The other day I was standing at the elevator at my mother's old age home, working on my phone, busy with WhatsApp, and suddenly I wonder why the elevator does not show up. It is often broken, and it was my first idea that something is wrong. To my surprise I realized, I never pushed the button to, as the Dutch say, order the elevator.
People ask me the question based on my thoughts: "what part of life is work you need to do and when does the hand of God or the "universe" play a role in one's life?" People think for some reason that I often say that a person must accept and live life, as if to mean that you just have to go and everything is done for you automatically.
The example of the lift is exactly how I imagine how life works. I'm not an engineer, but I know that the elevator works with electric motors that controls counterweights or hydraulics, moving the lift up and down. It is very convenient, especially if you are sick or old, and much better when you have luggage or a cart of groceries. It is much better than climbing stairs, and much less tiring.
My children usually runs to lift the button, and then we also have a ranking of who's turn it is to push the buttons inside on the console. I think it's great feeling for them to be so "in control" of this great machine. You are totally in control of where you want to get off, but unfortunately you can not control how many floors there is and where the elevator will stop. You do not always have control over who is with you in the elevator, who will climb in or get out. One thing is for sure, as I have this morning found out, nothing will happen if you do not order the lift, or when you're inside, the floor number button.
This example of the elevator for me is exactly an example of what I think of life. No one knows exactly who planned the lift or decided to put it in the building that you are using. When was the last time you looked at the make if the lift? Sometimes we are so busy trying to unravel how and who made the elevator, we never realize that we may use it, irrespective who made the elevator. When have you ever "googled" the elevator manufacturers, OTIS or SHINDLER?
The elevator is there for your convenience, as life is made for you and me to enjoy. There are numerous opportunities and options and choices that we have in our elevator-life. Sometimes I see people completely out of balance, or who stand outside and wonder why the elevator never to stops them or get in and never make a contribution and decide where they want to go. Their lives feel aimless, because all they do is aimlessly traveling based on other people's choices. They are aimless passengers, day in and day out up and down along with others, and for fleeting moments when the elevator opens, they peep out to see how other people's lives and floors looks like.
I have experienced many people who never in their lives achieved anything, and they criticize the "lift" because it doesn't instinctively know where to stop and it doesn't open for them on the floor of their choice. Sometimes I feel like we are dealing with God as if everything just happens automatically, as if we are like puppets on a string. God is there to support us, just as the elevator's hydraulic cables. God gives us incredible opportunities and numerous floors to disembark, you have free will. You can decide if you want to get on the elevator, ascending or descending, and want to participate in life, or not. You can decide on which floor you want to get out, knowing that the lift will always be available to take you to a different floor, if you choose.
The elevator is not just for your sole use. There is and will always be people who share it with you. Sometimes you have to wait for the elevator, or let the people around you make their own decisions about which floor to get off. Sometimes we want to force God, and others in our selfish lives, to do things just as we want. We are like little children in the corner sitting and whining because things do not work out for US, ag shame! The people with you in the elevator of your life have their own rights as well, it is not all about YOU! Sometimes, like with an elevator you have to be patient, you will be on the floor of your choice eventually, maybe not immediately, but in time. Everyone gets out at the floor they have chosen. Perhaps you may be surprised by a floor where the elevator opens for somebody else, creating options and opportunities that you had never thought of before.
A comedian tells the story of the lift and comical reference to the actions of other people. He said he found it strange that some people never trusts your "button-pushing-skill". They come, and although you have pressed the button, pushes it over and over again, as if they think that the elevator thereby realizing he now has to react faster, as there is an important person who wants it NOW. We all know that feeling within us that can not wait, but life just as the elevator takes it's time. None of us is so important that the elevator is JUST for us. Patience and cooperation is the answer, knowing that other people have just as much right to life as YOU.
Patience is obviously one thing that we all, with ourselves, with our fellow man and with God's have to learn. As everyone in the lift do reach their destination of choice, we must have faith that our lives will also reach it's destination. Your role is to dream, to be part and push buttons.
Psychologically people in the elevator are insecure. This is a limited space, and people usually stand and watch for the outcome by staring at the numbers where the lift is at that moment. We are sometimes so focussed on our goal, that we forget the journey. We forget the people we are with and sometimes forget to participate. In my mother's old age home's elevator I see that sometimes people would talk so much and be so involved with each other, they should be reminded that they have reached their floor. Sometimes we are so busy with our own things that we forget to be polite and civilized with each other, and sometimes we need to realize that it's that interaction with each other that makes the journey shorter, faster and more enjoyable. Sometimes we are ontly focussed on "control" and "management" and "objective", and sometimes forget just to live. This does not mean that you have to aimlessly ride along all day and wait for miracles, it just means that you should press your button, but while you are not there yet, enjoy the company and the journey.
Sometimes, maybe most of the time, we are unsure of the choices we need to make. We are not entirely sure which button to push to get to our destiny in life, but fortunately, there are always people we can as. Sometimes we are too proud to ask for help, as we do not want to seem "incompetent". We walk into the elevator with pride and with attitude we press the button of any floor, just not to seem as if we don't know what is going on. A few weeks back I looked at Youtube video-presentation of TED, which deals with the art of asking. The presenter, Amanda Palmer, tells of her first job on the streets as an statue. She got dressed up and stood still like a statue with a cup in front of her, asking for donations. She is a musician, and has used this art of asking with her band.
Whenever they went on a tour, she would ASK fans for a place to stay, lunch, dinner and transport. To her surprise, everywhere they go they find all these things. Later, they decided not to sell records, but after their gig, the band would walk around with hats and asked for money. They actually made more money doing this, than actually selling their records. The moral of her story is that we should never be ashamed of asking, but this is a skill that you acquire, after you have let go of your pride.
Usually pride in life and the elevator is replaced by humiliation, as you will seem to be somebody that has NO clue on where they are going. Ask for help and and ask directions, and never think that someone is not "qualified" enough to be of help to you. The Buddha also asked for help, and that of an elephant. All the great thinkers still read other people's works, analyzing others' studies and sometimes employ advisors to help them. Remember, everyone has a grasp of the truth, the problem comes in when you think you have all the answers. Eric Hoffer said: "In times of change, Learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully Equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists."
An elevator is also designed so that you never really "alone". There is an "alarm" button and a two-way communication if you get stuck or if there is an emergency. Perhaps the elevator's two-way radio is not always manned, but in life we know that God is always available, in good times and in bad times. You are never alone, everything is possible, all the floors are open for your benefit.
Go order your lift today, do not stand and wait while your life to pass.
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