Life Is A State of Mind

I don’t presume to know what the meaning of life is; I expect it to just come to me one day, possibly years in the future. So I try not to bother myself with such open-ended questions, as I believe the answers are better understood when revealed over time. It’s not quite something that can be pondered over for a bit, resulting in some grand epiphany. Adversely, when the answer is revealed to a select few; I imagine it comes like a strike of lighting.

A great deal of us however, will never receive this blessing of understanding because we will never be open to receive it. We will live our lives searching for peace and meaning, while experiencing the many highs and lows along the way to an unknown culmination. Some will find answers, not to every question, but just enough to make them happy. Although, the majority of us will never know true understanding in life, and it will eat at us till the very end.

What I have come to understand about life is far from the philosophical meaning of it, but rather a conscious breakdown of what it actually is, in the physical sense. Not why it is, but what it is.

Life is a state of mind. We’re more unique than what we give ourselves credit for, we’re all creators in our own personal dream. Yet, we define ourselves as black, white, brown, rich, poor, fat, short, college professors, professional athletes, actors, and scientist. We’re rich and we’re poor, we’re beautiful and we’re ugly. But those are all just circumstances; they don’t distinguish how we live our lives. On the surface you may think so, but who says that life is something you can see with your eyes?

Living solely based on the context of physical circumstance will almost surely lead to an unhappy life. Essentially, you wouldn’t be living your own life; you’d be living in the outside world, far removed from the eternal and internal life you were given. If you look at life more as the essence or the inner soul of a human being, you would know how preposterous it is to expect them to live it properly when their only concern is the outer realm of their existence.

There is absolutely nothing outside your own heart and soul that can change your life. Not money. Not a good job. Not a new car or large home. No relationship with another person can change your life, because life is a state of mind. Only you can change it.

You’re life is being lived inside your own thoughts and emotions, and the level of success and happiness you enjoy in life is a direct result of your emotional responses, your reaction to outside stimulus. The tricky part is that most people don’t have any control over their emotions. Their emotions control them, and the outside world controls their emotions, by way of the ego.

Since life is a state of mind, the ego is the equivalent of someone else telling you how to live your life. The ego takes complete control, leaving you to be its shadow. You as the shadow, will forever be confused and unhappy without even understand why. You will blame the world for your problems, because to you, “life” is how the world treats you, not how you treat yourself. To you and your taxi driver (the ego), your life gets misinterpreted as a simple reflection, part of the great big masquerade ball of society. Everyone is wearing a mask, including you, and most people identify themselves wholeheartedly with that mask.

If you base your emotional wellness on how other people view you and treat you, your state of mind will be in a constant state of imbalance. You can buy the new car, new clothes, new house, but don’t confuse them with tools of life improvement. Don’t mistake them for the spoils of a successful life. In terms of your life, objects like those and many others are meaningless. If they weren’t, then the wealthiest of us would be the happiest people on the planet. We all know that isn’t the case.

Get to know yourself. Be true to yourself. Live your real life, inside your own mind and heart. Any other life is false.

Since life is a state of mind, think of it as a dream. You alone have control over it. You can create the most wonderful dream with just your thoughts, or you can create a never-ending nightmare. Many people have been living in their personal nightmares for so long that it has become normal to them. Then, they confuse the nightmare with the world and they say, “life sucks.” These people lack the proper mind control and are not self sufficient in their practice of true happiness, which can only come from inside.

Row, row, row your boat,
Gently down the stream.
Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
Life is but a dream.

According to this old nursery rhyme, our parents gave us the key early on. Life is a dream, a state of mind. Don’t give up control of that dream to anyone. It’s yours. It was given to you by God.