the Art of Living Abundantly

By now you’ve probably either seen the movie Seven Pounds or heard someone talking about it. If you haven’t seen Seven Pounds, watch it.

The entire cast does an amazing job. The cinematography is beautiful. The story will tear your heart out. Yes it’s a drama, and yes I damn near cried on at least two or ten occasions; sue me! But it is a great story that I personally connected with on many levels.

On the surface you are engrossed in an emotional roller coaster, as Will Smith’s character, Ben, appears to be stalking a small group of people. It’s a little unsettling at first but as the story unfolds you begin to feel compassion and the connection that Ben has with these people. I won’t spoil the plot for you, but I highly recommend that you see this film.

There is a phrase used in one of the scenes in the film, and considering how entangled you become with these characters lives and the whirlwind of emotions that encompass practically every scene, this one line just hit me up side the head like a stray Frisbee.

“Live Abundantly.”

At first I was honestly in a bit of a daze. The transition that just took place in the scene made this phrase hit home so deeply that, well, I felt inspired to write about it. So what do you do with something like that? What does that mean? Here’s my take…

First, I believe that Living Abundantly requires effort and unyielding focus. But ultimately it is our personal choice. In Seven Pounds, Ben decides to redeem himself by helping people, and as I watched this extraordinary journey unfold I was so clearly reminded just how fragile life is and how amazingly beautiful it is. More so I was struck, this is what brought me to tears more than once; it hit me hard just how important it is to love the people I care about in my life. They are truly a special gift and should be treated as such.

Now you may be saying “well yeah, duh, of course I love my family and friends.” But what about the strangers? I know I am guilty of being a total a$#hole on an embarrassing list of occasions. The reason I love movies like this is, if we’re listening, we get the gift of a mulligan. Just like that, pow! But as Ferris Bueller put it, “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”

So what’s a mulligan? A mulligan is a magical little golf term that simply means you get a do-over; a fresh start. No penalty, no harm, no fowl: just get a new ball, take a deep breath, grab your club and do it again. How great is it that? WE have the choice of taking a mulligan in our lives any time we want. You have a clean slate starting RIGHT NOW!

And just like playing golf, you have to make a choice. (A) Let your emotions get the better of you and totally freak out when someone cuts you off on the road, or take a deep breath and get over it. Yell and scream at your kids when they do something totally brainless, or chillax and think back when you were a brainless kid, driving YOUR parents crazy, and try to talk to your kids instead of blasting them. Get totally frustrated with the slow moving checker at the grocery store and make them feel like the stupidest person on the planet, or give them a big smile when it’s your turn and say hi. And when they’re done say thank you. Hell, you could even give them a tip! The point is you may very well be the one person that day that shows them you appreciate them.

And just like shanking the golf ball into the deep dark abyss of the rough; you can choose to snap your club over your knee, kick the grass, throw the rest of your clubs in the water and go home never to try this stupid game again. [No, of course I’ve never done that! I don’t even play golf.] But it’s a popular analogy so I’m using it. My three year old reminds me this is poetic license.

Anyway, Back to the story, so you can do that or…
OK, OK, I lied I am so addicted to golf it’s not even funny, and I have hurled my clubs on more than one occasion, doh! And sadly I have gone off on my kids like a total idiot for the most senseless things. Looking back I always feel like a piece of shite.

But seriously, this just helps illustrate my point; I can go out on the course the next day, a new day, a fresh start and work at it again. That’s not an excuse to be a jerk to my kids, but I must make that choice. If I see the reality of the situation then it is my choice to make the correction and take action.

Notice I said “work at it.” As the Jedi master Yoda put it “Try not. Do… or do not. There is no try.” That is how we must be if we are to truly live abundantly. It is a choice; one that we have everyday, every hour, every minute. With every human encounter we have the choice to be kind. We have the choice to help when someone needs it. We have the choice to speak a kind word to someone completely out of the blue. We have a choice whether to plop on the coach and turn the tv on or read up an inspirational book or listen to an inspirational message or teaching.

The media is blasting us everyday with so much chaos and fear and doom that I think the majority of people must feel pretty damn hopeless right now. I know I do sometimes. But remember, you can turn off the tv. You do not have to read the newspaper every morning. You do not have to watch the news every night. You can unsubscribe from any news group, rss feed or alert that you want to unsubscribe from. No one, and I mean “NO ONE” forces you to expose yourself to any of it.

If you live in any modernized part of this country, i.e. everywhere you go, you will “encounter” the negative media bombardment throughout your day. But you do not have to “internalize” any of the negative input. As a matter of fact, you can, and indeed you must, make a deliberate and conscious effort to keep it out of your head.

The easiest way to do that, and it is easy, is to surround yourself with positive “input.” It may be cliché but believe me, it is one of the fundamental secrets to living a prosperous, fulfilling, and happy life; therein lies the “pursuit” of happiness. You have to pursue it; no one will give it to you.

Making the choice is also a choice. You can make the choice or you can let the environment choose for you; either way, you made a choice. Will you live your life as an absentee tenant? Or will you choose to LIVE ABUNDANTLY?

I hope you glean something from this. If it resonates with you please leave a comment below.  I would love to hear your story.

PS: I’m writing this at one in the morning, so I hope it came through the way I meant. I  felt compelled to get my thoughts out now.

Until next time…
Cheers!

~Richard