Life's Basic Requirements

Air, water, food, shelter, clothing, company...these are your basic requirements. Air to breathe, water to drink, food to eat, shelter from the elements, clothing to keep you decent, and company (can be real or imaginary). When you are feeling that you don't have enough "stuff," go through this checklist. If you can check off every item, you're ok!

Unless you're facing a firing squad (if so, why are you reading this now?!), the only thing keeping you from realizing your "ok-ness" is your attitude. You're in charge of your attitude, so change it!

If you feel you really need a "pity party," give yourself 3 "poor babies" real loud, accompanied by deep sighs...then get over yourself. Get up and get going! The party's over!!

Run, dance, hop, skip, whistle...start something new.

Ram Dass said it in 1971 and Eckhart Tolle repeated it in 2001...be here now. This NOW moment is where life happens.

There was once an old fox. Every day he looked through the holes of a fence. To him the inside of the fence was heaven. All sorts of lush things were growing in the garden. The fox tried to squeeze through the holes in the fence, but he couldn't do it. So the fox decided he would starve himself so he could get through. He went one, two, three, four, five weeks without eating. Pretty soon the fox is the same size as the hole in the fence. He was as skinny as a rail. He breathes in and passes through theboards on the fence. He smiles because he's in heaven. He eats his fill.

He stays there for weeks and has a wonderful time in the garden . . . but he is getting fat. He wants his freedom, but he can't get out of the fence because he's too fat. He decides to starve himself until he can have his freedom. So he goes through the anguish of loosing all of his excess pounds. Pretty soon, when he's half-starved, he slips out to freedom. The only problem is he's so hungry that within a day or so he starts looking in the fence and says, "My, I'd like to be on the other side . . ."

So many times it is like that in our lives. We think if only we could be somewhere else our lives would be good. The truth is, right here is where your life is happening. Right here is the now, present moment time. Right here is the spiritual opportunity. You will never have more opportunity than you have with you right now. Right now "rehearse" what you'd like to see happening in your life. Right now imagine it, feel it, and then take action.

It's not going to happen automatically at retirement—unless it isrehearsed now.

It's not going to automatically happen when you've completed school—unless it is rehearsed now.

It's not going to happen at some future time that only exists hopefullywithin our imagination—unless it is rehearsed now.

The only life you have—happens right now.