The Journey Within...

Living Life to Its Fullest, Here-and-Now

by Ainee Cha

"The journey has just begun...I believe in the person I'm becoming"

Are we simply existing, or living? Perhaps many of us have at least stumbled upon ourselves with such a question.  

Well, everything that we are existed in potential. We have the ultimate freedom to do with our life as we like to fulfill the potential or to make some smaller version of ourselves. We make the decision to whatever extent and it’s all depends upon our efforts and commitment to reach the potential life that exists within ourselves.

Sometimes in life there are more disheartening memories that we'd rather not remember. Other times, those pleasant memories that we’d love to cherish seems to fade away too easily. Let alone the constant struggles, the challenges we face day-in and day-out, and the humility we humbly swallowed. Possibly more often we tend to take responsibility, while at times we may feel overburdened by the travail of others. It is because of these constant drives to honour our potential that we learn and grow. This is life. This is what makes us human.

Life is a process of self-discovery, a process of trial-and-error and experimentation as we take on different roles at different phases of our life.  The only obligation is to be true to ourselves…to be authentic; and believe everything is possible. It’s perfectly fine to be imperfect, or be perfect in our own imperfections. Life gives us a broad spectrum of opportunities and experiences, allowing us to embrace the unknown and live it to the fullest of our personal best where our destiny lies. Perhaps we will never understand this freedom until we are caged. Sadly, and very often we are confined by our own limiting beliefs that we lose sight of our innate self, the person we aspire to be.

Many times, we simply just existed. We let circumstances take control of our existence. We let external sources; media, and others beliefs to alter our core values and then conveniently allow ourselves to be drowned in that bubble called – ‘Me, Myself and I’. Often unknowingly, we get carried away in that bubble and when we realize it, it is in many occasions too late.

The past 40 years of my life have been anything but calm. I've been through many ups and downs, twists and turns, through many beginnings and endings of many phases in the last two chapters of my life. I've not only gained many life experiences from learning to walk during my childhood, to turning adversity to my advantage in my adulthood. More importantly, I've learned to give not because I have plenty, but because I know exactly how it feels without. I've learned to love, and to be loved. I’ve learned to listen more and talk less. Most appreciably, I've learned to see not with my eyes, but with my heart. And I learned it the hard way, paid in full to the school of hard knocks. There is no discount to life's lesson. The only consolation we have is to choose whether to take it as a lesson learned or an experience gained.

We are all destined to die someday. We have only this lifespan to live. With this perspective, and if ever there is a moment of total transformation, let it be in this present moment. Take a moment to look within and our underlying goal will begin to emerge as we gain better understanding of ourselves. With self-knowledge comes a greater awareness of who we are, what is our true goal, what is our core value in life, and what direction we want to set for our life.

I am ready to write a new chapter. I am present to see what life has in store for me as I am starting to learn to live... all over again, here-and-now, with conscious awareness, to live life to its fullest and make a difference.

"To be fully alive, fully human, and completely awake is to be continually thrown out of nest." - Pema Chodron

In the end, it's all about you!