Life Offers

One of my favorite quotes is “Life is what you make it.” No matter who you are, where you live, how rich or poor, you are the director of your life. So many debate the concept “Life is ninety percent of what happens to you, and ten percent of how you respond to it.” Others choose to go with “Life is ten percent of what happens to you and ninety percent of how you respond to it.” The beauty about life is choice and having the option to believe in which ever one fits your perception. As for me, I will go with the reversal. Here is why.

“Our thoughts create our reality.” I am a thinker. Maybe this is the reason why I can tell or write stories so well. Using this creative piece brings my stories to life. When ideas or thoughts are brought to life they are in some form or fashion innovated into reality. (“I think, therefore I am.” French philosopher Rene` Decartes). Let us look at the breakdown of an invention.

One of the most intriguing idea and invention for me is the one of the airplane. The idea of humans beings able to fly has caught the interest of millions over the world. The admiration and undeniable beauty to see birds gliding across the sky, traveling to their destination hundreds even thousands of miles away is a fascinating and fantastic skill to grasp. Some look as if they are showing off, gliding with grace and ease. What a wonderful contribution to this world to witness their take off and landing abilities. So, I assume Karl Jatho, Alberto Santos-Dumont, and John Stringfellow thought of building a more efficient and faster method of transportation that could hold the weight of a few people and get messages quicker across the sky. Ideas, geometry, design and architecture, trial and error and of course naming it, are a short list of things used to create. And then “Voila!!!.” Their idea manifested into “the airplane.” The energy it took to make this idea come alive I imagine took a whole lot of hard work. Now it is easier to create more from their guideline because of the groundwork. The feeling of creating something so magnificent is so much deeper than the benefits others have taken from it. Not all projects, accomplishments or inventions go as planned. The lasting effect of their invention created for them a wonderful cushion of wealth and recognition. This is the ten percent. The ninety percent are all the things others can now create from the original invention.

Our thoughts or ideas can bring forth so many possibilities of action. There are times when we think positive or negative. This was an example of thinking positive, where in fact, it created a reality affecting the rest of there life. For other's thinking in a negative way, there may have been something that happened in their surroundings bringing forth opposing feelings. It is up to you to control thoughts and emotions. We are human, and therefore need effective guidance or practice with accomplishing this, but it is possible. Always remember the way you respond can affect the next few moments of your life or a lifetime.

My next concept is, “What we focus on creates our guideline." If we focus on our projects or goals, nine times out of ten they will manifest. Achieving a goal or winning the gold medal will attract abundance, fame, and wealth. The same thing can be said for grades in school. If you pay attention in class, do your work and ace or pass every test, the reward can be the honor you receive. Down the line this can result in a full- time scholarship at a University. Depending on the amount of energy placed into it, your dream job, school or etcetera can become your reality. Focusing brings wildest dreams to life. Depending on your response, determines the longevity. For example, winning a multi-million dollar lottery is life changing. This is a part of the ten percent. There have been so many cases reported of people coming into large lump sums, and then within two-three years are right back where they started. That is why your response (energy, focus, and reaction/ninety percent) must coincide with your new way of life. Everything can be lost if you are not ready for the change. Those who prepare and stay focused on their guideline, are the ones who continue to achieve and receive. The harder it is to focus, displays an ungrounded reality. One may not know what it is they really want. It is only when attention is given and focus restored to this area, ( for example, meditation) momentum is achieved and success is granted. A person can have many talents. This is not a coincidence. It is up to you to make it, make sense. Tie the talents together to fit in one focus area of a life’s purpose.

Lastly, “What I believe in, are the things that are made visible to me.” “Seeing is believing” is the opposite. This is another concept other’s have flipped. I believe the spiritual realm (ten percent) is much more simplistic than the physical realm (ninety percent). The spiritual realm consists of the “Higher Self”, “Source,” “Faith,” “Spirit,” or whatever you believe in. These are things people believe in but cannot see. The physical realm is what we can see and it is our response to the spiritual realm..

I believe the spiritual realm is responsible for the physical realm. The physical realm has blossomed into various time and space, form and matter, shapes and sizes, nature, human beings and creatures. Everything in it and on it, is living matter operating in its purpose in union with each other constantly creating, inventing, forming, and evolving to transform and transition. It is an eternal cycle. My life has more meaning because I choose to believe in a purposeful existence in which I have the option to live in the physical realm to express all of which the spiritual realm is dying to experience. The world is full of color, beauty and artistry consisting of the things we all are here to compose. The cycle or “Circle of Life” (as the Lion King says) is an ongoing process of a “problem free philosophy.” I believe in a mindfulness approach to life for “it” (the universe) will show you the laws of the land. If you have a strong willingness to live, outlive the contrast displayed by the external, and ground the mental state, life flows with stability and ease. Learn this young, then by trial and error, quickly aging. There is always opposition and contrast. It is the role of everything here to not learn how to cope, but to welcome it. Dance with it even. Beat it at its own game. “Charles Darwin concept “Survival of the fittest” it.” Tread down every opposing path with a smile and a bow and arrow.

The dilemma with just believing in the “seeing is believing” concept is that happiness or freedom is not experienced by knowing, but by the things you encounter. This is choosing to get your answers from the external realm instead of from yourself. We are all born innate and have instinctive abilities to aid in our survival. This is a sense of knowingness, which does not come from our external environment. Yes, there is beauty and blessings meant to be appreciated and respected, but this is all of which we have created. There is also war, starvation and separation, all of which too, we have created. Neither contrast has any power, other than the power we give or choose to engage in. I will always remember reading documentaries done on the Holocaust victims. A reporter asked a gentleman, how did he survive the Concentration Camp. His response was, “All around me was death, burning flesh, coldness, and illness. I chose to create paradise in my mind.” There are others creating their own paradise, despite their resources or luxury. For it is not about what you do not have, but what you do with the things you do have. Our only duties to life are to make the best of ourselves. My quote is “You owe nothing in this world to anyone, but you owe everything in this life to yourself.” Your life will offer the things you focus on. Get a hold of your fears, ground yourself, focus your attention on love, positivity and purpose. Always remember, life offers your best.

By Shanita Coleman