So, imagine visiting a lonely person instead of watching your regular (and, perhaps, favorite) television show, or designing a website instead of shopping on Amazon for another gadget, or drafting a Table of Contents for a book you’ve always wanted to write rather than playing Call of Duty on your computer, or learning how to do something you’ve never done before instead of complaining about the dearth of good political candidates. The universe is abundant with opportunities that stretch us, nourish us, build our character, give us a change to serve, make more of us than we’ve previously been. The opportunities are, in fact, limitless – yet, we so easily ‘check out’ of that possibility field because we’re afraid, weary, stressed, or in some kind of pain. And, our days pass – as regularly as the sun that rises and sets each day.
But if we recklessly flipped off our computers, or left our cellphone on the desk, or refused to go to Starbucks for a day in order to take advantage of one of those amazing life opportunities, we might be more than just a little surprised to find that we were suddenly less fearful, weary, stressed, or in pain. We might find that the very engagement with life that seemed so impossible was precisely what our soul needed to feel alive again.