Dare to Live a Fabulous Existence

By Cheyenne Burroughs
Jan 1st, 2014
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Jose Manuelerre, Flickr

Here you are,

a person in this world trying to make sense of it all.

You find yourself alone in your home one evening and you sit there contemplating why you can’t seem to be like the people you know, or have heard about, or why luck hasn’t discovered you the way it magically appears to have when it comes to people that are spread all over the silver screen. You know you’re not entirely content and you hope you’re entirely pathetic either. You know “there’s more to all of it,” and if there is some type of equation to “having it all,” or at least “getting it,” you definitely have yet to stumble upon it. So what the hell is going on anyway? You’ve had it with the confusion, the countless nights of wondering yourself into a black hole, and the more you take the time to analyze, the more lost and disconnected you feel. You know you “have it in you” and yet you begin to wonder if you were born with some type of defect because the box you came in seems to have come without a key to this potential that you feel everyone must have. (For if everyone doesn’t have it, we’re all fucking doomed.) These nights don’t end well, as the emotions tend to very easily pour into the next morning. Life lacks luster and you don’t exactly feel excited about rising to a new day; It all begins to blend together after a while. If your life were a photograph, it would lack the color necessary to mesmerize, and during a time you can’t even recall, it seems as though someone de-saturated your entire existence with the click of a button in Photoshop.

 So what is going on? Is there even a remedy? Perhaps some alchemical elixir to cure your needs, as well as your exponential insanity. Are you doomed to trusting your life in the hands of others? Doctors, pharmacists, reality tv stars? Who will inspire you? Who the hell will save you? Who will tell you your final diagnosis? Is there any hope, any hope at all?

You’re hoping that you “get it” and that you “get it” really soon. The more discontent you are, the more anxious you begin to feel. And the more you acknowledge your anxiety, you recognize that it does not belong. And in search of trying to shoo it away, it just comes back, and this time, in tidal waves. The last thought always seems to be: Do you even have the ability to carry out what everyone calls a “normal life?” Is there even such a thing?

The billboards, the tv shows, the news reporters, the school systems, the politicians, your parents, your peers, and even your so called doctors, have you all fooled. The way society runs is easy to understand when one understands the mind-programming we’ve been raised with. And to call it anything else is to simply deny the reality we are all faced with. Why else such resistance? Why else such fear? Why else would an “outsider” stand out for being different? Why else would radical ideas be, at least first, criticized so harshly? Because being different is not what is advertised. Being fashionable is. Looking good is. Having status, money, and influence is, but they’re sure to inform you that “not everyone” could achieve such a level in the social ladder. And the way they sell you this mentality, and the same way every generation is raised with it (in front of their TV, through the radio, in newspapers and magazines, and by everyone that follows suit,) wouldn’t be as successful as it is if their approach, their skill, their knowledge of psychology, and their presentation weren’t as damn good as it is.

Let’s face it: They know what they’re doing, they’ve studied this and expanded upon it, and they’ve got “the majority” by the balls. To put it bluntly: You’ve been fooled to think that you can’t think for yourself, and you’ve been convinced to be concerned about the opinions of everyone else. Everyone else except your own. You’ve been taught that there’s a certain way to live life, meanwhile, it’s rather clear that there isn’t. They won’t tell you that you’re fabulous, that you’re brilliant, or that MASS POTENTIAL lays embedded within each of us. Because all of that makes it more difficult to sell their products and their services. All of that makes it more difficult to keep you tuning in to their tv stations and fear-based news casts. All of that is much easier to sell to broken people that are desensitized, and essentially, dead inside. All possible because they’ve been raised with the idea that they are not good enough, and that hey, let’s face it, perhaps it “in your genetics,” and “you can’t” do a god damn thing about it. Steven Furtick, the pastor of Elevation Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, has said: “The reason we struggle with insecurity is because we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone’s highlight reel.”

So what happens when one begins to truly contemplate? When one sits there in solitude, with no external distractions, meditating upon their very existence?

Well, the life within you suddenly begins to emerge, like a flower that breaks through the crack in a slab of concrete. The life of many emotions, perspectives, experiences, memories, desires, and regrets. Life begins to rise to the surface. And for how long of a while will you let your life rise to the surface through the thoughts that find you? How long are you willing to sit there and face each one of them? Us human folk are quick to distract and easy to entice. But what if we decided to instead turn inward, and sit with ourselves for a while?

When one acquires the courage to face the life that begins to emerge, it’s easy to at first feel startled or overwhelmed.  Life seemed dull and colorless, now it’s shouting at you and the pace of life is RACING. You’re faced with the honest reality that you are not happy, that there’s something that needs “figuring out.” Up until now you’ve been willing to listen to the advice of others, and even if some of it was sound and perhaps insanely useful or beneficial, it’s no longer enough. You want to be certain that YOU will be happy with YOURSELF. YOU want to be certain that YOU won’t need to second guess. That YOU can be content in the way that YOU govern your life.

And wouldn’t we all want that? And if we all want that, and know we can have it, then why don’t we? Because our minds have been programmed to think otherwise. Do you recall the saying, If you say it enough, you begin to believe it?

The initial scenario explained above, at the beginning of this article, is typical. There are times we all get lost in thought, but the reason why this happens is because even though we are willing to sit there in our contemplative state, we are still allowing outside perspectives to run our life and not only run it, but control it. And not only control it, but to prohibit it.

So the method now, of willing to be internal explorers in the desert of our minds, becomes a mission. Because it’s not enough to just let yourself experience your thoughts truly and freely. The task now becomes sifting through your thoughts and working with them in a way in which you begin an inner dialogue. You must identify the thoughts that do not serve you, the thoughts that you have been conditioned to think and worse, BELIEVE. And how do you distinguish those that serve you and those that do not? It’s simple: It’s all about being mindful of the emotions they emit. Remember, our emotions are INDICATORS. Does a particular thought make you feel guilty, ashamed, and inferior? If so, please kindly move this into your mental trash can. Does a particular thought provoke you to feel elevated, inspired, and happy? Then please make a mental note that you greatly enjoy feeling and thinking this way. By making such DISTINCTIONS you begin to train your mind. And yes it will take time and absolutely, you must remain dedicated and most of all, COMMITTED to yourself. And you must do this if you ever hope to save yourself. You must be the master but you must also be willing to be the student, and to fulfill both roles confidently and contently, never preferring one over the other, but learning when each applies.

The media, your schools, your governments, and your peers may not teach you this, but I will. You can do and be anything. Why and how could I possibly know that? I know it because I’ve begun to live it. All one has to do is take a look at the world we have created. Could a place like this exist if we were ignorant, incompetent, or in some way challenged? Our abilities are profound. However, the constant effort to silence this knowledge should be acknowledged and most importantly, understood.

Stand up for your right not as an American, or a Christian, or a man, or a woman, or as a blonde or a brunette. These ways of identification (social, ethnic, national, gender, physical) are petty at most and are insanely insignificant when one acknowledges the actual potential we all have. It is not just dreamy to say that we are children of the cosmic universe, it is fact. Look at the world we live in and be in AWE. Learn to be in awe AT ALL TIMES. During every moment of your life. Our existence is baffling. It is not meant to make sense, for the fun of it all may too quickly disappear. But do not be blind to your potential for if you are a witness to it and continue to deny it, then the only person to blame for your mediocre existence is yourself. Dare to challenge the status quo and dare to love yourself enough to keep your mind open, your heart warm, and your soul faithful. Faithful in knowing that POSSIBILITY exists. And most of all, dare to live a fabulous existence.

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