Act as if the future of the universe depended on what you do, while laughing at yourself for thinking whatever you do makes any difference.
Great words of wisdom from a wise man. Upon reading these words, and contemplating their meaning, I find myself reflecting back upon my life. I wonder if any of the decisions that I have made in my life thus far have made any difference.
I think back to all of the decisions that I have made in my life, and wonder if any of them has had any measurable affect on world history, or just my own life experience.
Have any of my decisions in the past affected anybody else's life then, now, or will they in the future?
I am sure those of you with knowledge of, and a passion for Quantum Physics, String Theory, Alternate Realities and Parallel Universes would have an intriguing response to the question I just poised. If alternate realities are real, and I made an infinite number of different decisions in them, than I would guess that I have made decisions in a couple of them that may have altered history.
What simple decisions could one make to alter history?
The simple decision of which movie to go see could have big changes in your future. I don't mean the movie itself having any life changing effect on you, but you could end up sitting next to someone that may be your next future love interest.
The other end of the spectrum is a situation that could arise such as the one that happened in Aurora, Colorado back in 2012 on July 20th. That was when a mass shooting occurred during a midnight showing of the film, The Dark Knight Rises. James Holmes started shooting randomly into the audience from the back of the theater that night. When it was all over twelve people were killed, and 70 more were injured.
There was an increase in security at movie theaters across America after the shooting for fear of a copy cat shooting. Just like always there was also much political debate about gun control after yet another mass shooting. The decision to go see a midnight showing of the new Batman movie that night changed the lives of everybody there, some far more than others.
The decision by James Holmes that night changed the future for not only himself, but for many others as well in a decidedly negative way. My condolences to all those affected by this horrific incidence.
What decisions have I made that have changed the future?
My first job was working in a restaurant bussing tables. It was a filthy job that I thought of as something that I must endure. There was a guy there my age that I always worked with that didn't like the job very much either. It was a thankless job that we were paid minimum wage to perform day in and day out.
My co-worker who was always on the lookout for something better told me that they were hiring at a nearby grocery store, and we both filled out applications for a stock clerk position.
I was hired on at the store within a couple of days after applying there. I ended up working there for a year stocking shelves before deciding to move to Florida to get away from the snow and cold. If you ever had to wait outside when it was below zero outside you would understand.
I had never even thought of working in a grocery store before I was hired to work in one. When I arrived in Florida the first thing that I did was apply for a job stocking shelves in a grocery store since that is what I had experience doing.
As luck would have it they needed another stock clerk immediately, and I was hired, and started working there less than 12 hours after applying for a position there. I thought that I would work there until I found something better. Twenty five years later and I am still working there. I never bothered looking for something better, and twenty five years kind of snuck up on me, and passed me by.
I think that we can all agree that twenty five years is a big portion of a persons life. I often wonder how my life would have turned out if not for a co-worker suggesting that we apply for a job in a grocery store some 26 years earlier.
Many of the decisions that we make in our lives even the small ones can have the ability to change not only our future outcomes, but the future of others as well.
If you work for a certain company you will of course meet different people, and have different life experiences with them than you would have had you worked for another company.
If you were not working there somebody else would be, and they would have different life experiences. This would then open up a position at the company that they left, or turned down a position at for someone else that decides to work there.
The reciprocal effect of course is when an infinite number of people end up working in an alternate location all based on you accepting a job working for a certain company.
This blog post would turn into a book if I listed all of the reciprocal effects one could cause with many of the decisions that they make in life.
I often think back to all of the decisions that I have made in my life that brought me to this moment in time, and space.
I hated the snow, and cold as a kid. I read a book as a child about Florida, and the pleasant winter time temperatures there. This lead me to move to Florida shortly after high school.
There was a wealthy old man who bagged groceries in the store that I worked at. We were offered a 401(K) at work 23 years ago, and that old man convinced me to put the maximum into it. I am thankful everyday for that decision.
I was always into computers growing up, and thought I knew a lot about them. When someone who was an even bigger computer nerd than me was hired on at my store we quickly became friends. We decided to compete with each other to see who could earn more money online. That decision completely changed my way of thinking about making money online.
There was a guy from India that lived at my apartment complex just a few doors down from me. His religion was Buddhism, and he would often talk about it. He would enlighten me about the importance of meditating, always being mindful, and of course the state of Nirvana. He was the most positive, and friendly person that I have ever met. This lead to my interest in Buddhism.
I decided to go to the Florida Keys with some friends that invited me to join them for a weekend get away there. I met a girl from Thailand while in a bar in Key West. I never had any desire to go to Thailand on vacation before meeting her, now Thailand is my second home.
So where have those decisions brought me to now?
I now live near the beach in South Florida for part of the year, and in Thailand for part of the year. I have a Thai girlfriend who loves to cook delicious spicy Thai food. We go to Buddhist Temples in Thailand together to meditate, and make merit to help those less fortunate. She often volunteers her time to go to the Temple, and cook food donated to the Temple to feed those in need. She truly has a good heart, and I am fortunate to have her in my life.
I also am the webmaster of multiple websites including this one, Embracing Nirvana, to share the things with my readers I am passionate about, and that bring me happiness. Happiness is meant to be shared right?
All of this came about because of my decision as a child to read a book about Florida because I hated the cold. That decision set a series of events into place that brought me to where I am now. Be mindful of your decisions my friends, even the simplest ones combined with the law of attraction will create big changes in your life.
Life is too short to be stressed out over the small things. Why be depressed about the past, or anxious about the future? It is far better to be mindful of the present, and happy in this moment.