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As my birthday approaches, I find myself contemplating my life in our world of accelerated change and overwhelming complexity. I've discovered that by writing down my reflections, it helps clarify my thoughts.
I have always believed that the combination of eastern and western thoughts, the esoteric and the practical is the best approach to understanding life.
As I grow older, I feel that the life ahead of me is more important than the life behind me. I tried to be the best version of myself that I tried be. Everyday I try to be as nice to people as possible. A meaningful life is the only life worth living.
If you have a family and a few good friends that love you, a roof over your head and food to eat, you are rich.
The most beautiful things in life cannot be touched, they must be felt. You can't always be strong in life but you can always be brave. Your failures are your most powerful tools.
When wise men say that "you should live for the moment," they don't mean not learning from your past, they mean not regretting a past you cannot change. They don't mean not preparing for your future, they mean not being anxious about a future that may or may not be. Make good use of all your potentials and possibilities.
Don't blame other people for the structure of your reality. Shallow people believe in luck and circumstances, strong people believe in cause and effect.
Control your outside world by controlling your inside world. You are not the product of your circumstances. You are the product of your decisions.
All exceptional people were not versions of someone else, they were themselves.
Self discipline is paramount. Do things that are difficult, push through the pain, show your character.
The most selfish thing that you can do for yourself is helping others.
The only antidote to tragedy is self transformation.
Perhaps life gives us problems in order for us to learn how to solve them.
You must keep on fighting for what you want, or what you don't want will take over.
A young man is like a tiger, his body is strong and his mind is raging. As time passes, the tiger goes chasing the dragon. When he becomes older, his body is strong one day, not so strong the next. His mind becomes calmer, more fluent and wiser. He becomes the dragon.
DEATH
No one knows what happens when we die. However, it seems evident that there is a heaven and hell on earth. You can clearly see people that are in a living hell, and you can certainly see people who are living a heavenly life.
After careful contemplation I believe that people who believe in an afterlife are happier than people who don't. Several years ago, I attended RGI, a conflict resolution seminar hosted Mr. Jack Hoban. One of the speakers at the seminar was a decorated Marine knick named Joe Marine. Joe said that when he speaks to his marines, he tells them that they should believe in something. He states "I don't care if it is a rock, believe in something, it is the only way that combat can be tolerable." I suspect the same is true in life.
You shouldn't be afraid of death, you should be afraid of dying without the world seeing the person you could have become, the best version of yourself.
Carl Jung believed that consciousness is not entirely confined by time and space. Hopefully he is right.
One thing is for certain, as George Harrison once sang "All things must pass, all things must pass way.
About the Author:
Judd Bank is the President of CPI Investigations and a life long Martial Artist.
http://www.privatedetectiveny.com
