Living like Any Day is a Good Day to Die

This is an exploration of how to live life fully and authentically by embracing acceptance and compassion, allowing us to live each day as if it were our last.

Living like Any Day is a Good Day to Die

We experience life through the consciousness we are endowed with, which shapes how we perceive and engage with life. This concept is explored in greater detail in 'What is Consciousness.'

What is Consciousness?

Although we have the freedom to shape our experiences, we often become so immersed in them that we mistake our thoughts and perceptions for life itself. This concept is further explored in 'Waking from the Dream.'

Waking from the Dream

As we gain insight into the workings of our mind, we become more aware of the patterns of our thoughts and behaviors and their momentum. Through meditation and contemplation, we progressively recognize these patterns more quickly—shifting from weeks to days, from moments to noticing them as they arise.

Emotions like anger, sadness, remorse, regret, and guilt often signify resistance to the present moment. When we become entangled in these emotions, we use them as barriers, clouding our perception and preventing us from seeing reality as it truly is.

By observing and inquiring into these emotions, we can ask ourselves what lessons they hold or what unmet needs they reveal. This process transforms them into valuable guides on our spiritual journey, helping us grow in wisdom and compassion.

Embracing the Present Moment

Moving beyond resistance, we find ourselves in the present moment—a space free from the confines of past regrets or future anxieties.

As we've explored in Waking from the Dream, our experience of life can be held captive by attachments to past or future outcomes, making it challenging to remain present with what is.

Being fully aware of the present moment allows us to embrace fundamental reality with minimal filters or distortions.

Embracing fundamental reality is Acceptance. To truly accept, we must be fully present and aware.

Practicing gratitude helps anchor us in the present moment by focusing our attention on the blessings we already have. In doing so, it naturally enhances our ability to accept life as it is.

Only through relinquishing our attachments to outcomes do we find opportunities that lie hidden in plain sight.

Acceptance Over Resistance

Acceptance involves fully embracing reality as it is, without any form of resistance.

Acceptance does not mean passively agreeing with reality as it is. Instead, it creates the space to take responsibility and make choices that align with our most authentic self-expression.

Resistance to reality can manifest as various ailments, both mental and physical, such as stress, depression, obsession, addiction, and even physical illnesses.

Sometimes, these lead to the desire to end one's life. This is the opposite of total acceptance. It is a missed opportunity to realize one's self.

There is another way. And this is the way of total and complete acceptance of life, as close as possible to fundamental reality.

As we practice acceptance, it's also important to cultivate compassion—both for ourselves and others. Self-compassion allows us to approach our flaws and mistakes with kindness rather than self-judgment, turning potential sources of suffering into opportunities for growth.

Compassion for others involves empathy—truly understanding their situation. It goes beyond sympathy, which is merely feeling sorry for someone, or worse—mirroring their emotions. Through empathy, we recognize the shared consciousness in each other, seeing others as reflections of ourselves, or 'other-selves.'

Acceptance, or non-resistance, gives us the possibility to experience what is.

Total acceptance is the acceptance of what is and what is not.

Acceptance often involves an act of surrender—letting go of our need to control or resist reality. This surrender is not a defeat but a conscious choice to trust in the unfolding of life, allowing us to experience peace and clarity beyond our attachments.

Turning Fate into Destiny

Total acceptance opens the door to creating a life aligned with our deepest desires. To do this, we must take full responsibility for our circumstances.

Many people feel resigned to their fate, which they perceive as the unavoidable outcome of past actions, i.e. the law of cause and effect, karma. However, by taking full responsibility for our circumstances, we can transcend this passive resignation and actively shape our destiny.

Taking responsibility means not seeing ourselves as victims of our circumstances. With this shift in perspective, we move beyond victimhood and the trauma associated with it.

This is not to say that people do not suffer from past events, from existing conditions, or limiting beliefs, only that to stop suffering, they need to stop seeing themselves as a victim.

This requires courage, because this victimhood often provides many benefits, even if it is to feel good about oneself. And once one takes responsibility, one's truest self-expression can occur.

When we take responsibility, we are whole and complete.

This is when we turn fate into destiny, leaving aside the probable future by listening to and acting on our calling.

Living like Any Day is a Good Day to Die

When we listen within and answer our calling with our most authentic self-expression, we create the path for our destiny.

In doing so, we live our lives fully. It is both an exhilarating and equanimous experience. This is an experience of joy.

At the end of their lives, many people express regret, wishing they had lived differently. By living with acceptance and expressing our true selves, we ensure that our lives are free of regret, guided by joy, even amidst the inevitable ups and downs.

When we live with acceptance and authenticity, we embrace each day as a complete and fulfilling expression of our true selves. Let this understanding guide you to live fully, so that at any moment, you can look back with peace, knowing that any day was a good day to live—and a good day to die.