Get the Picture?

“If it was just about surviving, getting by, and keeping things the way they are, then how would you explain imagination?

If it was just about sacrifice, selflessness, and altruism, then how would you explain desire?

And if it was just about thinking, reflection, and spiritual stuff, then how would you explain the physical world?

Get the picture,? Want it all. That's what it's there for.”

-Someone posted this as their Facebook status. I don’t know if they were quoting someone or came up with it themselves, but I have some objections to it.

If it was just about surviving, getting by, and keeping things the way they are, then how would you explain imagination?

I agree with this one for the most part, it just seems weird that “imagination” is supposed to prove there’s more to life than just survival. You can easily argue that imagination is there to distract you from boredom. Creativity, vision, ingenuity, faith, hope, love, the soul… these are things that prove men was meant for more than just survival.

If it was just about sacrifice, selflessness, and altruism, then how would you explain desire?

Errrrnt! Wrong. You might as well say, “If it’s about being healthy then why do donuts, bacon, cigarettes, and cancer exist?” Sacrifice would not be called “sacrifice” if you didn’t have to fulfill its definition: Giving something you have or want up for a greater cause or purpose. That thing you’re setting aside to do that altruistic deed of good will is called “desire” –a.k.a. what YOU want for YOURSELF instead. Desire, selfish impulse, self-doubts, fears, hate, pride, vanity, and complacency are the things you have to set aside to do what’s right. Frodo desired to keep the ring instead of throwing it into the lava. Harry Potter went into the woods knowing he would die at Voldemort’s hand because Harry knew it was the only way to save his friends.

And if it was just about thinking, reflection, and spiritual stuff, then how would you explain the physical world?

This sounds like something a person who doesn’t reflect would say. As with everything in life, there needs to be a balance. We are spiritual, wise, reflective, cerebral creatures. We are also hungry, transient, impulsive, athletic, physical beings. You need to master both. It’s about knowing WHEN to reflect and WHEN to be present. Reflecting on past experiences and wisdom at a friend’s birthday party probably isn’t the way to go. Party and drinking after someone you love has suddenly passed away isn’t the way to go either.

Get the picture? Want it all. That's what it's there for.

“Take what you want. Give nothing back.” –Captain Jack Sparrow

“From what we get, we can make a living; what we give, however, makes a life.” ~ Arthur Ashe

“Only a life lived for others is a life worthwhile.” ~ Albert Einstein

“Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” ~Buddha

“The greatest good you can do for another is not just share your riches, but reveal to them their own.” ~ Disraeli

“To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

“At the end of life we will not be judged by how many diplomas we have received, how much money we have made, how many great things we have done. We will be judged by ‘I was hungry and you gave me to eat, I was naked and you clothed me, I was homeless and you took me in.’ Hungry not only for bread — but hungry for love. Naked not only for clothing — but naked for human dignity and respect. Homeless not only for want of a room of bricks — but homeless because of rejection.” ~ Mother Teresa

“Giving is the highest expression of potency. In the very act of giving, I experience my strength, my wealth, my power. This experience of heightened vitality and potency fills me with joy. I experience myself as overflowing, spending, alive, hence as joyous. Giving is more joyous than receiving, not because it is a deprivation, but because in the act of giving lies the expression of my aliveness.” ~ Erich Fromm