Get a Life! You need to get a life!
Ah, the quest to “get a life”! It’s a phrase that echoes in the corridors of our minds, often laced with a sense of urgency or even desperation. But what if the life you’re trying to “get” is already the one you’re living? The Diamond Approach teaches us that the essence of life is not in the getting but in the being.
In our relentless pursuit to “get a life,” we often overlook the simple yet profound act of living. We become entangled in the web of desires, ambitions, and societal expectations, forgetting that the real treasure lies within us. It’s not about acquiring more but about becoming more aware and present.
How often have we thought, heard, or spoken these words: You need to get a life? These words appear most often in judgment, jest, and exasperation. But, all of us are living a life – so what is this life we are supposed to get? How do we get it? What’s at the root of this sentiment?
We spend so much time trying to “get a life” that we often forget to live the one we already have. We chase after dreams, goals, and milestones, thinking they will give us the life we desire. Yet, the more we chase, the more elusive life seems to become. It’s as if life itself is playing a cosmic joke on us, whispering, “The more you try to get me, the more I’ll slip through your fingers.” Perhaps the secret to “getting a life” is to stop trying to get it and start living it. What a novel concept!
Two factors behind getting a life:
- Rejection
- Seeking
It seems obvious that to get a life reflects a rejection of our immediate experience and a misunderstanding or lack of exploration of what is life or a life. Most of the times I remember hearing, speaking, or thinking these words. It revolved around getting something better, improving on what is, finding that greener grass, or finding purpose or meaning.
At the heart of all of these activities is seeking.
Together, these are the two pillars of “the self,” the ego, the personality.
Like many, if not most, I came to the Diamond Approach to get a life, believing that life could be gotten. There was a belief that spiritual development or enlightenment would get me a life. Would I then discard the life I was living or recycle it?
After being in the Diamond Approach for half a dozen years or so, I had an epiphany that I was living a life. The absence of rejection and seeking was the most noticeable about the experience.
This was mind-shattering!
It was, at least, mind-boggling and very novel as I had not gotten anything, had not caught the wave, nor grabbed the brass ring. But there it was, the sense of living life – which was not affected by the content of my experience.
What became clear was that the life sought was not a noun but a verb – not an object, more a dynamism.
Having floated in and out and around and through this living life versus getting a life, it is crystal clear the primary attribute of living life is an in-touchness with being or isness or existence.
That’s it!
It really is this simple – being is the living and the life.
So, the next time you think, “I need to get a life,” pause and reflect. What you’re truly seeking may not be something to get but something to realize. You’re not just a human trying to get a life; you’re a human being living life. Ah, the beauty of that realization!
Now, let’s all go out there and get that…!