A birthday summary
Freedom does not mean having nothing to do. Freedom does not mean doing only what you love. Freedom means having the ability to freely choose your own reactions to unexpected circumstances in life.
No Gucci bag will ever be worth as much as an experience. In addition, valuables usually make my life more complicated than better. The less material things (apart from the things I REALLY need of course), the freer.
As much chaos as there is in the world is within me. And it will exist forever. The art is not in eliminating chaos, but in not being lost in it.
The real meaning of life is nothing other than being alive. There are two ways of being alive, consciously or unconsciously. Being alive consciously gives you the full dose of amazement about life.
Even the very best thought is worth nothing if it does not result in an action.
None of the people I meet on my path are ever wrong or right. Everyone acts on the basis of the understanding that they have just achieved.
If we have an opinion, we should never carve it in stone. Our view is always only a perspective of the big whole. We will never be able to see all of the 360 degrees.
When I’m afraid of death, I’m also afraid of life. Actually there is no reason to be afraid of death. The only reason everyone is afraid of it is because nobody knows what will happen afterwards. But as just mentioned. Actually there is nothing we really know. The more we accept not-knowing instead of fighting it, the easier everything becomes. So acceptance brings freedom. And it is only through freedom and through not being afraid of the uncertain that we begin to live.
As humanity we are not yet finished on this planet. Some think that it won’t last long anyway, some think we can make it a better place and some don’t think anything at all. What is obvious: there is room to grow for the so-called smart species.
So even if we don’t know if we really can improve anything, we shouldn’t stop trying. To clean up outside, we first have to clean up inside — ourselves. To improve ourselves, it is impossible to blindly follow what already exists. There could be no improvement. So we have to think independently. Thinking is exhausting and often leads to a point where we simply have to admit: We don’t know. We don’t know the answer. Not knowing, however, is better than to follow the answer that is given. Following the given answers is easier because you don’t have to think for yourself and you get easier approval from those who prefer not to think.
Not-knowing is not a negative thing, on the contrary, it gives me room to be open when possible answers pop up in life.
The only sentence I can remember from my school days are those from my math teacher: “It is not important how you get around things, but how you best go through.” That was actually related to my math test, but the sentence goes wonderfully with everything in life that I am afraid of. The more I look away, the bigger and more uncomfortable it gets. The faster I pull myself together and go through the more proud I am afterwards and the less time I wasted pushing it in front of me.
Unconditional love exists. Maybe a lot less in the romantic sense, but it doesn’t matter because unconditional love really doesn’t need romance to be the best.
Family is the most valuable. Family is not just related to blood. Family are the people who give you backing in life whether you are in your dramatic quater life crisis or in the upward phase. They are worth more than anything. Ironically, one often forgets to appreciate these people because their existence in ones life is so certain.
There are two ways to react: the one that my ego would love (to be right, to win, self-pity) and the one that is best for myself. The second option is not only healthier for me but also for others in the long run. And I want to run for a long time.
I don’t know what I want from life. But now I know that I don’t have to want anything from life. The only thing I know is that I want to spend the time on this planet as the best possible version of myself to be able to soak up and celebrate every second I can get here.
Ps I would love to have white, long, braided hair when I’m at the age of the woman of the picture above.
