To say something is “clear as mud” isn’t complimentary. We prefers things to be logical, neat, and linear. The problem is, life doesn’t play according to our rules.
Light is the perfect example and metaphor for life; paradoxically behaving like a wave and particle—sometimes it passes through glass, sometimes it bounces off. Likewise, our rigid rules for life need to be traded in for a flexible approach; less like concrete, more like water.
Here are 7 paradoxical truths to embrace for a meaningful life:
1. To be and to do.
In the blue corner, Benjamin Franklin says “Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing;” in the red corner, Alan Watts says, “The meaning of life is just to be alive. And yet, everybody rushes around in a great panic as if it were necessary to achieve something beyond themselves.”
Both express important aspects of life. Watts is speaking against the rat-race that robs us of the joys of simply being present. Franklin highlights the potential we possess to leave an indelible mark—that great achievements are made by people no different to ourselves.
