Last year, a yoga student of mine suggested I watch an old movie and she lent her DVD copy to me. It was titled; City of Joy and it starred a young Patrick Swayze. She had the opportunity to visit India and the actual city it was filmed in. I believe it was Jaipur, but I don’t recall exactly.
There were four distinct motifs that inspired me enough at the time, to write them down. I just found the note I had written.
The basic tenet of the film was- “It’s not what I have in my life but who I have in my life that counts.”- Anonymous
Another theme was “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength-while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” – Lao Tzu. Followers of this ancient wise spiritual paradox believer are called Taoists.
Another quote I took the time to scribble down was “All that is not given is lost.” – Hasari Pal.
But my absolute favorite moment is when the mature, dedicated and overwhelmed woman scolds young, brash and aloof Swayze, angrily admonishes him and states; “There are three choices in life. You can run, become a spectator or commit.”
That has to be one of the greatest truths ever. You can run, spectate or commit.
I have run. Sometimes I have just observed. But I will be damned if I don’t commit to myself and others, to be the best possible person I can fathom being, live every moment to its fullest and continue growing spiritually and emotionally; especially now that I am in my fifties and I really don’t know how much time is left and it’s all going so much quicker than before, it seems.
Ask yourself if you run, spectate or commit to your life.
And just a quick technical note: I answer every comment, please look on the right and check on the reply. Thank you.