I’m reading the book Awareness by Anthony de Mello and in it he asks, “Is there a life before death?”
I read the question twice before it really sunk in. Are we busy living or are we busy dying?
We are exchanging a day in our life for what we spend time on today. Are we happy with the transaction?
As I flip through the pages of him reminding me to wake up, I wonder how many days and hours of my life have passed me by in a fog of mindlessness? Of doing what society said is right. Of taking the unchanging path. Of toeing the well-established line.
Is there anything I have been dreaming about? Waiting for? Scared of?
Can I act on one of those things today?
de Mello reminded me that we have absolutely everything we need to be happy. Another person, a career, a promotion, a house, a vacation or anything in between cannot guarantee happiness. When we let go of who we think we must be, we can be happy with who we are. Right now.
And this is the definition of freedom.