All of us have an expiration date. It’s a simple reality… None of us know exactly how long we're here for. Maybe you find that frightening, maybe you find it downright depressing. But here’s the thing: we can take it as simple fact and an inspiration to really live life fully—to tilt our lives to doing more of that which deeply matters to us. Instead of wasting time on the things that are more trivial or distracting or not important, we can use it as a catalyst to live the way we really want to.
Today, I’m sharing a Dharma Talk I recently gave to my own group here on Vancouver Island. I hope it is of great value to you and I’ll be back with a fresh episode of Sex, Love, and Elephants next week.
In this class, I talk about how we would live if we knew our time was limited. We also play with the concept of birthdays and how they may mean we’re a little closer to death, but that we can use that idea as a call to action to live life fully.
In This Episode, You Will Learn:
A short, simple exercise to prepare your for mind for this talk (04:38)
Notice when you’re thinking about things from the past: is it wholesome? Or is it unwholesome? (06:17)
To help educate the mind and have a better sense of your experience, meditate, brief review, and move on (10:33)
What if, instead of calling it our “birthday,” we called it our “one year closer to death day”? (15:13)
We're busy because we have patterns, because we're trained, because our minds are used to running down sets of stairs… and we often miss the alternate path. (38:49)
Q&A:
How can I make my thoughts of death and dying less scary? One of the roots of suffering, sadness, loss, loneliness, despair, confusion, anger, irritation, and hurt is that we're not living enough. Spend time with those you love, do interesting things— take advantage of it all.
How can I start my day without stress and anxiety? If you want to reprogram patterns, you need to practice new patterns. Look carefully at how you start the first 30 minutes of your day. Don't look at your phone, put on a bit of music, brew yourself a beautiful cup of something, and have an extra long shower and see what difference it might make.
Is there an easy way to make the changes I want to see in my life? Ask yourself, “How do I want to live this day?” All of us in our lives can make changes today, no matter how small. Watch one less episode of your show, go for a walk and look for a daffodil, phone a friend and have a chat and really hear what's going on in their life.
Watch Cheryl's live Dharma Talk
Head to Island Dharma for more information on Cheryl’s meditation and Buddhist teachings and retreats.
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