Attitude of Gratitude
Welcome to the 13th foray of "Fishing Without Bait," where we dive deep into life's profound questions and explore the art of living in the present moment. In this captivating adventure, we embark on a thought-provoking conversation about the dangers of expectations and the significance of participating in our own lives.
Setting the Stage for an Unforgettable Episode: Lucky 13! Yes, for those of you who are superstitious or are participating, we’ll be coming up on Halloween season soon. So, let’s make this 13th episode memorable for everyone out there.
Shifting Perspectives - Fishing Without Bait Explored: The idea here is that, by now, I’m hoping that you are getting a little bit of conception about what fishing without bait is all about. And, once again, I’m going to ask you, how is your perception or conception of fishing without bait? What is it for you, today? Is it taking notice? Are you working on your expectations?
As you’re going about your business and going throughout your day, you have expectations of other people and how they do things. You may be wondering why won’t they just do the thing that helps you do what you need to do better. Instead of looking at things that way, just step back and say, “It’s okay.” They have their stuff going on. They have different perceptions. And, helping to manage that a little more. It definitely helps to keep things a little more in perspective and keep yourself a little less stressed as you interact more with others.
Challenging Expectations and Embracing Evolution: So, you have goals and ambitions. Is your battle, “Oh live your life without expectations”? Do you even have any expectations? How are you going to evolve? What can that evolution be? What are you learning? Where are you with regard to your comfort zone?
Finding Balance - Unrealistic Goals and Life Plans: It’s wonderful to have goals and ambitions. However, it’s when we set definitive expectations of ourselves, and many times unrealistic goals and expectations, that we run into problems. One part of it is that there are unrealistic expectations. And, then there are expectations you think should be realistic – and again, reassessing those expectations - you realize they actually aren't realistic. People have a life plan. And, they say, “Well, I have to do this by the time I’m x years old.” And, it didn’t work out quite that way. And, you have to readjust a little bit.
The Quest for the Meaning of Life: Many people – and many books are written, in fact philosophers for thousands of years have made careers out of searching for the meaning of life, have they not? It’s really good to come up with a bunch of answers for a thing that we don’t have the answer to. So, if we’re searching for something, what does that mean? When we’re searching for something, we either have lost it or perhaps we have never had it to begin with. This certainly can lead to depression. This can also lead to angst.
The Perils of Constant Searching: Why can’t I get that thing? While people are searching for the meaning of life, are they participating in their life? No. They’re searching for the answer instead of participating in the right now.
Embracing the Present Moment: What we’re talking about is when we’re searching, we’re not participating in our life. We’re bypassing everything that’s going on. I’m searching for my keys, don’t bother me. I’ll get to that in a little bit. I don’t see that beautiful smile of that child. I’m not participating.
In the Middle East there’s a character that there are stories that this person has participated in his life, and this person’s name was Mullah Nasruddin. Often stories told that this person, Mullah, was searching for something. And a person comes up and says, “What, are you lost?” And, he says, “Oh, I lost this. I lost a personal possession.” He said, “Where did you lose it?” And, he says, “I lost it two streets over.” And, then the person says, “Well, why are you searching here?” And he said, “Because the light’s better here. I can see better.” Sometimes that’s the way we go through life. We don’t go into those darker places and create our own light. We take the easier, softer way and go where there’s light, where there’s really and truly nothing to be found. When we’re not participating – where the thing that perhaps we are looking for, our eyes can’t see because it’s dark. And, we look for the light and illumination that other sights, sounds, images shine. Instead of looking at the thing you need to look at, are you chasing the person that’s done the similar thing? Looking to their answers instead of looking within yourself to find your own? If you're doing it that way, you're following someone else's path or trying to learn from their experience and not looking at your own opportunities in front of you.
Final Thoughts: We delved deep into the concept of fishing without bait, urging you to embrace the present moment and let go of rigid expectations. Explore the dangers of constantly searching for meaning and purpose. Look at the importance of active participation in our own life. By relinquishing the need for definitive answers and focusing on the here and now, we can discover the joy and fulfillment that lie within our own experiences. So, let's cast away the weight of expectations and embark on a journey of living fully, without the need for external validation or elusive answers to life's profound questions.
To explore more of this concept, check out our related podcast episode.
