Two Lands

There are two lands that you can enter during your journey on Earth. The Land of the Living or The Land of the Dying. You must choose one to enter.

This choice is often unconscious. The Land of the Dying picks you due to overwhelm of emotion, thought, food consumption, world belief, or anything else that clouds your ability to choose for yourself.

The Land of the Dying can suck you in without batting an eye. It is a land where most seem to get comfortable. Although they are actually uncomfortable because they have forgotten they have a soul that needs to be tended to. The Land of the Dying numbs your mind, and it twists your heart to the point where you don’t care to feel anymore. You move through the motions of life. You accept this is as good as it gets. You pick the kids up from school, you drop them off at a friend’s house, you pick them up again, you make the dinner your husband wanted, you get the kids ready for bed, you kiss your husband goodnight, and you watch TV while he sleeps. This is the 15 minutes you get to yourself before you fall asleep. Then you wake up and do it again. It’s as if you are stuck in the movie Groundhog Day. Serving everyone all the time, and forgetting about yourself. Doing the same thing every day and unsure of why you’re here. This is The Land of the Dying. You recharge just enough to function for everyone else. You recharge just enough to get through mundane tasks. You survive. You might breakdown sometimes. Exhaustion, heartache, disappointment, anger, depression, and fear may creep in from time to time. You might cry, you might weep, you might yell, and you might throw something in a fit of rage, or fear. Then at some point you turn it off and pretend that everything is fine. This is The Land of the Dying. It’s barely surviving and being subconsciously okay with it. You might eat a lot of cookies, or other sweets, and think you’re fine, but eventually the body will come knocking to tell you it doesn’t like that treatment. If you ignore it, if you think you’re fine then you have chosen to enter The Land of the Dying.

The Land of the Living is one that requires a great deal of mindfulness. To enter it you must have a steady heart. This means that you are not without emotion, but the heart is alive, strong, and you are in charge of it. This steady heart allows for the soul to wake up and speak. The Land of the Living is just as hard to live in as The Land of the Dying is. It will not always be comfortable, but it will be the right kind of discomfort. The Land of the Living is the land where you consciously choose to thrive every single day. It’s the land where everything is alive and to die in any form is unacceptable. The Land of the Living is where pure joy stems from the sweat of the work. It’s where total recharging happens. It’s where you take time for yourself because you know you matter. It’s where fear cannot touch you and love is the beacon that permeates in your heart. The Land of the Living is where you feed your soul and it stays bright for eternity. The Land of the Living is where nothing can go numb, each day takes work, and each day there’s time for rest. The Land of the Living is magic, excruciating work, joy, struggle, and undeniably rewarding. The Land of the Living is where you are your own rescuer, and where you can help others. The Land of the Living is beautiful presence. The Land of the Living takes conscious effort to stay in.

When you crash and burn in The Land of the Dying you have accepted that you are the crash and you let yourself burn until you are numb again. You slap a smile on your face and pretend you’re fine. You go through cycles, and patterns until you run yourself to the ground. This is The Land of the Dying.

When you crash and burn in The Land of the Living you don’t accept that you are the crash. Heartbreak, sadness, and frustration will happen, but because you have chosen to be in The Land of the Living you work your way through the emotions. Your mind doesn’t go numb. Like The Wheel of Fortune your mind flicks through many options until it lands on a positive choice, one that will allow you get out of the situation, and that will have long term benefits. You may not feel like slapping a smile on your face and pretending everything is fine, but you don’t stop moving. You put your shoes on, you grab what need for the moment, and you walk out the door. You go and you do, even when you don’t feel like. You may cry your way through an extended period of time, but you don’t accept that’s who you are. You are not the crash, you don’t need to burn, you are better than that. “This too shall pass” your soul says. You don’t stay down for long. The rewards, the self-satisfaction, contentment, happiness, that comes from getting out of the crash is great. This is The Land of the Living.

You choose. No one else can choose for you. You decide how much you mean to yourself. You choose how much your life means to you. You listen to your soul or you don’t. It’s up to you.