Living a Legendary Life … October 18th, 2020

Sitting 1

Seen in Secret

It really doesn’t make any difference to me what name you use. Perhaps someday, when we cross over the vast chasm of misinformation, we will discover that there is an actual name above all other names.

But for the sake of discussion in this book, please understand I don’t really care what name or title you use.

What I’m talking about, of course, is the name we prefer for that Unseen Beyond Us That Sees All.

Call him God, Allah, Jesus, Vishnu, Mohammed, Jehovah, Enlightened One or even Larry. It makes no difference to me. Even atheism will receive no condemnation from this author.

Yet in the practical application of our everyday lives, and for the sake of pursuing the excellence of a legendary existence, it seems to me that we must acknowledge an Unseen That Sees All — even if this personage is of our own creation.

So if you will allow me in this book, I will use the name Larry.

Yes, Larry.

A Generic Deity

I know this may upset the religious soul, but my main problem with organized religion is that it worships a god who shows up for praise and worship and then disappears, leaving us, during the rest of our week, to our own devices.

The result is that some of the most avid followers occupying mosque, church, synagogue and monastery are also the greatest agnostics in the world. They have a form of godliness but deny the real power and message of a lifestyle. And here is how I describe that legendary lifestyle:

We believe in order to receive, becoming more generous to ourselves and more open to others.

Now, this should be the conclusion of a spiritual encounter. Alas (as they used to say) religion tends to be the disease infesting and infecting us.

So for the sake of this sitting, please allow me to call this unseen presence, Larry. I think it will prevent any disgruntled religious folk from feeling I expressed favoritism. And to those not inclined to any formal religion at all, it will introduce a friendly, neutral presence

Larry is of us. Larry knows how we work. He knows our drawbacks.

Our greatest weakness? Theory over substance. We prefer discussion to decision. We relish committees to commitment and favor argument to agreement. You see it in the church, in business, in politics and even in entertainment. Why is this?

Because laziness is our mooching second cousin and fussiness our adopted Jewish mother. Therefore, mulling over principle robs all the time for principled action. Political maneuvering eliminates policy change.

Larry knows our weakness. Maybe it’s a creative flaw — a design malfunction. Maybe it’s a symptom of general wear and tear. Or, more likely, it’s deterioration in our consciousness.

We have chosen repeating over repenting. Yes, repeat over repent.

After all, spirituality in theory is interesting. On the other hand, spirituality in practice is a festering reminder of our inadequacy. So it’s much easier to believe that Larry extends grace to us, cutting us slack for our shortcomings and allowing us to muddle on in our lives in some sort of bewildered dream cloud. But there is a shocker:

Larry Sees

Even in the moments when we feel like it doesn’t make any difference — those times we think that effort is anal — Larry sees.

It is important to know that we are not alone in our actions. Or perhaps better phrased, our inactions. Because most of the sins of humans are transgressions in omission instead of commission. In other words, we fail most often by delaying, not by prematurely jumping in.

We have trained ourselves to be spectators in our own lives, victims of chance and circumstance, adrift on the seas of fate. Larry disagrees.

The first step to leading a legendary life is realizing that Larry sees, Larry cares and Larry is prepared to reward those souls who dare to become intimately involved in their own lives by making quality choices.

For Larry sees in secret. And once we bring our secret life under our own review, we begin to set in motion true empowerment to garner success. And what is that success? Real success comes from deriving soul satisfaction at the end of a well-thought-out day.

Yes, Larry sees in secret. Not in order to punish, but rather, to alert and bestow benefit upon those folks who become caretakers of their own space.

But how do we override the sensation that some things just really don’t matter?

1. Slow your life down

Take the time to enjoy the time to redeem the time to have the time to create the time to make the time mean more.

And this isn’t just another “stop and smell the roses” speech. This is actively avoiding the horrendous practice of multi-tasking (which is just producing the possibility of multi-erroring) and finding out the unexplored value of the common. For instance, the grocery store is not only stocked with food, but with people, surprises, deals, samples, and conversation for those shoppers who will slow the pace down a bit and take in the whole experience.

The jobsite is not merely the joint where we pick up our paycheck, but rather, a place to rehearse excellence, interact with people who disagree and discover better use of time and energy.

Larry sees — not because he’s nosy, but because Larry knows we are better people when we do more than hit our marks but instead, pace ourselves and enjoy the journey.

2. Notice

We are a visual people needing a vision. There are others trying.

Notice them.

For instance, every morning, Larry and Nature put together a fireworks extravaganza that we glibly call “dawn.” And every night they repeat the process — dusk. Notice.

Notice one thing today that you did not notice yesterday. Then you’ll have three hundred sixty-five things in your bank of discovery at the end of the year — not to mention the interest you have earned from other folks around you.

3. Acknowledge

There are people who are trying to be involved with others by being more attentive to their own life. Acknowledge when you see them already doing what you want to do. Acknowledge courtesy. Acknowledge excellence. Acknowledge tenderness. Acknowledge awareness. Acknowledge when someone has pursued something further than expected.

There are people who have figured out that Larry is watching.

The instant we contend that there are no caring people, someone will crop up in our midst and do something really delightfully human — human in the sense of how we were intended to be. Surprise!

What is the purpose of possessing the greatest brainpower on the planet and using it to stumble through a series of repetitive chores?

What is the value of having a capacity to love at a fevered intensity and yawn our way through a bunch of boring relationships?

To live a legendary existence means we must live as if we understand that we are seen — even in our secret moments.

Larry isn’t trying to condemn us, but rather, motivate us to become keepers of our own destiny.

Larry is watching because he gives a damn–and he hopes that we can learn to feel the same way.