Life is the ultimate teacher, but it is usually through experience and not scientific research that we discover its deepest lessons. A certain percentage of those who have survived near-death experiences speak of a common insight which afforded a glimpse of life’s basic lesson plan. We are all here for a single purpose: to grow in wisdom and to learn to love better. We can do this through losing as well as through winning, by having and by not having, by succeeding or by failing. All we need to do is to show up openhearted for class.
So fulfilling life’s purpose may depend more on how we play than what we were dealt. Jack Kornfield, the Buddhist teacher, describes a spiritual truth he learned at a bingo game he attended with his elderly parents in Florida. There on the wall, in huge letters, was a sign reminding the players, You Have to Be Present to Win.
In Kitchen Table Wisdom by Rachel Naomi Remen