“And the seasons they go round and round
And the painted ponies go up and down
We’re captive on the carousel of time
We can’t return we can only look behind
From where we came
And go round and round and round
In the circle game”

Are we captured on the carousel of time—experiencing fleeting moments of joy, suffering and some pain along the way—thrilling to victory one day, reeling in defeat the next—until we finally take that one last ride—when the painted pony goes up and comes down for the final time?

Birth—And Death?

It appears we are born and we die. In the meanwhile we exist—only God or the Universal Mind knows for how long—some mystics say we choose our birth and eventual death. Some Buddhists believe as long as karmic issues aren’t resolved we are caught on the wheel of birth and death. Others say that death is an illusion—we are eternal beings. There are others that state that if death is an illusion—so is birth.

Are we born only to die? I believe there is more to it than this discomforting thought. My meditations allowed me many insights in the nature of existence—and the existence of other worlds—other possibilities. Quantum physicists claim that energy never dies—it is only rearranged or transformed. Madonna sings about being a “Material Girl” and she is no doubt having fun—but the truth is that we are energy. Still, I can’t supply you anything definite about what happens after we ride the final cycle.

Life—The Cycles of Youth

Many people wish they were captured on a carousel rather than running the treadmill they are enslaved on. If only they could jump off safely and live the life that resides in the recesses of their minds. Once during the times of their youth they had dreams and believed their fantasies would be their reality. They knew they would experience their most sublime desires—not realizing that other urgencies and commitments would relegate these to the unattainable. If only they could return to the time when they sometimes lived in their dreams and fantasies and believed these had substance—that they would manifest in their lives. But they can’t return—they can only look back. Maybe if they could see through the eyes of a child again—the child they once were.

Even though the child is captured on the carousel of time he doesn’t look back with regret or live with fear of the future. Now is all that matters. All the child’s fun, fears and learning experiences are happening now.

On a warm summer’s day a boy sits at the bank of the stream, lazily casting his hopes for a catch—not worrying about a thing. At the same time a young girl could be playing house—arranging all her dolls, doll clothes, toy furniture, props, etc. into her fantasy of the happy family. She doesn’t see this as an event that takes place when she grows up—it is happening now. It is a current event.

Do you remember the time only the moment mattered? Life was a series of moments—experienced and savored one at a time. The painted ponies kept going up and down. Another cycle is completed. It was the New Year—a new year of hope and of exciting experiences. It was your first boyfriend, your first kiss, the time you matured enough to make love for the first time.

Are you experiencing remembrances of your senior prom—when you clumsily pinned a corsage on your date—a blossoming young woman who took your breath away? How about the cool fall evening at the Friday night football game when you sat in the bleachers and snuggled up to your date for warmth—and companionship. Sometimes you cared if your school won the game or not—and you cheered until you were overcome with hoarseness. Other times you were too enthralled by the exciting boy or girl next to you. You embraced the cycle of life. We always will have these moments to remember.

The Cycle Becomes a Treadmill

The day you took your wedding vows. A new era was beginning. The painted ponies were going up and down—up and down in pleasure and delight. You marriage begins with fervent hope for the future—for everlasting happiness and love. Your new job and subsequent promotion. A child is born. Your first home—a starter house but cherished just the same.

Then something happened. You can’t pin the exact time it occurred. Maybe it was gradual. You suddenly realize it’s been a long time since you heard the music of the carousel and rode the painted ponies—in fact you can’t remember the last time you ran and jumped on the carousel with anticipation of a joyous experience.. You are now on a treadmill—and endless cycle of walking and running—and it never ends. The days, weeks, months and years go by as before—you swear they are actually going faster than before. Some of your hopes and dreams came true and you have fond memories of some of them—others seem as if they were empty desires—desires without substance or credibility. If only you had conceived your dreams and desires with wisdom.

Many of your dreams and desires have vanished—vanished before they had an opportunity to manifest. Where did they go? You lament “Why did they leave me stranded in my suffering and despair? Is there a way to bring them back—to be rescued from a life that is less than it could be?”

Chained to the Treadmill of Despair

A time may arrive in a person’s life when he or she discovers that they are living a life of many illusions—“looking through a glass, darkly.” Why else would life seem like a never-ending run on the treadmill of pain, suffering and frustration? The individual believes he is unable to jump off and if he could—he lacks the energy and motivation to do so.

Once an individual abandons his dreams, desires and fantasies—he relinquishes his power. The subsequent feeling of emptiness causes him to look outside of himself in order to regain what he has lost. And what does he find? He finds that he is now controlled by the illusory power of others. He escapes in hours upon hours of television—which quickly becomes his new master. He adopts second hand values—that he can no longer distinguish from the values he once held. He allows other to do his thinking and supply him with their pseudo-philosophy. Finally he is permanently chained to the treadmill of his despair. At least he believes he is. Can he ever awaken from his self-defeating nightmare?

The Rescue – Riding the Glorious Heights of the Cycle

Fortunately some do wake-up and realize they have been sleepwalking or walking around blind. They happily discover that they didn’t permanently relinquish their power—in fact they still possess it. It resides within who they are. They finally see reality for what it is. Their eyes brighten up and their spirit soars.

They get off the treadmill—once again jump on the carousel and mount the painted pony. Yes, the painted pony still goes up and down—but they realize it is taking them to a glorious future—the future that they had so often dreamed and wished for during their youth. The fact that their beloved painted pony will ride the final cycle and go up and down for the last time no longer causes fear, uncertainty and despair. They realize that the final cycle in this life is actually the beginning of a series of new cycles in an even more glorious existence.

The scratch on the car.
The dog poo on your shoe.
The delayed mail you were expecting.

Whenever you stop and ask yourself “how did that happen?”, you may be completely correct in your initial assumptions. Maybe you were getting too attached the car and wanted it to look so nice that you manifested a scratch.

You could be correct. Then again, you might be no where near the truth of it.

By placing your attention on the “how’s” and “why’s” you’re just giving more attention to the unwanted thing. When you give something your focus and attention for long periods of time, you’re going to manifest more of what you’re thinking about.

Instead of getting yourself all worked up by the unwanted circumstance, remove your attention from it and be OK with whatever has happened. If you observe anyone’s life, be it a Zen master, a Law of Attraction guru or just your next door neighbor, you will quickly see that everyone, regardless of who they are, experience unwanted circumstances.

When you truly realize that no one lives a so called ‘perfect’ life, you can more easily let go of the bad things and start to see it as what life deals you. Life will constantly deal you all sorts of hands. Usually when bad things are happening, they happen to help you grow and to become more consciously aware. So in actual fact, you can begin to see all of these negatives as positives in the long run.

Once you’ve gotten yourself to the place where it doesn’t matter whether you attract something unwanted or not, that is when you will begin truly living a life worth living.

Here’s a couple of additional ways in which you can practice letting go of the “why’s” when something unwanted happens to you next time…

Become Present – Live your life in this moment and not the past. It’s easier said than done, but if you take a second to think about it, NOW is all you ever have. Yesterday and tomorrow do not exist. The only thing that exists is… right now. Right now is all that will ever exist.

Take your attention away from the past (what has happened) or the future (what will happen) and place your attention on NOW. When you live in the present, you have no use for thoughts that are in the past. So the question “why did that manifest?” won’t even be of any significance to you since you’re living in the present and not the past.

Observe Something Wanted – As I mentioned earlier in this article, by giving your attention to something UNWANTED, you will begin to attract more of it. One of the best ways to forget about unwanted things and to remove your attention from the unwanted things is to simply look at something you DO want or something you DO enjoy.

So in the example that your car got scratched, instead of focusing on the scratch, go inside the car where you can’t see it and enjoy the inner surroundings of the car. Take it for a drive and enjoy the feelings you get from driving your car. Do whatever it takes to remove your attention from it (usually means separating yourself from the incident) and bring your attention to wanted things that you enjoy.

#1 Diet

Some people just ignore the importance of their diet and base their diet on chips, chips and more chips! An unhealthy and unbalanced diet will just make your mind and body suffer. A good diet will allow good circulation in the body hence, allowing the memory to register past and present information quickly. At the same time, do remember to include a good dosage of exercises to top up with all the dieting. Exercising will help to keep the memory fresh and at the same time rejuvenating the body. Also, do note of some of the healthy foods like blueberries, spinach and broccoli, that can help to save you and your memory.

#2 Lack of activity

When you are not particularly an active person, then chances are you are going to be mentally weak too. This hence pose as a challenge for you as now you will find it harder to process information fast. As the matter of fact, if you keep on with this unhealthy habit, then chances are you are going to suffer from memory loss at a very young age. What you can do is to practice some mind exercises that involves some kind of brainstorming and thinking along the way. You can also make your memory work by trying out new things for example, learning a new instrument or learning a new language.

#3 Lack of thinking

Thinking is not a very hard process. Everyone can think, but it is just that some might lack the ability to think effectively. Just like when you carry weights consistently, you will find that your body gets toned up over time. The similar analogy applies to the brain. When the brain is able to do some work, it gets worked up and healthy. This is why students are encouraged to do lots of brainstorming session so as to make their brain work and hence strengthening the power of the memory.

#4 Old age

Memory loss usually happens due to old age. The true scientific explanation regarding old age memory loss is not known but some have speculated that the brain cells decrease over time and hence effecting these older generations as they continue to age. Others said that our brain cells are not communicating very well and hence memory and other information cannot be stored effectively. Be it short term memory loss or Alzheimer’s disease, suffering from memory loss can be heartbreaking news for some.

It is time for you to use this as a guide and don’t let the memory loss stop you; instead it is YOU who should stop the memory loss.