Every Experience is Worth Going Through

Do you feel motivated to experience life to the fullest extent possible? Do  you feel you need to do more in life?

Many people have a list of great things to do, and they desperately chase these things, but I see that I don't need to buy a new car or get a prestigious job. I want to have great experiences because when I stopped my consumption habit and came out of this vortex to achieve these things, this became my mindset. I was reading books about the philosophy and personal development that inspired me to live in a different way.

Millions of people around the world have decided to leave traditional beliefs and have chosen to live differently. They may want to travel around the world, enjoy the company of others, hike in the mountains, and experience unique experiences. We seek experiences, but we lose the experience of real life.

Experiences are desires:

When you try hard to experience something special in life, you're actually chasing your desires without being aware of them. I realized this when I started to reflect more. I noticed that many of my ideas were about certain things that I wanted to do, and I thought this was the point of living in the present, that is enjoying things in a more profound way. So, I thought about activities that I could do with people in my life or alone. For example, I wanted to move to Spain because I thought I would have many different experiences there, but this is just a desire.

Michael Singer talks about this concept in The Untethered Soul: “You have to understand that your attempt to have special life experiences makes you miss the real life experience; Life is not something you get, but it's something you experience.”

The funny thing is that when you try hard to get special experiences in life, you miss out on everything that's right in front of you. Life isn't about the things you get, but it's something you experience regardless of what you do, which means that every experience is worth it, whether it's something you want to try or not.

The importance of meditation practice:

William Irvine, author of A Guide to the Good Life, created an audio series on Stoic Reflections in The Waking Up. In one session, he talked about how Stoics practiced a kind of meditation called “last time meditation” to make the most of their experiences. The goal of this type of meditation is not to seek better experiences, but rather to enjoy more of your experiences regardless of what they are.

In the small things you do during the day, imagine that it's the last time you experience this thing that you do. When you drink a cup of coffee, imagine that this is the last time in your life that you drink coffee, and after your last cup, the beans will disappear from the planet, or when you have dinner with your parents, imagine that this is your last dinner with them, and after this dinner, your parents won't be with you, and you can do it for almost anything.

Change is optional:

Our quest for change stands in the way of living a happy life as well. We often want to change our surroundings because we do not like them, and there is no problem in trying to change your life, but it will turn into a problem if this is the only thing you want. If you are constantly thinking about changing your job, your home, your partner, your friends, your car, etc., you will become anxious.

Instead, look at change as an option, and be convinced of your current life, but if you can change, it's going to be great, and that way you're good at any life experience. It's a beautiful way to live because no matter what happens, you'll be happy and satisfied.