A brief look at how the choices we make change who we become.

    We all have just one shot at this life. What we do with it is up to us. But besides what we do with our life, there is a vital understanding that we must come to in order to fully appreciate the value of the opportunity that is placed before us every day that we wake. I'm not sure who said it or where I read it, but I remember hearing one time the quote, "Life is not a dress rehearsal, it's the real thing." That is exactly how we should treat life.

    This is not the practice round. There is no second chance for us. If there is something that you truly want to do or to become, if there is a core desire at the heart of your soul that you want to realize, if want the fulfillment in life that you truly desire, then you had better get out there and get it. What can you do today to bring you closer to where you want to be? Why wait? What is holding you back? Is that something that binds you and keeps you from achieving you dream worth more than your dream? How many more chances will you have? Can you afford to let the ones that come to you pass you by? What would it be like to truly live with passion, for passion, and because of passion? You see, it is the pursuit of passion that drives us to success. We must identify our passion, that something that moves us at our very core and reach for it with every ounce of our strength. You can't afford to let the distractions of life stand in your way. Are you pursuing your passion now? Why not? Remember we only have one shot at this life. We don't get to go around twice. If you want it, you have got pull out all of the stops, quit messing around and go for your dream.

    Our choices direct our lives and determine where we will arrive when we reach our final destination. Out of all of the choices that life presents us with, I have narrowed the effects of such down to three different paths in life. The first path is the path of advancement and positive growth. The second path is the path of degeneration, decline, or negative growth. The third and final path is the path of stagnation or absence of growth. Which path are you on?

    The first path, the path of advancement and positive growth, is the path that most people would rather be on. It is here on this path that people can see continual progress towards the realization of their dreams and aspirations. The travelers on this path are making incremental steps towards their ultimate successes. Most of them are closely in tune with the desires of their heart, and they feel that they are part of a larger whole. A few of them have even come to realize that their success builds into a larger framework of universal success and victory. In this light, they take this life much less personally, and are less hindered by an overpowering ego, as they see not just a plan that is theirs in motion, but rather an infinite progression of advancement in which they are included. But nevertheless, whatever their place on the chain of enlightenment, those traveling the path of advancement and positive growth have all decided to make a positive alignment with their environment and to take positive action in that blink of time that they call their lives.

    The second path, the path of degeneration or negative growth, is the path that people begin to travel when life overwhelms the soul and the force of distraction sets in. While only a minute portion of its travelers are there intentionally, the path of negative growth, is full of people who have all arrived there due to specific choices that they have made, whether consciously or not. This path contains people who are losing ground. They are the ones taking one step forward and two steps back. They have become estranged from their passion in life. They don't know what their dream is anymore. They can't see themselves as part of a larger whole. They feel lost in a sea of confusion, doubt, worry, and trouble. For some of them the pressure is too much, and they begin to travel the path of degeneration at a blinding pace, rapidly descending through the ranks of enlightenment. For me, it is a sadness beyond compare to witness this destruction of the connection that one of our brother or sister humans has with his/her soul. I have witnessed this heartwrenching spectacle before, as it occured both below the surface and for some in plain view for all to see. I have seen confusion overwhelm individuals so greatly as they lost their connection, all the while they seemed to stand on the sidelines helplessly watching themselves plummet towards destruction. "I can't, I just can't," I once heard a broken heart say. While others heard nothing more than ramblings of one emotionally unstable, I heard a heart crying out. The confusion had become too much. The passion in life had been completely lost in the fog of distraction. Hope was dying. This is the second path.

    The third path is the path of stagnation. This path is the hardest of the three to define. This is because one could argue that stagnation is the result of a lack of choice, or the path that one travels when not choosing. But not choosing is a choice in itself, therefore it takes some action or effort to choose to not choose, if only internally. Also, on the premise that life is change, I would say that the third path, the path of stagnation, is the most difficult of the three to travel. This is because stagnation is the result of no action, no directionality, no growth. Since life is change, and since we are all travelers in this life, we must be changing. We cannot survive any day of our lives unchanged, no matter how small the change may be. I would go further to say that not only is the third path difficult but that it is nearly, if not, impossible to travel. So this brings us to the two choices that we are left with, growth or decline? What do you choose?

    Imagine if you will, two paths. One path ascends into the heavens to heights beyond imagination while the other path falls far into the deepest depths of the darkness below. Up and down, the two paths travel. Now, as you imagine these two paths, imagine that they are actually the same path. This time the only thing that changes is the direction in which the travelers are traveling. Imagine the souls that occupy this path. Some are going up and some are going down. Those travelers going up look upwards to the heavens and are feeled with joy, hope, peace, and serenity. The travelers going down see only the cold darkness and the sad state of their own condition and are worried, stressed, in despair, and quickly losing hope. Now I will ask you to imagine one more thing. Imagine, if you will, that you are on that path, because you truly are. Now tell me, which way do you travel? 
    
    简单地看一下什么样的选择才能使我们变得和自身相称

    我们所有人仅有一次尝试人生的机会.做什么完全取决于我们自己,怎样对待人生还要对它有一个重要的理解,为了清醒时非常地感激每天摆放在我们面前的机遇的价值,我们一定要重新振作.我不确定谁说的或者在哪读到的这句话.但是我记得听过一次这个引用,"生活不是时装表演,它是真实的事情,"确切地说就是我们就应该怎样对待人生.

    这不是可以练习的循环.对于我们来说没有第二次的机会,如果有一些事情你想去做或者成为某人,如果在你的内心有一个深切的愿望想去实现,如果你想实现你人生中真正的愿望,那么最好现在开始行动,努力获得它,今天你做了什么让你的理想更近一些了呢?为什么等呢?是什么阻止了你呢?是某些事情牵绊了你?让你停止追求梦想?它比你的梦想有价值吗?你还有多少更多的机会?你能承担起让机会来临又溜走的责任吗?与激情生活在一起是什么样的呢?为了激情,也是因为激情,你看,是为了追求激情才促使我们成功的,我们一定要认识了解这种激情,这种激情是用我们的每份力量去获得梦想成功的动力.你不能容忍生活中的杂事来阻碍我们前进的道路.你现在正在追寻你的梦想吗?为什么不呢?记住我们仅有一次尝试人生的机会,我们不会再有第二次,如果你想实现梦想,你就要拨除所有的障碍,远离世俗纷扰,全力去追寻.

    当到达终点的时候,我们的选择指引我们的生活,决定该往哪走,从展现在生活面前的所有选择中,我总结了三种不同的人生道路,第一条路是前进和积极的成长.第二条路是堕落,腐化,或消极的成长,第三条路也是最后一条路是停滞不前,你选择走哪条路?

    第一条路,前进和积极成长的道路,是大多数人都走的路,在这条路上,人们能看到在通向梦想和志向的道路上所取得的不断的进步,这条路上的旅行者正在加大走向最后成功的步伐,大部分人的步调和他们心中的梦想一致,他们感觉他们是更为广阔的群体中的一部分,其中有些人甚至逐渐意识到他们的成功组成了更大的整体成功和胜利的框架,以这个为指引他们就很少个别地对待人生,很少被无法抑制的自我膨胀所左右,他们看到的不仅仅是行动中自己的计划,而是把自己包括在内的无限的上升,但是无论怎样,不管他们在启蒙的链条上所处的位置如何,那些行走在前进和积极人生道路上的人们都决定与周围环境保持一致,在他们称为人生的瞬间中采取积极的行动.

    第二条路,堕落或消极的成长,当生活使心灵不知所措,压力进驻内心的时候,人们就开始走在这条路上了.然而仅有一小部分是故意走在这条路上的.消极成长的这条路上充满了由于所做的某个选择而走到这里的人们,不管是否是故意的,这条路包括那些迷失方向的人,他们是那些前进一步退后二步的人,他们已经变得远离生活的梦想了.他们不再知道什么是梦想了.他们不能看见自己作为更大整体中的一部分,他们感觉迷失在生活的海洋里,怀疑,担忧,困难,因为某些人的压力实在是太大了.所以他们就盲目地,迅速地从启蒙的阶梯上下来了.对于我来说,很悲惨地见证了我们的兄弟姐妹和他们的灵魂在这个连接上的中断.我以前也见证了心灵扭曲的景象,有时它存在于表面之下,有时我们都能清楚地看见.我见过失去联系的迷茫的个体,当时,他们好象是站在绝望的边缘,看着自己堕入毁灭."我不能,我真的不能,"我曾听到一个心碎的声音说道,而其它人是听不到的,听到的只是一个情绪不稳的散乱步伐,我听到过一个心灵的呐喊,这种迷茫已经越来越多了.生活的激情完全迷失在尘雾中,希望正在死亡,这是第二条道路.

    第三条道路是停滞不前,这条路最难界定的.这是因为有人曾经辩论,停滞不前是缺乏选择的结果,或者说是一个人不选择时走的路,但是不选择本身是一种选择,因此,它采取行动或努力选择不选择,只要是内心地.同样的前提,生活是变化的.我说,第三条路,停滞不前的路是三条路中最难走的路.这是因为停滞不前是没有行动,没有方向,没有成长的结果.因为生活是变化的,也因为我们都是生活中的旅行者,我们一定要有所变化.没有变化的生活我们不能存活,无论那种变化是多么的小,我还要说,不仅第三条路是困难的,而且它几乎是不可能走的路.因此我们就剩下两条路可走了.成长或者堕落,你选择什么呢?

    想象一下,你将要有两条路,一条路是向上攀登到达一个我们难以想象的高度,另一条路是远远地堕落下面黑暗的最深处.一上一下,两条行走的路.现在你想象一下这两条路,想象一下,他们其实是同一条路.这次可以改变的唯一的事情是旅行者走哪个方向.想象一下,灵魂属于这条路.一些向上走,一些向下走.向上走的旅行者抬头向上看时会感觉到喜悦,希望,和平和宁静.向下走的旅行者看到的仅仅是冰冷的黑暗和自己所处的悲惨的状况,担忧,沮丧,失望,很快地失去希望,现在我让你再次地想象,想象一下,如果你要,你正在那条路上,因为你确实在那条路上,现在告诉我,你走哪条路.