Movement, hope, growth, well-being, harmony, balance, productivity, satisfaction, security: our culture loves talking about these aspects of life and how to achieve them. Focus on what YOU want, focus on YOU, it says, and you will have a perfectly balanced and harmonious existence (like those models for yoga clothing). Heaven on earth is something you should expect, not just dream about, it declares. The only problem is that the many roads to happiness found in secular and even religious circles overlook the key step to real joy. They jump to the results without doing the work. You can't get a great body eating chips on the couch. Similarly, you can't experience "life" without first going to the creator of Life.

This rubs us the wrong way though. Every baby is born a little tyrant. Selfishness is normal and natural, and today it is encouraged as babies grow into infantile adults. I am no exception. If my parents hadn't spanked me, I would have been the worst of the "This doesn't work for me" crowd. As a toddler, I was such a pain that my Dad wrote a song which conveys the message I was giving: "I am the center of the universe! I am the purpose of the world! I command you now to worship me, with all your banners unfurled!" Although we laugh about infant tantrums, it is not so funny when adults can't grow out of that mindset.

Although this may shock some, God actually wants us to experience His blessings, but He wants us to choose Him to get there. In Deut. 30, He calls us to, "Choose life, so that you and your descendants may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying Him, and holding fast to Him; for that means life to you and length of days, so that you may live in the land that the Lord swore to give to you're ancestors, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob." This basically trashes the idea that you can be happy and fulfilled without God. He is saying that Life is a result of knowing, loving, and obeying Him. Ok, so what does He mean by obeying Him? A great start is waking up and realizing that OUR lives really belong to Him. To start looking at life through God's "lens." It's hard to be selfish when you aren't just living for yourself. In this piece of scripture, God reminds us that our lives affect those around us. Not just our contemporaries, but also future generations. What we do now could change the outcome of our kids' lives, and their kids' lives. God promises to, "Bless the children of the righteous unto the third and fourth generation." All of us who have had faithful parents can only thank you for making the road easier for us. God's blessing is powerful, and definitely trumps the peace from aromatherapy or meditation.

So who are you living for? Today's world has lots of little gods – everyone an individual deity. Yes, its nice not having to take orders from anyone else but yourself, but then think about it, oh little mini-god, what do you really control? Maybe you do have all the fame, fortune, and health you could desire, but how long does that last? When you are glorifying yourself, your security blanket is effectively ineffective when you are too. Disease hits your tanned and toned frame and suddenly you don't look so hot. The stock market crashes and so does your social calendar. Then what's the point of living? All along your "life" was just about as real as your "sun-kissed" streaked hair color.

With God it's different. The security is real, but so is the pain to get it. Because ultimately, in order to gain life, you have to give it up. What a paradox! It's hard to let God have it all. It's scary, humiliating, and totally unconventional. Choosing life means choosing self-denial. The great irony here is that when you give up your hopes, dreams, desires, God ends up giving you way more in return. He has even better plans in store than those we have right now. So choose life, and choose self-denial. Loose your life, and you will find it. Though yoga sages may have a different plan, this one really works.