A New Life Perspective

THE ILLUSION OF PERCEPTION

Perception is an illusion. It exists only in your mind.

What would you answer If I asked you if the object was big or small?

Of course, you will reply “What object? I have to see it first.”

No problem, here it is: Is the sphere in the picture big or small?

You don’t know. You don’t know because you believe that without any reference, without anything to compare it with you can’t make that determination.

Let me give you a hint: The sphere in the picture is 5 feet in diameter. So, is the sphere big or small?

You still cannot answer the question because perception is an illusion existing only in your mind.

Compared with the whole universe any object around us is smaller. 

Conversely all objects compared with the smallest existing thing a quantum, will be obviously bigger.

 So, size is a subjective thing that exists only in your mind.

The moral of the story: We live in an illusion created by the distortions of our perception.

Does that matter? Of course, it does. 

It matters as much as some people have dedicated their whole lives to the he awakening from the illusion of perception.

A METHAPHORE FOR LIFE

Life is a hill we climb

Imagine life as a hill, a beautiful grass covered, green hill.

When we are born, we are at the very bottom of the hill.

Then we start crawling. The land is still flat and going through life is easy almost effortless.

We look ahead at the hill. It looks immense almost endless.

From a distance. it looks beautiful and we are eager to go explore it.

As time goes by we get faster and faster. The journey is wondrous, we learn so much, we grow and most of all we enjoy every day at play. Occasionally we may hear something about the other side of the hill, the downhill side, but who cares about that? We are young and we feel immortal.

When we enter the school years the hill becomes a little steeper.

The school system we have devised for our children must crush all the creativity, curiosity and born enthusiasm in the name of social uniformity.

It is painfully tragic but we are too small to complain, or to better said to be listen to.

So, we keep on marching year after year till we get into our 20s.

It is college time and these are the happiest years of our life.

This is not a personal opinion. The scientists have actually made a study and find out that the happiest years of a person’s life re the 20s and the 60s.

It makes sense. You are at the very beginning of your adult life, everything is in front of you ready to be explored and conquered.

It is the time of your dreams to become true. It is the time of infinite possibilities, the times when all your roads are open in front of you.

So you continue climbing with renewed enthusiasm and energy.

You don’t know why you have to climb but everybody is telling you: “You must do it!”

They give you a vague explanation about being successful, which basically translates in having to make a lot of money in order to buy better, bigger and faster things than your peers.

But the slope is getting steeper, the pace is relentless and you cannot stop. You must keep up with the Johnsie’s.

You start to get tired, frustrated, depressed and you are starting to get a funny feeling that something is not quite right but you keep on climbing

You get married, you have some kids you buy a house, you buy a bigger house.

You start get promoted or maybe you start your own business.

You fight every day and eventually you get at the top of the hill.

Now you are in your 40s and from that vantage you can see both sides of the hill.

The journey downhill is not the easy reward they promised you.

The hill is steep and rocky and everybody is holding to the jagged rock for dear life.

You are getting old and you don’t have the stamina you once had. The journey doesn’t look that fun anymore.

So you have what we call “a midlife crisis”

You buy a sport car, date a younger woman get caught and go through a divorce.

You start seeing a shrink and get some chemical help.
Some that have amassed some money may sell out and move to a horse ranch in Montana.

Some not that rich may join a commune, grow organic food and sing Kumbaya around the camp fire.

But most of us pass that and go back to the rat race.

Those are the ones that are committed to do the right thing, to finish what we started.

We want to see our kids going through college, our mortgage paid and hopefully to see the finish line a well-deserved comfortable retirement.

We lick our wounds and fight our way every inch and eventually we enter our 60s.

The slope is not that steep anymore and the finish line is in the reach.

We have made it. The kids are on they own, we have paid all our debts, we are finally FREE!

And that would explain why so many voted for the 60s to be one of the happiest moments of their life.

And the rest is not that exciting. At the end of the hill there is a 6-foot-deep hole.

A NEW LIFE PERSPECTIVE

I am in that last leg of my journey and apparently, I’ve been doing it all wrong.

I bought into the common perspective on life and ended up fighting rather than enjoying life.

Looking backwards now I relies that the two most important things in my life.  Two things that wave brought me happiness and fulfilment: Dreams and Freedom.

If I knew this 40 years ago, I wouldn’t have sold my dreams and my freedom for any price.

If I knew it, I would have fought for them cherish them and live my life with them.

But now at least I have something to leave to my children.

A new life perspective.