Life is not a story

The philosopher John Gray wrote this:

'If you think of your life as a story, you will be tempted to write it to the end. But you do not know how your life will end, or what will happen before it does. It would be better to throw the script away. The unwritten life is more worth living than any story you can invent.'

Gray suggests that '......seeking after meaning is like the quest for happiness, a distraction. The meaning of life is a touch, a scent, which comes by chance and is gone before you know it.'

When we find time to be still, to watch our own thoughts, we see clearly that much of our existence is spent not with real life, what is really here, but with the story that is running in our head. This is what causes most of our troubles, anxieties and dissatisfaction. We are caught up in the story rather than just being with what is here.

Gray's words were published in 2011, but they echo the words attributed to Lao Tzu, the ancient Chinese philosopher ( usually dated 6thC BC), 'A good traveller has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.'

Life becomes far more interesting, flexible and joyful when we step out of the movie we create and just live, day by day, moment by moment.