Simply Surviving, Existing or Actually Living? Your Choice!
Many of you will know I live in the country, it's a small country town on the edge of the Great Australian Bight. Some might consider it remote. There are no stoplights and not many people; we feel put out if there is another person on the beach when you go to walk your dog :)
Well I am in the city for a few days for meetings with my JOB. I don't like it much here.
Everything is grey and the buildings create long morbid shadows. The people are busy, they rush from one place to the next in a state of perpetual motion. They don't slow down to acknowledge you as you pass and they have a vacant look in their eyes.
One wonders if they are simply surviving, existing or actually living.
And yet in the midst of this gloom some living things make a life.
I saw this gorgeous plant plonked unceremoniously in a dark lane way. It's will to survive in the concrete jungle made me smile.
Seemingly against the odds it has produced new shoots on what looks like an old dead trunk. Only the meres glimpse of sunlight can be seen to sustain it, and yet it pushes on.
Across the road a flock of pigeons scavenges in the gutter.
We call them the "rats of the sky"
here in Australia. I'm not sure if that's an Aussie term or worldwide.
Pigeons co-existing in the cities. They have adapted and no longer startle at the noisy buses or the crowds of people on the footpaths who rush past. In fact if your not careful you can tread on them they are that blase about people.
The ones I saw were plump and healthy.
But are they simply surviving, existing or actually living?
Many of us end up here at WA because we want to do more with our lives than to simply survive or exist. We want to start living.
There are sometimes many setbacks. Some find it hard to pay, some find it hard to make time, some struggle with the training. And yet we continue in the face of these adversities because we want more for ourselves and our families.
So if you are finding it a little tough at the moment remember the delicate plant making its way in the concrete jungle or the happy flock of pigeons making a life for themselves against the odds.
We all have it within ourselves to be more, have more, do more. Remember why you started and fix your eyes firmly on the end goal because to quit would relegate us to continuing to simply survive, and I don't know about you, but I really want to be living.
Recent Comments
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It is great to hear your interpretation of city life Heidi. I have lived in cities and willingly admit I don't like it much.
Now, I live in a seaside town so the summers are busy with people relaxing and in the winter we go along at our own pace.
Derek
I use to really want to live in the city, but I think as I age it just seems like too much hustle and bustle. There seems to be no peace and quiet, everything is loud.
Even now inside my hotel room I can hear the emergency services sirens and the cars down below.
Your seaside town sounds like the place for me.
Beautifully written Heidi and, by the way, rats of the sky are known as "Ratten der Lüfte" here in Germany = rats of the air.
The lonely beach and the walk there, no traffic lights compared to us city dwellers running from one appointment to the next yes, survival does come to mind and often feels like it, hence being here at WA with plans to change all this beetling around hopefully in the near future :) Inspiring - thank you
Ahh that's great, thank you for sharing about the rats of the air, I have learnt something.
There are so many flocks of them here, small groups of 5 - 10 waddling around on the ground, you actually very rarely see them fly lol. They are too busy scavenging from the pavement.
Here's too less beetling for all of us :)
Cities can have that vibrancy, people, plants, birds, and animals just doing their thing to survive, in that constant state of flux. Enjoyed reading your post, Heidi, thank you for the observations.
It's mid-winter here Alex, and the last two days that I have been here in the city have been cold, dark and wet.
It is a little bit the city with all of its manmade structures, bitumen and concrete that makes it gloomy to me but also I have to say the weather doesn't help :)
Looking forward to getting back to the open spaces and fresh air.
Brilliant work Heidi. An awakening call in the fog that surrounds our daily lives to remain focus on the course we've embarked fora great reward awaits us at the destination.
Indeed the reward does await, and we simply need to stay the course and no matter how slowly we progress we can make it.
Thanks for your comment.
I am barely surviving, and definitely NOT LIVING!( unless you count living to work ) because I work 2 jobs no social life whats so ever.
I am starting to believe I just do not have it in me to be more or have more.
I’m sorry. I find the more I read the I get enthusiastic but building a dream in my niche dream to success with writing
JonathanAll1 , so did I , ..10 yeas ago when I first started trying to learn Affiliate Marketing and failing the enthusiasm has faded .
I am truly saddened to read your post. I know you do have it in you, every living being can improve their lot in life.
I am a big fan of Eckhart Tolle and perhaps while you are working on changing your circumstances you could give his stuff a try.
It helps to accept where you are now. There is a lot of it for free on You Tube, and his book The Power of Now is available cheaply as an ebook.
All my fingers and toes are crossed for a breakthrough in your affiliate marketing quest. If I can help in any way please let me know.
Thank you so much for taking the time my bio n blog. I know my circumstances suck but I’m loving my life.
WA would not have happened, if it wasn’t for my accident. I’m getting focus and not giving up.
I will continue building websites, plural, I have several ideas and focusing on main domain, to get it going. There are plenty website in my field. Photography is another giant. Writing or blogging is another.
I’m just going from Facebook to applying my time and effort to WA. I know the only thing that’s going to work is participation and persistence.
Can’t learn without trying and failing. Got to get back up and Thrive !!!...
Jonathan Leslie is my author name, which is reserved website, soon to come.
Signed in Progress
No worries HeidiY , it is what it is .
I do like to watch self help vids and read books on the subject.
I most definitely will look into Eckhart Toile ,
Thanks.
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Great post...and a window into your world that I’ve only seen bits of through the movies. Thank you!
It seems quite surreal to me that I can be smack bang in the middle of the city with all its commotion until Wednesday and by Friday I will be in the bush with my horse where not a sound will be heard.
The extremes seem to really make me appreciate what I have.
Sometimes it’s good to change our comfort zone. It helps us stay balanced. We moved from a small rural area in California to one in Virginia. There’s nothing like it.