I was reminded over the weekend that there is something non-negotiable about death. We usually don't have a lot to do with its timing. It happens in an instant. All the earthly arguments (ala Socrates) we made and all the treasures we amassed remain behind for others to argue about, until they die.

We all walk a path and many times we are just following in another's footsteps - not really blazing a new trail.

Yes, we may do something different with our lives, but we don't seem to notice that our attitudes and behaviors were not independently arrived at. They were shaped, often before we could think for ourselves by others who may have passed on.

We are deluded into the notion that we are doing things our way when, in fact, it's an inherited path. There is an upside and a downside to walking in another's shoes. The upside is we avoid the pitfalls that these shoes know to walk around. The downside is we trip over the same stumbling blocks they failed to see.

There is enough uncertainty in life without adopting another's. There comes a point when we recognize there is a choice. What we do at that moment, determines whether we become an original or remain a carbon copy.

We all pass different landscapes on our walk through life and we all wind up at the same destination - the death of our form. The animating spirit of life leaves our body and returns to where it was before we were born.

Alive, we are an expression of that spirit. How original that expression is, is a matter of choice.  

There comes a time when we get to evaluate what we've inherited. This assessment helps us separate what is worthwhile keeping for the rest of our trip from that which is better to drop off and leave behind.

Many of us stroll right past this choice point. There is a double whammy attached to not noticing.

1.       We will continue to make the same mistakes.

2.       We will repeat the mistakes of others who have walked before us.

The good news is the choice point continues to present itself along your trip. It's like McDonalds. If you miss one, another is sure to be ahead somewhere.

The key is to notice you have a choice. Most of us don't and, as written in the bible, "are visited by the sins of their father."

Choice is a gift from spirit. It helps you find the exit ramp from the circular thinking that keeps you going in circles.

Notice you have a choice. It's the launching pad for an independent journey that's filled with original expression and unborrowed joy.

 

All the best,

John