January 13, 2017

The Anomalies in Life


Falling Man BuildingThis week I wish to bring your attention to those seemingly small miracles that we often miss in our lives. Let me begin with a story.

One night as I drifted off to sleep, I reflected on unexplained events in my life and wondered, What does that mean? The next morning as I dressed, I heard someone on the television in the next room saying, “It’s amazing. The window washer fell 500 feet, and he lived. That story and more, next.” I asked myself, What does that mean? What does it mean to the window washer?

What Does That Mean?

That day as I drove home from the grocery store, I noticed a young man and his child. The weather was finally spring-like, and this fellow was working in a tiny garden. He appeared to be breaking up some small clods by repeated blows with a hoe. I thought back to my first home and garden. Such pride, such ambition—and such is the great American dream. In the United States, most of us plan on owning our own little piece of heaven; after all, a man’s home is his castle. As young people, we plan to buy our first vehicle, and our personal consumption cycle begins.

So we make our plans, our dreams, and begin to live them out to the best of our ability. Our clothes, automobiles, homes, furniture, group memberships, and so on are all a part of our dreams. The food we eat, the stops at Starbucks for a fancy latte, the cell phones we carry, and on and on are also part of our dreams. I could go on, but let’s consider another way to look at this dream. Are we consuming, or are we being consumed?

Noticing Life

Is there a “now” moment where the heart is not just beating, as Henry Wadsworth Longfellow says:

And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

Life has many twists and turns, and seldom do we find the road to be straight and narrow. The same can be said for the choices we have to make as well. We are sometimes tossed about like leaves in a windstorm, bouncing from one event to the next, and—despite our efforts to take control—we remain unable to shut down the prevailing winds. In the midst of all of this, we can find ourselves experiencing the seemingly impossible. Why? How does that happen? And what does it mean?

In my book, “What Does That Mean?” I openly share many experiences that simply are not possible. On numerous occasions I have been approached by others, many others, telling me of their own seemingly “impossible” experiences. I have come to believe that everyone has at least one but because we are unable to explain it, we discount or ignore it. How about you? How many experiences have you had that defy a so-called scientific explanation?

Signals

In my book, I sought to show not only how common this is, but how misunderstood these “signals” are. For it is clear to me that these anomalous experiences are in fact signals indicating meaningful information, sometimes affirming our intent and sometimes simply saying something like, “Choose once again.” That said, these signals are always expressing the fact that there is much more to life than the popular idea that we are simply meat machines that have randomly evolved.

In my view, knowledge has no power if it ignores experience!

As always, thanks for the read and I appreciate your feedback.

Eldon Taylor

Eldon Taylor

Eldon Taylor
Provocative Enlightenment
NY Time Bestselling Author of Choices and Illusions
www.eldontaylor.com