Life is precious.
It’s not just me saying that. Everyone that matters knows, at some level, life is precious. And every single one of us matters!
Every single one of us matters? Every single thing matters. But we’ll deal with that one on another day.
What does life is precious actually mean at a practical, day-in-and-day-out, morning-till-night level? How do I give myself a grade at the end of each day for my Life- is-Precious skills?
And what does knowing it even mean?
Can I know something in my brain but not in my heart and my soul, and not in my daily actions? Can I truly know anything if I don’t do my best to live up to what I say I know? I know for sure that 2 + 2 = 4. It is an arithmetical fact. But knowing life is precious requires a whole different level of knowing. Saying curtly, “I know that,” generally means, “I’ve heard that before, but…”
Does having a multi-layered deep value located somewhere in our brain mean we know it? Nah! We don’t know nothing until we do our best to live it. Living it is knowing it at whole ‘nother levels. Deeper ones and higher ones. Levels that truly make a difference in our own life and many others.’
Do I know life is precious? Do you? How are we living this wisdom in our daily lives? How are we not living it?
The definition of this beautiful word precious is to be cherished, invaluable, irreplaceable and loved.
I repeat, slowly, deliberately, even prayerfully:
Precious means, to be cherished… invaluable… irreplaceable… and loved.
When I say these words in a conscious, attentive way, they begin in my brain, come out of my mouth, enter my ears, re-enter my brain, move down into my heart, my soul, my essence…every cell gets touched. When I allow these words to penetrate, I am them. At this slower pace, awe and wonder begin to emerge, and inspiration, too.
The inspiration leads me toward learning more about precious. How do I live it better? How do I better see the preciousness in everyone? How might I pass this precious wisdom on in the days and years ahead? I get excited that we can be part of a chain of learners and teachers who have traveled this precious path for thousands of years.
March on!
“The more you celebrate the good, the more good you discover that is worthy of celebration.”
-Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
None of this daily preciousness stuff comes easily to most of us.
Often, we haven’t learned much about our own personal preciousness.
We pay more attention to our imagined faults than our beauty.
So, keep learning more and more about your preciousness.
We are animals.
And we animals spot danger instinctively.
What is “wrong” registers immediately.
What is beautiful can be overlooked.
Taken for granted.
Even denied.
Then, what is “wrong,” either in our imagination or in reality, becomes our “real” and morphs into the misdirected focus of our daily attention.
Of course, there is a time and a place for standing up for what we believe to be right.
That is essential.
It’s a long, rewarding road out to a world where seeing preciousness dominates.
It requires daily practice, like anything we want to get better at.
Here are a few age-old keys to guide us:
Start the day with gratitude for waking up.
Express gratitude for your uncountable blessings all day long.
Notice what is beautiful in everyone. Sometimes this can take effort.
Thank every supply-carrying truck you see. We would literally have nothing without them and their drivers.
Practice breathing gently through your nostrils and into your abdomen, all day long, for the rest of your life, and keep your shoulders down.
Breathing and spirit are inseparable
We are precious.
You, me, your neighbor.
All of us.
Blessings. …
— Burt Gershater is a therapist, leadership trainer, speaker and writer. He can be reached at info@burtgershater.com.
This article appears in Source Weekly April 6, 2023.
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