’t know when or how. I believe the most important thing in life is how we treat others. If we can avoid hurting others, then we are living a truly good life.

I am amused when I interact with people who are mean or negative, displaying such an intensity towards maintaining a closed-minded attitude and being oblivious to how hurtful words and actions affect others. I will never understand how people can treat others in such a manner. Sadly, no matter what we say or do in those situations, we cannot make anyone change. We can only change ourselves. Sometimes, the only recourse when dealing with a hurtful person is to walk away (and preferably sooner rather than later, so the damage isn’t too great).

We all have a choice to be decent human beings.

 

The Cherokee Legend about Two Wolves.

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life.

“A fight is going on inside me.” He said to the boy.

“It is a terrible fight, and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”

He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

Please keep in mind that no one here gets out alive, so feed the right wolf.

I’d like to believe that there is justice in the end. I surmise that those folks who are harmful to others live an unhappy existence. Mean people must be carrying around an inner pain so great that the only way to avoid feeling it is to make others feel bad too.

 

 

Life is a balance, as my husband always tells me. We need to be assertive and protect our boundaries, but do so in a kind manner. Pay attention to how you interact with others. Watch your words and actions. Having compassion instead of contempt will lighten your heart. Don’t let the negative noise happening outside of us pull us down to that level.

I hope these words may offer you something positive to think about. Do you agree with this? I’d love to read your comments. Thank you for reading this.

To making better choices,

Francesca

 

Created by a human for humans.

 

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