Living Life in Terms of Your Vision-Daily Meditation 1.19.24

Today’s quotation:

Living life in terms of your vision and working toward your goals must be done in the context of today’s activities.  Do not focus too heavily on the results of your efforts.  Do not live for the future attainment of your goal.  Live your life through the lens of your vision and what can be done in the present moment.  Living your vision is not about reaching your goals.  It is about living and working toward them.  It is not about producing results but about living your life more meaningfully and personally rewardingly. -Ari Kiev

Today’s Meditation:

Willa Cather said much the same thing when she said that the end is nothing, and the road is all.  It’s far too easy to keep focused on the idea that reaching our goals will determine if we’re successful or not, and the reality is that the important thing is how we live as we strive to reach those goals.  Are we walking all over others in our attempt to be “successful”?  Are we keeping our eyes open for opportunities to help others?  Are we allowing others to be who they are and do as they choose rather than trying to control their actions in order to make them correspond to our wants and needs?

Ari Kyiv’s focus rightly lies in the present moment.  What can you do right this moment to contribute to your own life?  What opportunities do you have now to make your life more fulfilling?  We’ve all read the stories about the men and women who are so caught up in trying to get promoted, reaching sales goals, or making their business work that they forget to spend time with their families.  They sacrifice the positive time that they could contribute to the lives of their loved ones–and the positive elements that they could get back–in order to try to achieve some distant goal that they may or may not reach.

Far too often, when they reach that goal, they find that the price they paid to get there wasn’t worth the “success.”

Of course, it’s important to remember that some jobs must be done and that sometimes we must sacrifice time with loved ones to accomplish necessary tasks.  However, if we don’t find a balance and make sure that we’re trying our best to live in the present moment, we face a huge loss, one that cannot be returned to us–the days of our lives and the potential within each day for fulfilling, meaningful contact with the people we love and who love us.

Questions to consider:

Do you tend to focus on the results of your efforts or on the work itself?

How can you make sure that you’re balancing the need to reach goals with the need to live each day as you have it?  Can you think of some strategies for keeping track and checking on yourself?

On the day we die, which will be most important–the goals that we’ve reached or the people we’ve helped?

For further thought:

People who are “being” are fully present.  They are totally engaged at the moment.  This engagement includes an easy appreciation and sense of connection with whomever or whatever they are relating to at the time.  These people are aware of a job well done or a difficulty surmounted and will respect and often acknowledge the person who has accomplished it.  “Being” is a state of heart and mind that is receptive and can listen carefully. – Henderson

If you missed our last Daily Meditation, it is here.