There's more than one way to live a life.........

 I don't know about you, but sometimes I feel as if we(mankind) are

''progressing''(which ever way you interpret that word) faster than

we perhaps may be able to process ''properly''. (Properly as in

understanding the width and breath of it.)

Sometimes our progress has even had dire and down right

catastrophic consequences which we most probably had not anticipated.

Springing to mind is splitting the atom, plastics, dynamite, 

combustion engines, the internet, chemical and biological weapons,

etc. etc. etc.

Some of us may have found the speed and width of mankind's ''progress'' 

too much to bear so we have headed for the mountains, wide open

spaces, small towns, and far away places.

In search perhaps for more intimate and 

tightknit communities, communities where ''everybody

knows your name''.

Perhaps also desiring a more ''organic and earth-friendly'' way of living 

rather than what some of us may view as a

 ''synthetic, hectic, and technology driven'' lifestyle.

The above image is depicting two women belonging to 

the Mennonites, a Protestant religious sect related to the Amish,

running for shelter during a dust storm.

The Mennonites, much like the Amish, live their lives according 

to their religious beliefs rather than the trends and ever evolving

changes in todays societies.

(Although, some Mennonites have adopted electricity and 

the use of automobiles.)

Somewhere I read (forget where) ''there's more than

one way to live a life.''

Whether we are aware of it or not, may I suggest that most

of us live our lives much in line with a sort

of ''blue print'' buried deep within us.

Something along the lines of: get an education, get

a job, get married, buy a house/unit/property, have children,

raise children, retire, enjoy the grand-children.

Not that there is anything wrong with that, but that blue-print does

not take into consideration losses such as: health, jobs, positions, 

partners, properties, money, loved ones, etc. etc.

Nor does it take into consideration that external and unpredictable

events may actually rip up the blue-print into small little pieces.

''Inevitably, hardships and challenges will be part of life's lessons;

however, what differentiates people is how they react, respond,

recover and revise their blue-print when in a situation

where their power of adaptability will be tested.''

(Dr. Samineh I. Shaheem)

Let's call that blue-print ''What my life should be like''.

As I view it, from a very young age our

perceptions of what our lives should be like is

heavily influenced by expectations from our families,

our friends, siblings, teachers, traditions, cultural

background, people we admire, and people we usually

hang out with.

If we deviate from the blue-print, more often

than not... in my experience, we will be asked to

provide an explanation for our deviation.

''You're gonna do what??"

Quit school and travel the world.

Become a monk.

Become an artist.

Join the Navy.

Give away all my stuff and go live in a collective.

Become a deep-sea diver.

Become an Opal hunter.... and so on.

Although a blue-print can be helpful, failing to live up

 to it we may feel dismayed, confused, and or even

depressed.

We may battle with thoughts like: I should have (insert here

your expectations) by now, I ought to have.....,

I've let my folks down by not having achieved.........

But here's the thing, life has a way of getting in the way

of ''blue-prints''.

Things happen, unexpected things happen, and we may have

to revise and or adapt our blue-prints accordingly.

We are the choices we make, so if our original blue-print

no longer ''fits'', it may be time to design a new one.

One that includes what we are truly passionate about,

 is important to us, and that which fulfills in us

a sense of meaning and purpose.

''There is more than one way to live a life.''

about the image: charcoal on rice paper