“We have two lives, and the second begins when we realise we only have one.”

Confucius

“My participation matters” is an affirmation of the difference one makes in the quality of life. My participation matters is 3 ideas or principles that together make up one overarching principle. And that principle provides a revolutionary context to a meaningful relationship with life; a relationship based on our capacity for Self Authorship.

I have previously called these “forgotten principles”, as our culture as a whole seems to have forgotten them and no longer recognises or values them.

The 3 principles of My participation matters are;

1. Your life is precious and has beautiful potential
2. But, it is also finite; none of us are going to live forever, and this day is finite.

There’s a tension between these 2 ideas; there always is at the heart of life. The only way to reconcile those 2 ideas or principles is to

1. Be a meaningful participant in your life and act as if what you do today matters.

1. Your life is precious

The most important question in life is “what is important to me now?” This principle affirms the value of the person and what is important to them. A commitment to the quality of your life & of life itself. It not only connects us to what is meaningful to us but also calls us to build the capability to bring this into being. Meaning is the “true north” of every moment; its most essential context. This principle is an expression of Meaningful Potential.

2. But your time is finite

Gurdjieff mentions that the ultimate reminding factor ought to be the fact of one’s own death, the remembrance of one’s own death then serving as the present perceived risk which can bring the mentioned shock for self insight and observation. The remembrance of death ought then to serve as the means to stimulate the necessary challenge and demand/need that is required in order to bring the shock for self consciousness.

Belcultassi