WHAT IF… Your Life Actually DOES Matter?

The Mind Loops Blog – Sept 2020 – This is the first in the “What If “series

The words, “What if…?” are two of the most anxiety-producing words in the English language. We yank out these two simple words whenever we start worrying about something. Where does it lead us? Down the horrendous pit of worst-case-scenarios.

Penn State University conducted research into how many of our worries actually come true: Their findings? 85% of your worries never happen at all! And yet we “What if” ourselves until we’re blue in the face and dark blue in mood. Anxiety, depression and holding our big, juicy dreams hostage are the result.

But that simple phrase can work two ways: Because your future is up for grabs. So let’s turn “What if” on its head and use it to your advantage. This week’s What If:

We all want to matter. And yet, most people’s secret fear is that their lives don’t matter.

Isn’t the “desire to matter” the reason why people crave success or fame, or to be “discovered,” noticed, loved, adored?

Isn’t it why people drive fancy cars, own big diamonds and wear designer clothes?

Isn’t it at least in part why people want to “make a difference” and be “of service”?

Isn’t it why so many keep asking the age-old question: WHAT IS MY PURPOSE?

We want to matter.

But…

WHAT IF your life already matters, by default?

By the simple fact your feet trod on this earth?

And because it’s your creativity that births the children or art or music that only you can birth?

And your lips that express the pithy, satirical comments and honest texts that only you can express?

And your inspiration that builds the mighty, social movements that only you can build?

And your heart that reaches out to a friend in need with love and support that only you in your perfection can provide?

WHAT IF the very air you breathe is specifically designed for YOUR lungs… and the carbon dioxide you exhale is the exact gas that the tree beside you needs to thrive?

WHAT IF you, in your sublime ignorance, spew out the exact angry outburst of words at the exact right time, stabbing that person’s heart in exactly the right way… that they change their future behavior because they now see things from a different point of view?

WHAT IF the time you helped a moth escape from the confines of your tiny, stuffy apartment so it can once again flap its wings in the fresh air… caused a bizarre chain of monumental shifts on the other side of the planet that helped an entire population grow enough food for another year?

It’s so easy to say: “I haven’t done anything fabulous or important. I’m not a genius like Einstein, or talented like Picasso, or innovative like Steve Jobs, or sexy like the guy who played Danny on the Partridge Family. I’m a nobody. Another face in the crowd.”

But WHAT IF that “face in the crowd” – YOUR face – smiled to just the right person at just the right moment… giving that person the will to live on the eve of an intended suicide? And that person later won the Nobel Prize for transforming rotting plastic into water-filtering straws?

YOU MATTER.

But don’t take my word for it. Repeat this mantra this week, and see how it changes your thoughts and actions:

WHAT IF I matter?

WHAT IF my life matters?

I matter. I matter. I matter.

I do.

BARBARA IRELAND
Writer, near-death experiencer, composer, speaker, and lover of life.
Author of the #1 Amazon Kindle Bestseller, How To Stop Negative Thoughts
Contributing author of the #1 Amazon Bestseller, The Transformative Power of Near-Death Experiences

HOW TO STOP NEGATIVE THOUGHTS

BARBARA IRELAND – Best-selling Author, Speaker, Trainer