Your Unique Life

Your existence is awe inspiring. You are irreplaceable. You are more than the sum total of all your parts Just dedicate 10 minutes to allow you to reflect and give thanks for the amazing fact of your uniquness. With all your faults you are special. Give thanks.

Transcript

Dear friends,

Welcome to this period of quiet reflection designed to remind you of the unique person you are.

Yes,

You are only one of the seven billion people on earth but understand this for certain,

You are unique and irreplaceable.

An opening thought.

I come into this place on the forming edge of my life,

To resist the headlong tumble into the next moment,

Until I claim for myself awareness and gratitude,

Until I take the time to look out into the great world around me and see in that world a community awaiting my unique person.

So just become aware of your presence in this room at this time.

Close your eyes,

Notice your breath,

Place your hand on your chest,

And just for a few seconds experience a feeling of gratitude for being here,

For just being here,

A feeling of thankfulness for these quiet moments.

Your existence here is something quite remarkable.

As you know,

You are composed of billions upon billions of atoms and subatomic particles which are in the form of atoms and subatomic particles.

As Bill Bryson in his book,

A Brief History of Nearly Everything,

Colourfully describes it,

If someone took a tweezers and removed atom after atom until all your atoms were arranged in a single heap,

He would still be left with a single atom,

Being or conscious,

But which in their previous state of togetherness went to make you who you are,

A living,

Thinking,

Conscious being.

So people are much more than the sum of all the atoms in the universe.

They are not only deeply,

Profoundly thankful.

So let us spend a little while in a state of gratitude for the wonder of this teaching to recall,

Thank you very Next it might be useful to realise that your combination of atoms listening to this and my combination of atoms putting this reflection together are,

Like all people,

Amazingly,

Totally and completely unique.

You are here now.

No one in the whole world is exactly like you.

No one has ever been the same as you.

And no one will ever be just like you.

You are truly a one-off.

No other person has your unique life experience.

No one has your exact talents,

Your skills,

Your feelings.

Your life and your unique existence is quite incredible.

So let's rest a while in thankfulness for the amazing fact of your uniqueness.

Our distinctiveness demonstrates the fact that no one can do exactly what you are able to do.

No other person can make the contribution to society that you are able to make in this short life during which your unique combination of atoms holds together.

This life represents your extraordinary popping into being and your chance to play your distinctive part in the whole history of this amazing universe.

As the late Mary Oliver puts it,

Tell me what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

Give a pause for reflection.

And just think of the combinations of couplings reaching back over centuries,

Over millennia,

Which finally resulted in you being born to your parents.

Any break in that sequence,

Any slight change in timing,

Any different sperm being the force to make contact with any waiting egg,

And someone else would be listening to this meditation,

Not you.

Of course any such change in history on my side would mean that no one would be listening to this particular moment of reflection because just like you I would not be here.

Our presence here is wonderful and to be aware of it is awe inspiring.

With all our faults we are special and with mindfulness we can hopefully minimise the less attractive aspects of our character.

Our closing thought today is from G.

K.

Chesterton.

Here ends another day during which I have had eyes,

Ears,

Hands and the great world around me.

Tomorrow begins another day.

Why am I allowed two?

Why indeed?

Why was I even allowed one?

Now what will I do with this one short amazing life?

Namaste.

Reviews

How can you know exactly what I needed this morning when I didn’t even know myself. Thank you.

Another wonderful meditation experience. Your way with words and your reflections give me so much food for thought. I often share your tracks with others. Thank you!

Bless you Tony. It has always appeared to me that I have no special gifts. … Painting
dancing teaching music etc Nothing to offer in that respect.
Listening to you made me feel that’s ok.
It’s not that that matters although it would be nice.
I don’t know why I suddenly felt that all of that is not important to our spiritual God who is telling us we are unique because a higher being made us so listening within and enjoying the moment, being aware and caring and giving empathy is enough.
Your meditation came through to me
loud and clear. I feel relieved and realise
how much I have been listening to my ego
Things are made clear by the effectiveness of your talks. 🙏😊

A very inspiring reflection for all ages and minutes of the day!

It is amazing how each one of us is different from another! It makes this world so complete!
Thanks again for another beautiful meditation! I especially appreciate the times of reflection! 🙏🏻

Sitting here in tears and gratitude for you Tony and this wonderful meditation. Somehow it slipped by me before. It got me thinking of my family, my kids and grandkids as well. How unique we all are. Even identical twins don’t have the same personalities. No leaves in a tree are completely identical. It’s truly a wonder. I appreciate your ability to voice the awe I feel every day in this beautiful world we have. So much gratitude. Thank you!!
🙏🏽🍂🌺🌿🌳💐🌷⛰🍁🌲🦋🐾🪷🪴🙏🏽

Very inspiring thoughts to begin the day, fostering deeper connection, appreciation and reflection. Thank you 🌟

Oh Tony, thank you thank you for making me really look at myself and see that I AM AMAZING, and BEAUTIFUL.
It’s not something I usually look at but when I did today I could really see how unique and wonderful I am. I been working so hard on myself these last several years but really never looked at myself like I did today. I loved this meditation. Thank you always for you wonderful insight and kindness. I hope you are blessed today and always. 🙏🏻💕

Magnificent! Always reminding us of how truly blessed we are. Blessings, dear Tony. 🙏👼🤗🌺💕

Very calming yet gently motivating. Thank you Tony!

Thank you for sharing this one short amazing life.

Amazingly insightful as always. Namaste 🙏

Another lovely and very thought provoking meditation Tony - definitely one I will revisit often. Thank you once again for sharing your special meditations with us! 🙏❤️

Thank you for this, as always, very very insightful meditation. Really made me think ☺️🙏🏻🕉

Superb! Thanks much 🙏

What a beautiful meditation. You are a wonderfully special collection of atoms, my friend. Namaste 🙏

Lovely! Have always benefited from your meditations and talks.

Good question: What will I do with my one, short amazing life. Always grateful for your meditations, Tony.

Thank you Namaste

A short unique talk from very unique Tony. I'm filled with gratitude for Tony and the quiet times I spend listening to his thoughts and meditations.