About | think choose live

t h i n k

Thoughts are powerful by their very nature. They can lead us to the most enlightening philosophy or innovative catharsis just as they can paralyze us in fear or immortalize our prospective ideas. Our thoughts mark the starting line. In order to get to places we have never been, we must think in ways in which we have never thought.

Everything around us we chunk into folders and think about in explicit ways. Without even realizing it, we form opinions of the world based off of our folders of knowledge, our point of view. We then interact with the world through our personal lens, bypassing elements that do not fit in with our preexisting notions.

In order to think in new ways, we must be open to new perspectives. Our thoughts are our world, but sometimes, what we forget, is we control that world. What seems like limitations and boundaries, are merely self-created restrictions. Think of it this way – a limitation is a perspective. One way of looking at a particular thought. We are never stuck with any one reality. Our thoughts are only a possible view, a glimpse at the infinite vastness of perspective.

Every thought, every idea, every perspective you’ve made up – you’ve made up. We think and draw conclusions that these ideas are the truth, but they are only one of a plethora of possible truths. Buddha’s first teaching talks about having the right view. Seeing that all views are limited, restricted, and fragmented shows us that the right view is having no particular fixed view at all. As audacious as it seems, realize that there is room for anything with the right mindset.

You are the architect of your mind. You create everything. We are afraid to fail, but we define failure – and what we define as a failure in one reality could be a complete success in another. If we can break down our rigid, one sided mentality of thinking, then the perspectives we create are as limitless as the possibilities they produce.

c h o o s e

When you begin to see limitless potentials, a world of options begins to manifest. Life consists of countless choices that shape the path of experience, the path of knowledge, and most importantly, the path of you. For that is what is most important – owning your choices.

There is a perceived safety in shadowing the choices of others. We see a projected result and it looks pretty damn good. But as soon as you remove the element of choice from decision you are short-changing yourself from living to your full potential. For your potential is still unwritten. It is always building off the immediate moment. It is now that our choices have impact. Our past choices have brought us to this moment and our future ones are an ever changing foreshadow. It is this moment, this choice, right now, that is really all we have.

It seems modern day norm for our choices to feed into some greater destination. So often we are reminded the ends justify the means. If you really think about that, it seems counter intuitive. It would be as if a hiker climbed a mountain all for the relief of taking off a heavy backpack at the end of a long journey. It seems foolish to do it for that reason alone.

There is a Hawaiian proverb, Aia ke ola i ka hana – life is in the laboring. Life is the journey not the result. It is the process not the end piece. It is what is going on right now. And so you choose. Is this the life you want to be living? Is this the mountain you want to be climbing? If life is in the laboring then happiness lies in enjoying the act of doing and not just the prestige of accomplishing. What counts, what builds character, and what we will spend most of our lives engaging in is the journey not the destination.

Our choices should be a reflection of who we are and what we believe in. When you are guided by those two deeply rooted insights, then the nature of who you are unfolds.

l i v e

It comes down to those four simple letters. We weren’t put on this planet for any other reason, and yet in the midst of life we somehow forget to live. Fear, anxiety, stress, failure, routine, hurt, boredom – all of which are inevitable and can derail us from our true intentions. But that is not to say that these adverse emotions have no use. In fact they are quintessential to living out your life. They are motivators, shapers, and signs of growth. A bored man will not stay complacent for long. It is boredom that shifts his behavior from inert to active. Fear is an indicator that we are stepping into the unknown and failure can only occur by means of an attempt.

Do you. It’s about putting your authentic self into everything you do. Forget about examining expectations or contemplating comparisons. This life is yours to live. It would be a waste of time to tailor to fit the frame of the societal context.

The ultimate currency in life is happiness. Enjoying our moments, maximizing pleasure, and living in fulfillment. It comes down to a realization. Instincts that were once so visceral become diluted in the context of normative expectations. But at the end of the journey, the measuring stick for which our lives are valued by does not recognize fiscal denominations. No, it is about the impact you have created, the lives you have touched, and the moments you have experienced.

With our thoughts aligned and our choices in place, all that is left, is to live out your extraordinary adventure of life.

Think, choose, LIVE!