Do We Have a Pulse?

Over the years, have you found yourself in a situation where you have commuted to work?  It could be by car or by bus or train or subway.  Years ago, I commuted to downtown Toronto.  Since I was not fond of the idea of driving through rush hour traffic, I chose instead to take the “green limousine.”  That is a nickname given to the GO train.  I drove to the Go train station, then took the train to Union Station & then took a subway to another part of the city. 

During those commuting years, I saw firsthand what “commuter face” looked like.  Having been raised in a small town of 1500 people in the Georgian Bay area, I found myself wide-eyed the first week of that particular commute.  A lot like a herd of cattle, all of us commuters would find ourselves navigating our way through Union station to the next connection.  There was no stopping for even a fraction of a second & you soon found yourself in the middle of a huge crowd moving in a specific direction.  You had to know ahead of time your plan of navigation otherwise you had to go the way of the commuters until you could get out of the basket weave of people on a mission to get to their cubicles.  It felt frankly very unreal. 

Do we sometimes stop to think about how our lives at times can become a lot like that vision of the rush hour commute?  Everyone out there can meld into one great mass & we don’t necessarily see others as individuals but rather as a bit of a faceless crowd?  Are we part of that faceless crowd at times?  Have we checked our “pulses?”  By this I mean, do we go ahead & be fully ourselves or are we too invested in either being like everyone else or perhaps even wishing to remain unanimous?  Ultimately, this can prove to be a potential conflict with the message that we are given from society that we need to set ourselves apart to say progress in environments of leadership?  Or we can feel conflicted when we stop & quiet our minds for a few minutes & truly ask ourselves if we are merely going through rituals without intention.  We know we are in “there” somewhere & there is very likely a part within each one of us that is ready to shine.  In order to shine though, we must make a choice as to whether we open the curtain so to speak on our lives.  Just because the majority of folks are doing things a certain way may not meet you at your needs.  We are all originals so why do we either intentionally or unintentionally often choose to be copies? 

When we see someone out there that is not living life the same way or living within a faceless crowd, who has a passion within that is bursting out, how do we react?  You may be surprised at the number of times that I have heard stories & witnessed firsthand that folks “with a pulse” are being either subdued or rejected.  Do these people, fully alive & not afraid to be an original make, others uncomfortable?  Do they cause something within others to on some level question how they are living?  Do people not want to change that which is uncomfortable?  Why don’t we want to encourage “originals?”  We each get to answer that question for ourselves.

Lately, I have started saying quite a bit to others to “go ahead & be excited.”  We each have something that we are absolutely passionate about.  Maybe we even have several passions…how great is that!  What is stopping us from overflowing with excitement at least about things that speak to our hearts?  Are we afraid of how others will react or respond?  Guess what, if we all think that way then nothing is going to change for the better in this world.  It only takes a few positive sparks or catalysts to send a ripple of goodness out into the world.  These ripples then grow & change the world for generations to come.

So let’s go ahead & check our pulses & ask ourselves if today is the day that we are going to be the originals that we are each created to be.  And let’s also remind ourselves to encourage others to be the beautiful originals that they are too.

My heart’ hope for you is that you are neither a face in the crowd nor a person seeing only a faceless crowd.  Have a beautiful pulse & encourage others too.  Find the light within yourself & then share it with the world!

Smiles,  Saundie :)

Blessings for a beautiful week & this Friday's sharing is entitled, "This is not Little Red Riding Hood" :)