Love the Opportunity of Life
So many people are unhappy because they do not love the opportunity of life. So many people whine and complain; they are just like little children who cannot get their way and, in so doing, they are ruining their lives. If they could only learn to appreciate this one-in-a-lifetime opportunity and find joy in whatever they have to do!
It is so typical of children when you ask them to mow the law, do the dishes, hang up their coats, run an errand, or take the garbage out, it is whine, whine, whine, unless they have been educated, unless their minds have been reached by the parental guidance to see life from a different, optimistic point of view. Too often that attitude continues as they grow older, complaining because they do not have a better house, or because the car is a wreck. There are so many things to find fault with and be unhappy. Then they become critical of others: look at what they are doing; look at what they are wearing. There is always that down-in-mouth criticism, gossip, and destruction of happiness because of a fundamental lack of appreciation of life.
Creative Process of Effort or Passive State of Acceptance
Life is to be loved and as we learn to love life, life becomes a beautiful experience. Here it is fall and the leaves are falling. Raking leaves can be either a chore that one detests or it can be an opportunity to get out in the fresh air, even if it means wearing rain hat and slicker. Enjoy the experience of raking the leaves, learning to accept life as we find it because, whatever our life is, it is a result of our thinking. Whatever experiences we have, we have brought them to us as a result of either our creative process of effort or our passive state of acceptance. If we fail to steer the car, it will end up either in the ditch or down over the cliff. If we have not taken hold and steered our lives into the experiences we desire, then we still have the responsibility of saying it is our own fault.
Precious Moments
With the knowledge of name and cycles, breathing and positive thinking, we as students should be able to create happy lives. We should be able to create lives of enjoyment and fulfilment. It does not matter whether we are rich or poor, handsome or ugly, beautiful or plain, or whatever, those things do not really matter. What matters is the expression of the spark within. We all have the same opportunity in mind to discover the Principle and to live it. It is in the living of the Principle that we create the happiness, the fulfillment, and the completeness of our very being. It is the attitude that life is a precious experience; there are none who realize it so forcefully as those who are either about to lose it or have lost it. That is the tragedy of not understanding and fulfilling those previous moments of time that are allowed to us by the Principle of life as we give expression to it.
Nothing More Demanding
Mr. Parker wrote "Happy thoughts are healthy thoughts," and "To live is to give." He has given us mottos and, we might say, clues as to how to discover this wonderful experience that we could have. It takes a lot of work, say, to become an accountant, years of study and examinations to develop one's skill and ability. It is the same in any other profession. There is nothing more demanding, in a sense, and yet more rewarding, than being professional at life, living a professional life of happiness, fulfilment, and conscious expression.
There is nothing more challenging than dealing with oneself. That is why many people can be very objective whether as a doctor, lawyer, or Indian chief, in dealing with challenges at arm's length. When it comes to dealing with moods, irritations, self-discipline, and mental attitudes, it is different. It takes a more specialized pattern of thinking, a more specific pattern of self-discipline. It takes a broader concept to bring that development of mind to its fullest potential of expression. Studentship is a profession of philosophy.
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