Heaven or Hell

"Remember, every moment you have the chance to be in heaven or in hell. If you are unconscious you are in hell. When you are conscious you are in heaven. It's up to you."  
~ Osho

I am a very emotional person.  (Just throwing that out there, in case you hadn't noticed.)  I've been told that I get emotional because I care.  Sometimes maybe I care a little too much about the wrong things or the wrong people.  I've also become jaded in some areas of life.  Jaded and emotional - not always the best combo!  This can sometimes get me in trouble, or cause me great stress. 


We can't always control our circumstances or the situations that we are put in.  I'm sure you've heard the adage, "It's not the hand you're dealt but how you play it that matters."  How we deal with our circumstances and situations is what makes the difference between being in heaven and being in hell. 


I have to say, I've been in heaven quite a lot lately.  I've found happiness, and I've figured out how to adjust my attitude to keep that happiness at it's peak as best I can.  Every now and then, something comes along that knocks me a little off my cloud and shows me a glimpse of hell.  Every so often I fall completely, and dive into hell for a time.  Then I remember that I don't like being in hell, so I find or make my own rope and climb back out toward heaven again.  


Life is lived best when we are conscious about everything around us.  I had dinner tonight with some friends and spent a small part of our time together staring at their bird feeders, watching the birds and squirrels.  I don't always pay close attention to the birds around me, but every so often it's simplistically refreshing to just sit and watch the creatures of nature do their thing.  The other day, my 2 youngest kids and I walked to school to pick up the oldest.  On the way down, and on the way back, we pointed out all the different varieties of flowers (I named them, best I could) and took note of all the different colors we saw around us as we walked the dozen or so blocks to and from the school.  It was a simple game, but felt so good to be that conscious about what was around me.  


When you fall into that rut of the day to day doldrums, doing the same things over and over, then you've become unconsicous.  Choosing to be conscious allows us to see, hear, feel and appreciate so many more things.  This includes the somewhat unpleasant things.  Also tonight, I stopped by a friend's to drop off some things.  We chatted and ended up in an argument.  Why is it that communication can come so easily with some, but with others it's like there's a big, huge brick wall between us that's never going to get torn down?   Why?  I'll never know. But I am aware of this communication barrier between us, and I do my best to work around it.  


Despite my (and his) best attempts to be friendly with one another, sometimes it just doesn't work, arguments ensue and we end up getting annoyed or upset with one another.  So, now I can choose how to handle the situation.  Do I put myself in heaven or in hell?  The obvious answer is that I would want to put myself in heaven.  It takes effort to stay there, and stay happy. But that effort is worth it.  


Being conscious of our communication issues helps me (sometimes) better prepare how to speak around him to avoid that pitfall.  Being conscious of the wildlife in my yard helps me better appreciate them (so long as they don't start eating the strawberries I planted).  Being conscious of what makes me happy makes me want to work harder to keep those things in the forefront of my life.  It's simple.  It all ties in together.  We - each of us - have the ability to consciously choose if we will live our life out in heaven or in hell.  Being able to appreciate the version of heaven that we have = being fully conscious.  Being conscious of our life = heaven.