When life is good…

You have to ask yourself is it on auto pilot and is it enough?

Time for a chronical entry…and journal moment if you will.

So I have been calling this my ‘Experimental Journey’ since I started my quest to leave behind the beige muted auto pilot life I was living and to fill my soul with colour. Today I googled ‘Experimental Journey’ and I came across this quote by a Portuguese writer which really just sums it up for me.

“Life is an experimental journey undertaken involuntarily. It is a journey of the spirit through the material world and, since it is the spirit that travels, it is the spirit that is experienced. That is why there exist contemplative souls who have lived more intensely, more widely, more tumultuously than others who have lived their lives purely externally.”
― Fernando Pessoa

So it got me thinking…

Am I living externally or am I a contemplative soul?

So let’s break it down. He speaks about being contemplative which I assume includes introspection and thoughtfulness and are all often associated with spirituality and religiousness.

He also speaks about living externally which I assume translates to auto-pilot mode and living life to simply fulfil the surface value needs of human existence. The need for food, clothing, shelter, etc., and includes our human nature drive to be physically healthy, professionally successful, financially secure, etc…

I am not spiritual, but I am guided….so yes, sign me up for contemplative.
Spirituality is the belief that there is something greater than myself and that we are all part of a greater whole. I don’t know, I don’t know if we are all part of something greater than just a collection of souls wandering this earth. While I am not ‘exactly’ spiritual, I am guided by something…perhaps guided by a collection of life experiences, what my parents taught me, what society has taught me, what the law dictates, regardless of the nature of my ‘guide’, I am walking my path with purpose. I 100% have auto-pilot mode indefinitely deactivated, no status-quo, no rinse and repeat for me.

I am not religious, but I believe…so yes, sign me up for introspective.
I have never been religious and while I don’t exactly believe there is ‘a god’, I believe that we all have the right and possibly even need to have something or someone to help make sense of life. I do believe in karma. I believe in karma so much so that my entire life is lived always recognizing my actions and the impact it may have on my bucket of karma. As I like to say, I try my best to always go to bed with my bucket of karma topped up.

I am not good or bad, but I am true…so yes, sign me up for thoughtful.
I try to be good and avoid being bad at all costs. I mean let’s be honest, I am a Canadian and so I am a rule follower. (99% of the time) I am honest and have kind intentions and am as true as I can be, but I am not good or bad. I am not good because I don’t sacrifice everything for everyone else and I am not bad because I help in small ways. Today for 2 brief minutes out of my life I helped other people.  In the grand scheme of things it meant nothing on a universal spectrum, but to 3 people, my trivial actions hopefully aided in making their day mildly lighter.

The moral of my story…

I am making damn sure that I am taking an active part in my own life and switched off the auto-pilot.  As the Beatles said…It’s easy living with your eyes wide shut, misunderstanding all you see.  Not me, no more!

If ever there were bonus points for active participation in life, I am claiming all the bonus points.

_{Please note that I have not received these products for free or at a discounted price in exchange for my opinion.  There may be links that are affiliate links but at the time of posting this review, I have not received any monetary kickbacks.}