Back to basics: Truths and life intentions

Believe it or not, I've put more time into crafting the following 200 words than anything else I've ever written. 

I wrote my "Truths and Life Intentions" a few years ago as a way to decide what matters most to me. It changes ever so slightly over time as I grow and learn. 

I never planned on sharing it with anyone. And it feels pretty scary to do so honestly. 

But I’m finding its simplicity and principle-like nature especially useful right now in this stressful, chaotic, painful, and enormously consequential moment in time. It’s kind of a north star for me. So I figured part of it might resonate and be helpful for you too. 

If nothing else, you'll understand where I'm coming from a bit better - my flavor of crazy :)

Also, for the record, I'm still not very good at actually following all these intentions and keeping these truths in mind all the time. 

But I'm getting a little better over time. And that's the point.

Truths and Life Intentions

I am going to die. It could happen at any moment.

But I am here now and that is truly a miracle.

All known life is a miracle. We live on earth - just a pebble in the vast cosmos, our only home.

All life on earth is biologically related to each other. A family.

We are made of stardust. We are one.

I am aware my life simply consists of a multitude of nows. And do my best to live in the now as often as possible. It's all I'll ever have. 

I will make the most of my time, being true to myself and living out my values.

I invest my precious time:

- Loving myself.

- Loving family and friends.

- Loving all other life I interact with.

- Working to prolong the existence, and maximize the quality, of life.

I do this because I love life. And I want as many people as possible to have the opportunity to experience a good life, including my future kids.

In my heart, I know contributing to others' happiness and making the world a better place is the right thing to do.

By being conscious of these truths and consistently acting on my intentions, I will flourish.

Personally, I'm focused on getting better at the taking care of myself part of this right now.

Society-wide, I think we'd be smart to go through a similar exercise by taking the time to reflect on what matters most to us. Let's have an honest discussion about who we are now as a society, who we want to be, and what our relationships with the ecosystems we rely on should look like. Let’s re-imagine what is possible. And how we measure success.

We need to have these discussions now because society is at a breaking point. “Normal” was (...is) filled with suffering, inequality, and horrifying future prospects. We have a choice to make.

What comes next is up to us.

It's impossible to understate how consequential the next weeks, months, and year will be.

And I just hope enough of us push for rebuilding a way of life that actually reflects our collective values. 

A society that is life-giving, rather than life-taking.

This current system is big, clunky, overwhelming, corrupt, and broken. 

But we are all a part of the system. Therefore, we have the ability to influence it.

"Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can."- Arthur Ashe

And please take care of yourself! 

You matter more than you'll ever know :)

Much love,

Ryan

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(This article was original published here on Crowdsourcing Sustainability.)