I woke up an hour earlier than my fiancée and I decided to get back into the habit of doing meditation before starting my day. I find that it is appropriate for my body to wake up in a calmer manner. Plus it helps my overall mood for the rest of the day. As I start to control my breathing with a simple four-fold method, a flashback of a very important concept permeated in my mind.
It was a cold evening in the maids quarters/or laundry room of my home in Peru. I spent countless hours taking notes on Cashflow Quadrant and needed some time to decompress. Coming to the rescue my best friend and his cousin were on their way. I received a text message from my fiancée, Ivana, suggesting that I make my way downstairs to greet the two of them. Somehow she knew I was in need of a break. I went downstairs to open the door, and found both of them fully energized and ready to take on the world. Before we could even sit down, we marched our way up to the roof to smoke and talk about philosophy. Back and forth, we were throwing ideas at each other about individualism, self-improvement, and afterlife. One concept that resonated strongly with me from this discussion was "the ability to find value in every possible moment." As I was speaking with my friend's cousin about it, we must have tapped into a metaphysical agreement because he continuously completed my sentences for me, saying the exact words I was planning to say before I could even say them. Checking the clock, an hour and twenty minutes had passed and by this point everyone started to get a little claustrophobic. The night was still young and some fresh air sounded like a great idea. We decided mutually to end our conversation, grab our coats, and step outside to go wonder the night in Miraflores.
Ivana (on the left) with our two friends from Machu Picchu
Since that discussion, I am reminded through everyday experiences about how this concept can be reinterpreted. A little more than a week ago, two of our friends that we met on our trip to Machu Picchu came to visit for the weekend. The relationship we have with these lovely individuals were from previous interactions of exchanging useful information, providing assistance, and more. From the beginning we were able to bring great value to each other, allowing the relationship to form and prosper. Since then, we have had some memorable experiences that we can reference for nostalgia, inspiring the possibility of further recurrences with that particular party. As we go back to our regular lives we will continue to individually grow, interact, come together, and broadcast our findings. Allowing for judgements to be made to either continue or end future correspondences. You can see how with a simple evaluation like this just about any circumstance can be valuable.
At face value this statement passes as a "duh" moment. But, as I dissect it word for word I find a level of understanding with my ideas, possessions, and people I surround myself with. It's fascinating how automatic it is for us to analyze content and pick out which pieces are useful and which deserve to be disregarded. Whether or not you find this article useful you can gain a certain amount of optimism from looking at things with this new set of lenses.
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