The Examined Life

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Location: Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Monday, June 04, 2007

Seeing the Perfection

What does it mean to see the perfection in your life? How can we see the perfection in all the “bad” things that happen?

As human beings we are thinkers, planners and dreamers. We have our version of how life should be or how things should go. But as fate would have it, some of our best plans fail to manifest in the way we imagine they should. Then, how easy it is to convince ourselves we should never have bothered planning in the first place and setting ourselves up for disappointment. What is missing in this picture is seeing the perfection in what is and our role in being part of that perfection. Then from that place of acceptance of what is, we can live our lives knowing that we are part of a larger plan that is for our greater good.

The timeline of our life is like a puzzle and every piece fits but we don't always see how, and that brings up a lot of suffering and upset about the way things SHOULD be. We get caught up looking at a piece of our life in isolation; often a fear that something dreadful that happened in the past could happen again. When we see the perfection in what is, the perfection of the way puzzle fits together, each piece having its place, the suffering goes away.

Sometimes an event happens which forces us to look at the whole [timeline] of our lives. Fifteen years ago I developed severe angina [chest pain]. I was awakened in the night with a pain that has been described by some as having an “elephant sitting on your chest”. I was certain that it was my last minute in my body. As if by magic I began to review my life. I began to see that I had had a great life. I saw that I had done and experienced much. I forgave myself and everyone in my life of all transgressions that I was holding on to and put aside all my regrets about what had, and had not, been. I saw the perfection of my life and I was grateful. I felt complete about my life just the way it was and the way it was not.

As I sat up in the darkness the pain began to subside and I lay back in the bed but I was forever changed by that moment.

I see my life now as a gift and I am in the bonus round. I needed that event and what led up to it to see that my life is, and always has been, a precious gift and to remember to see the perfection in every moment of every day.