Focus on Life™

We are used to living in the world of instant action and
response. Each generation claims that the current speed and
flow of information is almost too much to bear. The stress we
feel, which is imposed by our society, the closest ones, and our
working life, is almost too much to handle. So what is all this
fuss about? Who’s in a hurry and why?

We feel anxious when things seem to move too fast for us.
We are not focused and cannot exactly draw the full picture.
This is something very personal and subjective. Air traffic
controllers have a different meaning of stress than kinder-
garten teachers and extreme sports base jumpers have. What
is common to everyone is that the external activity level and
the inner state of patience and calmness are totally different
issues. When we are feeling comfortable, we can achieve a lot
without any distress.

With experience and practice, our comfort zone extends.
We learn to separate our physical existence from our inner state
of being. With time, we start to feel less concerned about the
circumstances and even new situations facing us. No matter
how fast the pace or strange the situation, it should not affect
our inner being. Those are just issues to deal with—no big deal.

We start to perceive life with patience. Everything has its
time and place. For some activities we get involved, and for
others we do not; sometimes our presence is required for an
activity, and for some activities our presence is not necessary.
Our time will come if we need the experience or the capabil-
ity. Our life gives us what we deserve, but we are often just too
impatient to wait for it. We get anxious and start to act on our
own. And then we are confused. Things get out of our control
and beyond our reach. At this point, we need even more
patience.

Different stages,
various levels,
intercepting each other.
Same moment,
different meanings,
present in all of them.

Separate paths,
isolated ways,
interlinked only for the few.
Reaching for the next,
struggling in the past,
worrying for the future.

Gaining experience,
the hard way,
is the slow and easy,
mostly used and favored.
Converting the current,
realizing the meaning,
living the truth,
is the instant reach for the willing.

Gradual gains,
layered and stay,
remain for the next,
step for the greater,
further and brighter.
The future way,
of realization and gain,
better understood,
aligned,
without the strain.

Parallel,
here and now,
one within the other,
full of life,
isolated from each other.
All linked and acting,
planned to support,
and coach,
way to develop,
and progress,
up or down,
in or out,
heading forward,
never failing to drop out.

Reality is a subjective phenomenon. It consists of our personal
understanding of the structures around us. It is an interpreta-
tion based on inner perception and insights. Our reality is
something that we take as the ultimate truth for us, some-
thing that we cannot question and that is the basis for our
existence. It is the building block and foundation upon which
everything else is placed.

Subjective reality has nothing to do with the physical
world around us. Our reality is just based on the observations
and conclusions we have drawn and understood with the best
of our perception. One way to illustrate this is to look back in
history. Not so many centuries ago people believed that the
world was flat. It was a nonquestionable fact, like the presence
of day and night or the soil underneath us. What happened
later on was that humankind made more precise observations
of the physical world and was able to adjust its understanding
and perceptions based on new evidence. Today, no one can
seriously claim that the world is a flat surface. We can take a
flight and observe it with our very eyes. Our subjective reality
is dependent on our capabilities and, therefore, it is unique to
everyone. Also, it evolves over time but the physical reality
remains the same.

We are children in a larger scale; when we grow up, our
perception and behavior change accordingly. Grown-ups do
less kids’ stuff and their understanding of the issues are altered
together with experience and better understanding.
Humankind goes through the same process, but the cycle is
naturally longer. Humankind’s progress takes generations,
whereas children expand their consciousness each year.
History demonstrates this development. The United Nations
Universal Declaration of Human Rights was declared for all
people on earth just under sixty years ago. Physical wars and
abuse of power are less tolerated now than in the beginning of
the twentieth century. The progress has its unit in genera-
tions—not in years. All it takes is our internal reality to
develop. Each individual contributes to the process, and col-
lectively we declare who we are and what our perception of
the reality is—our truth.

A state of indifference,
existence without significance.
Way to be the world,
let others see the perf.

How to describe something,
where two ends meet and never leave.
Enough,
no more, no less.
Just the opposite,
of everything that whines or cries.

No need, no lack,
kind order without slack.
That’s the way,
but how to stay?
We achieve,
and never be.
Which results that,
harmony,
is something we,
top for this,
and gain for that.
The swing pendent,
never stops,
for a perfect harmony.

Some of us choose a harder route. We want to achieve things
faster this way than it would take on the usual long and less
steep road. This means that we are put into a series of tests
that are progressive in nature. They come in different forms
and shapes. They drive us to our limits and press us hard. We
are offered the easy way out, which means failure, but the real
solutions are usually nowhere to be found and beyond our
personal comprehension. Often, all the circumstances are
against us. This is the harder way.

The rewards are high as well. Our life is very intense and
rich in experiences. Situations may even seem strange to
bystanders. Lucky coincidences and amazing turnarounds
occur. We are not that surprised if we have the inner knowl-
edge of the real issues. Anything is possible and at the end,
things turn out the good way—if we only last to the end. The
choice is ours and we can opt out. But there are a few of us
who have made it all the way—they are the hope for the rest
of us. They are very few in numbers, compared to the total
population and even to the number of people reaching for
higher grounds. But everybody is free to join—the choice is
ours.

Every one of us is here alone (but not necessarily lonely). We
live among other people and yet all the great challenges of life
we have to face alone. Our friends and people we keep close
can support and give us the courage we need in our journey.
Circumstances often take us on some rough rides but the
greatest lessons are given to us by other people. Our life is
about relationships with people. Some are strangers and just
visitors in our lives and some are here to stay longer with us.

Our life is about learning new sides to and issues about
ourselves. The things in our lives are purely about us. The
people we meet, the situations we face—they are not coinci-
dences or pure chance. They have a meaning for us and help
us to get to know ourselves better. Still, it is up to us to do the
work and learn the lessons. Often we are ignorant and seem
to repeat the same patterns. We realize this when similar
kinds of things happen to us. For example, we might get
involved with the same type of people all the time—and they
get us into trouble. Or we seem to struggle with our bosses in
each and every new job we have. These things will happen to
us until we acknowledge the pattern and learn from our
behavior and actions. Then we are up to new challenges.

Other people play an important role in our lives. They are
the mirrors for us. They interact with us and give us the test
bed for getting to know our different sides and even hidden
talents and emotions. People, through their behavior and
actions, show us who we really are—and it should not be any
big surprise that often we are the last people to see the reality.
Just check with your closest friends—they may describe your
other side if you only let them.

We get angry and frustrated with other people easily. They
are the ones to blame. Why are we agitated? Why should
their behavior concern us? Other people’s problems or bad
behavior are not our problem. So there is no reason to get
emotional. Unless there is something in us that knows that
they have revealed or awakened some hidden issues in us,
such as ego, selfishness, laziness, greed for power, hypocrisy,
and so on. Naturally we do not like to be reminded of those
darker sides of us. We cannot stand it, and we blame others.
As long as we have these issues with ourselves, we will need
other people because we are not voluntarily working with
ourselves.

Therefore, each human interaction and moment in our life
is a new opportunity for us: to learn more about ourselves and
become better human beings. Every person you meet is most
of all teaching you about yourself. You only have to be humble
and open-minded to realize the messages. Remember to
thank the people around you. You don’t have to say any-
thing—just smile and love your neighbor. He or she is your
greatest teacher.

We live in a state of constant longing. The current moment
seems never to be enough. When we’ve reached one thing, we
immediately long for something else. The grass is always
greener on the other side. The main idea here is that we are
wanting: always and for something. But what are we longing
for?

Our yearning is a sensation we have a hard time describ-
ing. It is something that surrounds us but still we are not able
to explain it exactly. Longing is something formless that
encircles us. It is a notion in us that seeks existence and
expression through us. One could say that longing uses us as
its vehicle for material existence.

In practice, this means that we project our yearning for a
physical or tangible form. We attach our desires for some
objects or objectives. Depending on the circumstances, it can
be a person we are missing, a better job, our own apartment,
our spouse, wealth, or an occupation, to name a few. No mat-
ter the subject, the important point is that for us, it is some-
thing concrete. We have a hard time separating the object
from the subject. We mark the object of the longing and start
to regard it as the means of improving our state of being (i.e.,
our inner condition).

We are all familiar with the results. The instant we have
achieved that something that we wanted, we are after some-
thing else. We are not satisfied, which was the whole purpose
of the issue. Now we are after something else. So, what actu-
ally happens?

Longing makes us active. It drives us to experience and
face different challenges in life. What would happen if we
would not long for anything? Nothing. But there would not
be much progress either. If no one is either after or lacking
anything, because longing implies a condition where the sub-
ject is incomplete and seeks the missing component, nothing
would improve or change.

It is important to identify this continuous process we are
going through. One should realize that longing is not “us”—
we can never become fulfilled by any means outside of our
inner being. Therefore, if we can see through this longing and
ignore its quest, we are already closer to being “complete.” We
are not running around and reaching for something illusion-
ary. All we need to do is to identify our behavioral patterns
and make conscious actions instead of commit blind obedi-
ence. How about reaching for nonlonging?

Our inner life is sacred and personal to each of us. Our exter-
nal life we share with the world. It is not obvious that they
can be in harmony and still enable the sought-for inner real-
ization. But it is possible.

History has given us examples of sacred people who lived
in isolated places and practiced their spiritual life. Often, we
have this image of true practitioners, and nothing else is “seri-
ous” or real enough. Inner peace and mindlessness do not
require any particular place or arrangement. We can practice
it no matter where we are. It also stays with us when we have
reached the right level. Actually, our environment and cir-
cumstances are no obstacles to our inner development.

We have to live in the world and take care of our duties
and responsibilities. Actually, what provides a better opportu-
nity to practice detachment and tranquility than the chal-
lenges of our everyday life? Our situations provide us with the
training arena where we should be able to stay in a totally har-
monious inner state—no matter what we are experiencing.

Living under time and space where causality is imposed
does not mean that we cannot have a rich inner life as well.
We can experience both worlds continuously. A place or situ-
ation will have no significance for us because our life is our
state of mind. We create the meaning for the circumstances—
not the other way around.

True teachings are nonverbal. They are not given by any
symbols (i.e., writings, talk)—we have to experience them
directly. Therefore, our life defines our existence, and by our
behavior and actions we state who we are. What would be a bet-
ter way to share the wisdom we have gained than to live among
people and be a practical example? No words are necessary.

Is a moment of joy,
a smile or a kind word from a stranger;
Unexpected and spontaneous,
innocent.
Beauty of the vision,
perfectness of the glance,
the vulnerability of the inevitability,
it all happens right here and now.
How to reach for the inner state,
the feeling of comfort and loving kind;
To experience the life,
as it comes;
by humble mind and open arms,
you are always welcome,
I am here to stay.

My lesson is to learn,
the sorrows and the pains;
but also the glimpses of glamour,
and the highest of the scale.

One day happiness will become,
the same as sorrow;
My time will come,
when this is true;
Then I am ready,
and will see;
Two sides of the same coin,
minted into one;
No more happiness,
no more blue;
They are here,
but not for me;
I have learned,
and see them through.

All was for one,
greatness of life;
that beyond the scope,
let us reach;
and finally teach,
to give away,
for all we know,
nothing more to stay.

The stage is different,
and the tools as well.
Good-bye we say,
and leave without a trace.

Happiness
is here to stay.

Most of us are like TV sets. We receive information and repro-
duce it as it has been sent to us. Often, we just store things to
our memory and retract them when they are needed. The
reproduction, from the content perspective, is more or less the
same, but the quality may have been lowered in the process.

Watching and criticizing movies is easy. Coming up with a
creative script and vision is another case entirely. The same
applies to our thinking as well. We read and absorb vast
amounts of data that we do not analyze. Most of our so-called
education is based on recycling of information. One is taught
to find, memorize, and rephrase information. Individual
thinking and consideration are not highly appreciated or
encouraged. Still, everyone has the capabilities of developing
his or her own thinking.

Creative functions require concentration, will, and vision.
First one needs to be able to formulate a vision or goal and
then be able to materialize it into a physical form. Thinking is
like making a movie. It all starts from will and desire to
express yourself (e.g., a great storyline). This then has to be
formulated somehow into a structure that consists of the logic
and systematic setting (a script). Finally, one needs to be able
to realize the concept into a production where the final prod-
uct is a visible movie. All these stages take energy and persist-
ence: one gets better with practice.

Thinking is considered to be hard and nonnatural for
humans; therefore, it is a scarce resource. We are too lazy to
use our brain. It requires effort. Nevertheless, we appreciate
writers, composers, directors, painters, scientists, and all those
great minds who are able to create something beautiful and
innovative. All of us have different skills and talents. Creative
thinking can lead us to amazing discoveries. How about try-
ing? You may be surprised of the results: Cogito ergo sum.