Choose…

Choose to live. Fully. Seeing the beauty in every breath, every touch, every step.  Realize the potential of everyday, of every moment.

Choose to give fully.  Always. Knowing that it is when we give that we truly live. Give your best. Give your all. Give.

Choose to love. Always. When its hard.  Seek to love more everyday.  Love yourself.  Love your friends. Love your enemies.

Choose to laugh.  To find the joy in every moment. To leave everyone you meet with a smile on their face.

Choose freedom. From suffering. From expectations. From judgement.

Choose integrity. Listen to your heart, your gut.  Never question your inner voice.

Choose passion. Follow your dreams, your greatest desires. Never stop. Never question. Go.

Yes. I know, you want to judge and blame everyone else.  Go ahead, but your issues are not going to get any better.

A great way to see what is going on inside of you (cause we are all in denial about our faults) is to look at our relationships and how we interact with others. We often complain about our friends being selfish, our significant others not being loving, our parents being judgmental. Well, they very well may be all these things.  Yet, if you are not acting this way then it is very hard for someone else to act as such.

As I have gotten more compassionate I have seen my relationships dramatically change. I no longer feel judgment from others and surprisingly my friends are much more compassionate.  The ones that are still judgmental I have grown apart from.

It is very hard to receive of something that you have not given.  The law of cause and effect is real.

It is really hard to expect love, compassion, or happiness from your relationships if you are not giving those things.  If you are not giving those things, look at your inner world.

Are you loving yourself? Are you compassionate with yourself?  Are you happy with yourself?

It all starts within.

The first time I read the story of the Student and the Atheist Professor, it was as if life just clicked.  I understood that we were created perfectly.  It wasn’t that we are evil or that we are fallen, which we hear so often.  It was just that we are still in the midst of being created, being refined, and becoming more and more aware of our divinity.  This life isn’t all there is.  It is just a step to get us closer to recognizing who we truly are.

For God is beyond anything that we can even fathom – in beauty, perfection, wisdom and grace.  We are not capable yet of being able to see or feel that purity. Yet, as we grow and are refined we start to see glimpses of God and we begin to see the perfection and the beauty in all of creation. For it really is good.

The professor of a university challenged his students with this question. “Did God create everything that exists?” A student answered bravely, “Yes, he did”.

The professor then asked, “If God created everything, then he created evil. Since evil exists (as noticed by our own actions), so God is evil. The student couldn’t respond to that statement causing the professor to conclude that he had “proved” that “belief in God” was a fairy tale, and therefore worthless.

Another student raised his hand and asked the professor, “May I pose a question? ” “Of course” answered the professor.

The young student stood up and asked : “Professor does Cold exists?”

The professor answered, “What kind of question is that? …Of course the cold exists… haven’t you ever been cold?”

The young student answered, “In fact sir, Cold does not exist. According to the laws of Physics, what we consider cold, in fact is the absence of heat. Anything is able to be studied as long as it transmits energy (heat). Absolute Zero is the total absence of heat, but cold does not exist. What we have done is create a term to describe how we feel if we don’t have body heat or we are not hot.”

“And, does Dark exist?”, he continued. The professor answered “Of course”. This time the student responded, “Again you’re wrong, Sir. Darkness does not exist either. Darkness is in fact simply the absence of light. Light can be studied, darkness can not. Darkness cannot be broken down. A simple ray of light tears the darkness and illuminates the surface where the light beam finishes. Dark is a term that we humans have created to describe what happens when there’s lack of light.”

Finally, the student asked the professor, “Sir, does evil exist?” The professor replied, “Of course it exists, as I mentioned at the beginning, we see violations, crimes and violence anywhere in the world, and those things are evil.”

The student responded, “Sir, Evil does not exist. Just as in the previous cases, Evil is a term which man has created to describe the result of the absence of God’s presence in the hearts of man.”

After this, the professor bowed down his head, and didn’t answer back.

All I could think about was getting home to lounge on my brand new hammock – which is by far the best purchase I have ever made – even better than my MacBook – I know I am sorry Steve Jobs, but my MacBook can’t hold me like a hammock can.  When I suddenly lose this wonderful contentedness I was experiencing and start heading down the path of this would be better if…If I had a stereo system, someone to bring me mimosas, someone to refill my mimosas so that they never ran out, a nice looking man serving me mimosas, a book to read…a book to read.

So, all I could think about was that I needed a book – it was more realistic then my other daydreams…So I was a block from home, and there are no book stores on my beautiful street, because now they all seem to be in strip malls and shopping malls. And I blame that on Amazon, so I started cursing Amazon in my head, cause all I wanted was a book to read, but there are no independent bookstores near me, because too many people completely define value by a low price.  Really?  Do you all understand what these low prices cost us?  Hmm, but there is a liquor store…

So, I am thinking about how I hate Amazon, when I run into my UPS driver, who I had almost missed completely.  And he hands me a package – a free advance copy of Tony Hsieh’s (CEO of Zappo’s which was acquired by Amazon) new book – Delivering Happiness:  A Path to Profits, Passion and Purpose. Alright God, I get it Amazon is not evil – they just made by day and Tony you delivered happiness to me.

I read the entire book in one long period on the hammock, yes I read fast, thats why I had no books at home.  And it was one of those books that I swear Tony, you had written just for me, and I hope that you can forgive me for hating on Amazon and all things big business.  Cause I see that you have done some amazing things with Zappos and I can only hope that Pure Habitat will be able to deliver happiness to millions of people, as well as have the most amazing work culture.  Which, hey its just me right now and I have a lot of fun.

But, Tony if you did write Delivering Happiness for me.  Thank you.  It is one of the books that I will say inspired me when people ask why Pure Habitat is so wildly successful.  And if you ever are looking to be involved in another internet company that will change the world, I wouldn’t mind a little help.

Seriously, check out his book.