When we welcome a new life to this world, we can’t help but be in awe of the miraculous birth of the tiny precious being. There is something sacred about a newborn—purity, innocence, and raw beauty.
When we say goodbye to a loved one who passed on, we fall silent in the face of death’s finality. There is something sacred about a soul departed—peaceful, dignified, and surrendered.
Between our existence defining moments of birth and death, we consider most things ordinary, part of living—nothing sacred about that.
But that may not be the case. Let me share a simple example with you.
In the evening, my partner and I perform a series of neck stretches. The time and pace varies from day to day, but it’s a 5 minute routine that on the surface appears mundane.
Lately I’ve been thinking: How many people out of the billions alive today are doing what we’re doing? What are the chances of them doing the same moves, in the same sequence, at the same time?
Even if they did all of that, which is highly unlikely, they can’t be in the same place, wearing the same clothes, thinking the same thoughts.
No one is doing what I’m doing in this moment, the same way, under the same circumstances.
This means life is experiencing this moment through me in a very different way from anyone else.
On the surface, most actions look the same—walking, stretching, going to the bathroom, eating, or breathing—and the thing that we once thought was amazing (think of a toddler trying to walk for the first time), loses its luster and feels normal.
But there is nothing ordinary about anything we do.
Everything is sacred if we realize that we’re the only ones doing it—our time, our effort, our way.
This expression of life happens only once, and then it’s gone.
Every act, thought, or feeling manifests only once. It’s born, and then it’s gone. One of a kind experience for all of life. What’s not sacred about that?
The word sacred originated from devotion. We can consider everything we do and experience as a form of devotion to life.
Dedicated to a purpose: Our sole purpose in this existence is to live and express ourselves in each and every moment, as long as we’re alive.
Regarded with reverence: Each fleeting moment—with its thoughts, feelings, and actions—is worthy of awe and respect.
Secured against violation: The mere fact that something is taking place is proof enough that life honors it and allows it to be.
We take most of life for granted. But when we stop and look at it with reverence, we see the unique, delicate, and transient beauty.
All of life is moving through each one of us in a unique way that doesn’t happen twice ever again.
And each act and countless variations fall within the realm of possibility waiting to take shape. We are the expressers of possibility.
We are the paint colors playing on the canvas of creation. We are the musical notes dancing to the rhythm of the universe.
We are the vehicles of this creation, and we are doing it one act at a time.
When we see life from this perspective, we realize that what we do matters to life, even if doesn’t have any meaning.
There is no need to look for meaning behind the passing motions of life. They’re happening for the sake of happening. And we’re the ones making them happen.
Teeth to be brushed, hair to be combed, floors to be cleaned, bowels to be emptied, garbage to be collected, places to go, people to see, things to talk about, things to be angry about, things to feel passionate about, things to abhor, time to play, time to rest, and maybe time to waste.
In the larger scheme of life there is no waste—only transformation. There is no right way or wrong way of doing something—there is doing. And there is no right or wrong way of feeling or being either.
A job done well, or a job done poorly, focused and distracted action, rushing or meandering, elegant or disheveled appearance, feeling relaxed or stressed. All sacred.
Appreciate yourself for everything that you’re doing for life.
Everything you do may not matter on the surface, but it is part of the universe having a one of a kind moment.
I invite you today to see your life differently. Look at everything you do as part of life’s mission.
You are life expressing life with every breath, smile, tear, and gesture. Life lives and experiences its sacredness through you in each moment, when you’re awake, when you’re asleep, and in your dreams.
You are life and life is you—sacred, one of a kind, and worthy of all the love, respect and appreciation of the universe.