The Value of Our Existence
“Our lives are born of the Ki of the universe. Let us give thanks for being born not as plants and animals, but as human beings blessed with a universal mind. Let us pledge to fulfill our missions by helping to guide the development and creation of the universe.”
~Koichi Tohei, Ki saying #2
“In a race everyone runs but only one person gets first prize. So run your race to win. To win the contest you must deny yourself many things that would keep you from doing your best. An athlete goes through all the struggle just to win a blue ribbon or a silver cup. But we do it for a heavenly reward that never disappears. So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step. I fight to win. I’m not just shadow-boxing or playing around. Like an athlete I punish my body, treating it roughly, training it to do what it should, not what it wants to. Otherwise, I fear that after enlisting others for the race, I myself might be declared unfit and ordered to step aside.”
~1 Corinthians 9:24-27
“Personal development is the belief that you are worth the effort, time, and energy needed to develop yourself.”
~Denis Waitley
One word came to mind as I read the above quotes. The word? Self-discipline.
Life is a race. Life began in a race. A race where no self-discipline was needed. A race where our animal instincts ruled. A race to survive. Think of it! We were one of millions of minute spermatozoon frantically swimming upstream as if our lives depended on it. Imagine what the race to survive looked like. Millions of little sperms swimming madly; pushing, shoving, kicking each other in order to survive long enough to fertilize one egg. There could only be one winner and you won! I won! We won! And we brought with us a strong instinct to survive. Our protective mechanism in a form of a permanent habit will show up unconsciously when needed whether our experience of fear is real or not. It is alive and well.
Now that we won and are sitting at survival, the lowest level on the totem pole, it’s time to rise up, nurture our self-discipline, take responsibility for our own personal growth and run the race to win over our fears, doubts, and unbelief. Our faith will be tested. Our courage will be challenged. There will be hurdles to clear, barriers to overcome, raging rivers to forge, and mountains to conquer. We may feel the need to push, shove, kick, even scream in anguish as we fall. The urge to quit may thunder in our mind. When this happens, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and press forward.
Then comes the time when we discover that the whole process (yes, all of it) was necessary for our own personal growth. We discover that the result of extreme irritation is a pearl. The result of extreme pressure is a diamond. At that point of discovery, we make a shift from fear, doubt, and unbelief to a spirit of gratitude, joy, love, harmony, peace and prosperity. Together we learn and grow and blossom into something magnificent—living a blessed life. A life full of possibilities!