What ground do you stand on?

I’m sure we’ve all heard this. What do you want to be when you grow up? And I am sure we have even asked others that same question. I have uttered it personally multiple times, posing that question as an adult to myself. I’m not saying that it’s not a good question in and of itself. The first issue I have with it though is, what do you actually want to be now? Right, the only time you ever have.

Moreover I have stopped asking that question not just because I have simply adjusted my outlook to what I want now. I actually got propelled to focusing on what I want now by that question: What do you want to be when you are dead?

Yep, I know it sounds weird. But here is how I view it. First of, you have to believe there is something after death. If you don’t believe in that, you can go right back to focusing on what you want to be when you grow up. Second, what is it that you think you will be after your death? I want to be at peace when I’m dead. In order for me to be at peace after I am dead, I have to be at peace now.

Aah! That’s where the “ what do you want to be now” comes from. And that is where your answer lies. In order for you to be what you want to be after you are dead, you have to be that as much as possible at any given time. Keep that in the back of your mind. The only thing you own are your actions. And the consequences of those actions. You don’t ever really own anything else and you will not ever take anything else with you but those consequences. No matter if you believe in that there is something after your death.