What are YOU taking for granted?

We all take things for granted. Whether you’re now reassuring yourself you do try to make your appreciation known or mentally launching a list of relationships & blessings, STOP! The jump from considering what’s being taken for granted to wondering whether we’re showing our appreciation is born of the desire to turn intention into action. Ironically, when contemplating what we may be taking for granted, we typically get side-tracked by the very things we’re NOT. We inevitably end up thinking of everything we would never want to take for granted then find ourselves wanting to ensure our appreciation is known. What we are or aren’t expressing is important but it’s not what fundamentally affects how we live our lives.

What we do take for granted can’t be readily called to mind. Between suppositions handed down to us & assumptions we make ourselves, the ‘facts’ that need to be in question are precisely the things we presume true. From passing curiosities we’ve never explored to the greater ‘truths’ we live by, anything we take on as our own should be vetted. Whatever’s worth keeping will hold up to scrutiny. Just as we can be our own beta tester, we must also be our own fact checker. How much of what we believe has [seemingly] always been believed? What was true in another context or ‘right’ in a different society may not be the universal truth it seems. Look behind the cultural trappings to find any kernels of truth that carried it through the years. As excerpted from Paulo Coelho’s blog:

The fact is, many of the rules we obey nowadays have no real foundation. Nevertheless, if we wish to act differently, we are considered “crazy” or “immature”.

Meanwhile, society continues to create some systems which, in the fullness of time, lose their reason for existence, but continue to impose their rules. An interesting Japanese story illustrates what I mean..

Why question what we believe? Ideas that are truly our own are more defensible & ours to make or break. It also becomes a question of what we can discover along the way. The journey we take to compile our belief system should be an adventure. It’ll seem unnecessarily risky, or even scary, at times but the alternative is living lives dictated by others’ experiences. Depending on your comfort zone & how much you’re willing to push its boundaries, vary the size of presumption you challenge at any given time. Never doubt that it’s just as important to question beverage beliefs as it is to ponder divine dogma. After all, drink right & we’ll be around long enough (not to mention feel well enough) to live right.

Convinced you’ll never increase your water intake because you just don’t like the taste of it? Explore your options; flavor additives, herbal tea or even popsicles. How about addressing two health improvements with one solution? 100% juice bypasses the additives so it’s better for you but all the unadulterated juice means it’s also strong enough to withstand being diluted thus you can add in juice & drink your water too.

The truth of the matter is that you can only [happily] live in a manner that’s right for you. Accepting that truth is THE reason to question all others. How can we live according to our own compass, be it moral or otherwise, if we’re busy following the dictates of those who went before us. Of course we should learn from any & all experience we can, striving to not have to make all the mistakes ourselves, but we must also personalize the conclusions. What previously accepted truism have you challenged? Are there any forgone conclusions you’ve always been curious about? If we can ask the questions we’ve never thought of or been too afraid to consider, we’ll discover lasting truths. What truths should we be taking on?!

(|_|*cheers*|_|)
“Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.”
~ Buddha ~

PS: Happy May Day!

Tagged as: question authority