We couldn’t say it any better than this wonderful quote “when you know how to listen everyone is the guru” from Ram Dass. This is to say that you can if you truly open your ears can hear wisdom from every interaction you have.

This quote comes from the movie The Shawshank Redemption featuring Morgan and Tim Robbins which was written by Stephen King. It is an impactful and inspiring moment that reminds us to hold tight onto hope even when it hurts as that keeps us alive and can bring us to the other side of suffering.

What It Means

Whether you have seen the movie, read the book, or neither, learning the full weight that can be deciphered from this quote can help inspire you to become an active participant in your own life. This movie has the ability to be related to all of our lives.

To frame the setting of this quote let us explain the context it was used. Andy Dufresne, Tim Robbin’s character, was incorrectly given multiple life sentences for killing his wife and her lover. He lands in harsh prison conditions with Red, Morgan Freemans character.

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In one scene Andy sits with Red after the two become friends and Andy dreams of being free. Red states that it could be dangerous to hold hope around starting a new life when it really doesn’t seem to be a possibility.

To this worry Andy replies “I guess it comes down to a simple choice really, get busy living, or get busy dying”. This statement is a perspective and Andy’s situation can be related to all of us whether this is a metaphorical prison, a place in our life we feel stagnant, or where we may be consumed with doubt.

It speaks of overcoming what we perceive as impossible by daring to dream, daring to be vulnerable in hope, and daring to actively participate in life. Andy makes positive changes within the prison system and maintains a positive and focused outlook on escaping to Mexico.

In some words this quote means go for it. You are only alive for a short time and if you are not actively living you might as well get busy dying. This applies to even the longterm tasks that require dedication even amongst a drought of results.

This hope is a form of delayed gratification that Tony Robbins teaches to help people create lasting and impactful change.

The options are to courageously live or actively surrender to death. Though it may feel comfortable to try to reside within the middle ground of not taking action there is actually not an in-between to these two options that we may have previously thought there was.

To be alive you have to actively act on living. It means creating things for the future rather than giving up imagination, hope, or even understanding that more can come into your life. For instance, if you do not think you have a future to create for then you are not living anymore and you have become busy with dying.

There Is Power In Your Imagination

Never stop dreaming. For one Neville Goddard teaches that our imagination is not just the one-dimensional child’s toy we have been conditioned to think. From his deeply analyzed philosophical perspective the imagination is the same as reality when it comes down to it.

When we allow ourselves to tap into our imaginative potential and fully live it out mentally, with our dedication to believing it we can utilize the power of the law of attraction to manifest anything. Using our imagination keeps us fully and wonderfully alive. You can learn more about how our imagination creates reality right here.