IT'S JUST A RIDE!

"The world is like a ride at an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it, you think it's real, because that's how powerful our minds are... And it's fun, for a while...  Some people have been on the ride for a long time, and they begin to question: 'Is this real? Or is this just a ride?' And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and they say 'Hey! Don't worry, don't be afraid -- ever -- because... this is just a ride...' 

And we kill those people."

- Bill Hicks (1961-1994)

I love this cartoon as it perfectly depicts a favorite analogy of mine... Imagine that you're thrown from an airplane and you are plummeting downward...without a parachute.  Now, you've already been thrown, there's nothing you can do about that.  You WILL hit the ground - there's nothing you can do about that either.  So what ARE your options here, eh???

 They are essentially depicted by the two characters riding together on the roller coaster ride: You can either be terrified, horrified, worry, fight to stop it, try to figure it out, bitch about it, try desperately to control it, fix  it, make it better, OR.... You can just "Enjoy the ride!" I mean, hell, you've got 35,000 feet to enjoy the most incredible experience ever imaginable. 

This pretty much defines life.  You've been 'born'. In other words, you're already here. Not much you can do about that.  You ARE going to die. Thousands of years of history, billions of people, numerous philosophies and religions have reminded us of it, yet to a large extent we are in denial of that reality - in denial to the extent that we are convinced it is a bad thing.  It's not a bad thing or a good thing. It just is!  At some point, be in a few moments from now or decades or centuries from now, there's a pretty good chance that's you AIN'T gonna be here no more. You'll be dead, deceased, morte, toast, no more, pushing up daisies, or in this analogy, a big squishy spot on the ground.  

So, again, check out the picture. Which one are you?  

All right. Now lets take this from another angle, sort of.  What are you doing with your life and why?  And one more question - How seriously are you taking your life?  Is your life expressing some incredible desire or need?  Are you desperately trying to create a life that conforms to some idea of what you THINK it should be? (Including the possibility of not dying?)  Are you seeking to make your life some kind of perfect thing - whatever that means to you - famous, beautiful, wealthy, supremely enlightened, stupendously genius-like, or anything else?  Hey, that's cool!  Whatever it is, that's cool! Really!  But remember.... It's just a ride.  It will either happen or it won't. Bottom line!!!  You might have it fall into your lap like nothing, or you could strive your entire life and never even get close.  Either one is okay.  Why? Because it's just a ride, and in the end, as much as you think you do, you really DON'T have much control over it.  And even if you do, what will you have in the end?   A big squishy spot somewhere when you 'Hit' the earth.  So, what will you have accomplished.  I mean, think about it.  There have been billions of people here over the millenia. How many have you heard of?  How many have really made that big of impact? 

Recently, I came across a recording of my Spiritual Master. He was asked by the interviewer, "What is the purpose of life?"  (You know, one of those little questions.)

His response struck me....

"To Enjoy!"

Initially this struck me as odd, and actually spun my head a little, as we had to follow one of the strictest spiritual regimens of any spiritual group.  But the reality is that there is more than one way to enjoy. In other words, there ARE certain things that are given and there's nothing you can do about them.  For instance, here, in this phenomenal realm, generally everyone is working according to the desires of their own ego, their own self-interest.  You have close to 7 billion people on the planet, each with their own agenda. They are never all going to be fulfilled, if for no other reason that some agendas are in direct opposition to others agendas. Your agenda may be that we're all cool and do your own thing and be happy.  My agenda may be to screw your agenda up, control you and make you miserable. (This is to a large extent why the Occupy movement is currently going on - see blog on this below.)  

The answer: - Enjoy Life!  Don't take it too seriously. Or DO take it seriously, but ENJOY taking it SERIOUSLY.  Or even worry about it, but ENJOY worrying about it.  Huh?  I know that to some of you, that may not make sense.  How can I enjoy my life being crap?  Chances are you can't, but what are your options, eh?  (You're gonna hit the bottom.)  Another way of looking at it is as the sage Nisargadatta Maharaj said, "You are unhappy because you want what you don't have and don't want what you do have. Simply turn those two around.  So, you can still fight for right, try to live forever, seek to know God, try to feed the world, or even just sit around being a complete asshole. But whatever is occurring, enjoy it.  If you don't want to do that, do something else and enjoy it! If you want to seek enlightenment, then by all means, do so... and enjoy it. Don't make it a journey of misery. You're doing what you want.  If you are in fact totally and completely happy being a jerk, enjoy being a jerk (says Buzzkill Baba).  What does our Declaration of Independence say? "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."  

And if ultimately, you just can't seem to get that happiness thing down, then at least remember....

IT'S JUST A RIDE!!!!

Now, I'd like to introduce you to the beautiful and brilliant comic genius who spoke the quote  above. In fact, I'm going to offer you TWO videos of the same exact bit, the famous It's just a ride routine.  The first, is of him actually on stage. The second is his voice with a typographical visual instead of his image.  If I were you, I'd watch BOTH  (several times... let it sink it)

AND.....

ENJOY!!