“The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.”

~ Henry David Thoreau

This image is saying that when you give up a piece of your “life” in order to get something new.  This suggests that when we make choices . . . we are giving something we already have to get something else.  The word “life” is ambiguous.  In fact, it means something different to each of us.

There are an infinite number of possibilities to choose from.  However, we can only make one choice at a time.  Even when we are not giving up something (in order to get something new), we are declining alternative options. 

This image begs the question:  How important is the “thing” you are pursuing compared to that which you already have.  The answer to this question requires that we take stock of our beliefs and values.  To answer this question we need to determine what is really important to us.

To those who find this question difficult . . . here is a little hint that may provide some clarity. 

There is no right or wrong answer to this question.  However the old saying applies “You can’t take it with you”.  We should consider this adage in making answering this. 

The nature of life is “impermanence”.  This means you cannot truly “own” or possess anything that exists outside of yourself (in the shared reality).  You can only experience the situations you perceive in your mind’s eye.  Your circumstances are temporary. They are constantly changing.  Therefore, the things you believe you own are only yours to enjoy while you are living.

In love and light <3

~ David Almeida

Mystic and Author