Β Happy Today, Friend!
Some so-called enlightened souls will advise you that there’s only one question you should be sitting contemplating, and at length: “Who am I?”
And many of these shifty spiritual gurus with highly improbable hair practices will benefit in some way or another from your lengthy contemplation. That’s OK; we all have to make a living. But let me save you a lot of time, money or just a sore backside, if I may. The solution to the riddle of “Who am I?” is really quite straightforward. And the answer is…
What you just did. Yes, THAT: the expression you just made; the meal you just ate; theΒ joke you just cracked; the person you just kissed; the thought you just… thought.
It’s all you and about as close as you’ll ever get to defining the real you.
I’ve always liked the idea of judging people by their actions rather than their words, and I realise why now. When I’m coaching people to be ‘as creative as they would love to be’, I never ask them about their qualifications or distant past accomplishments or even their dreams and ambitions.
I ask them what they’ve created recently. As in the last week.
Otherwise, what’s the point? We might as well be talking about an entirely different human being who almost certainly doesn’t exist in the here-and-now.
Who are you? You are the sort of person who says things like the last thing you said; who eats things like the last thing you ate; who makes jokes like your last joke. How much more precise do you need to get – isn’t that good enough? And if you don’t like who you are, change what you do!
Try new types of food; react differently to situations; vary the people you peck; think about things you’ve never thought of before. Then you’ll be that sort of person. That’s who you’ll be. Until you decide to shake it up again.
You don’t need to look back more than a few seconds, minutes or hours to see exactly who you are. For projects and creative activities, a few days will do.
If you haven’t written anything this week, don’t pretend you’re a writer. If you haven’t exercised since last Christmas, you’re not ‘getting back in shape’. If you haven’t done anything loving for someone recently, you’re not a loving person. Until you do, and then you will be again (for a while).
Look for clues as to who you are in the very near future deeds you’re about to perform and very recent past events, not forgetting what you’re up to right now, of course.
Imagine yourself looking down at your legs as you paddle in shallow water at the seashore. New experiences are rolling towards you in little waves; present pleasure laps against your ankles; pleasant memories soak gently into the sloping sand. And that’s it.
There’s no need to stare gloomily inland or hazy-eyed out to the horizon.Β Live in the ebb and flow of what’s happening around you and that’s who you’ll be; a fun being unfettered and free.
Frolick free today.
Happy paddling
I invite you to post your ‘Today’s the day…’ in our Facebook group as often as you like. And comment on other folks’Β TTDs too. Thank you for being part of this and for choosing to live a great life, loving every sunrise to sunset, today and every day.
~ The Prophet of Paris
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