The flu got me good!
I had a fever of 102 °F, aches all over, and a headache that just wouldn’t go away. I felt like my teeth were going to fall out and my eyes were going to pop!
To prevent the symptoms from getting to me, I chose to meditate for a while. I spent some time feeling the symptoms. How my skin burned and my eyes itched. How my joints hurt and air felt like acid to my nose when breathed in.
In this state of awareness I decided to contemplate life and its purpose.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on the word “life”.
Soon, my head was filled with all variety of thoughts, but still I concentrated on the word “life”.
Dozens of external noises and sounds tried to distract me, but I continued to concentrate on the word “life”.
Pictures and moments persisted to bombard my mind, and yet I concentrated on the word… “life”.
It may have been 10 minutes, or even an hour, but suddenly, there was silence. Not pitch black silence, but more of a greyish one. Where there was a constant din like bees at a distance.
Then I saw it, a figure, all aglow. I approached and examined the form. It was human shaped, but difficult to tell if it was a man or woman. I didn’t know for sure, but I felt like this was “life”.
“Life!” I said. The figure opened its eyes, but said nothing.
“Life! What is your purpose?” Still no answer.
“Life! What is your purpose?” Again I ask, this time more assertively. This time it moved with a simple gesture.
A middle finger!
Life had just flipped me off!
“WHAT!” I exclaimed. “LIFE! WHAT IS YOUR PURPOSE?” I shouted.
And instantly it hit me… literally.
With the kick to my balls and another to my chest, Life just sent me flying backwards to the ground.
“Don’t come around here with your questions!” Life said. “Leave me the heck alone!”
And with that, Life faded away into the distance.
I closed my eyes with all of the pain. When I reopened them I was back in my chair where had started meditating, with a slight pain in my chest and a numbness between my legs.
I just sat there for a moment. Then I thought to myself, “What could all of this mean?” Then it came to me! Yes! Oh, yes! The answer was so simple; deceptively easy in fact.
I was being told that I should not question life about its purpose. Oh no! Instead, I must give purpose to life! Such a simple fact can change the way we all live.
Life, in its own way, had told me how to approach both purpose and living.
Either that or that life is a huge jerk!