Ffolkes,
With a smile, a whistle, and a joyful heart, the day begins…..
“Everything that has a beginning has an ending. Make your peace with that and all will be well.” — Buddha
Living in today’s complex culture gets to be pretty stressful and frustrating. The more we do, the more it seems there is more to do. Bombarded on every side with demands, duties, expectations, and a myriad of “it’ll just take a minute of your time” favors for friends, we end up with no time left for ourselves. I recall the days when I had a wife, two small children, a mortgage, car payments, and two full-time jobs; I became the Master of the Nine-Minute Nap, and spent each day chasing my tail to try to keep up with all there was to do. And that feeling, of being hemmed in and having no time for anything except more work, is pretty common to much of our society. The complexity of what is needed just to survive these days has men and women scrambling and scratching to make ends meet, leaving little time for relaxation or much-needed recreational activities.
Is there a solution to this problem, common to so many? Yes there is….it is really very simple, and revolves around one little word that a lot of folks have trouble saying, or meaning. We all learned this word at the age of 2, or thereabout, and have used it with varying effect ever since. Naturally, the word is “No”. That’s correct, “No”. Nothing else is needed, or even desirable, when confronted with yet another demand for assistance from a “friend”, or another pile of work from a boss, or another fundraiser. As long as it is delivered in a voice that carries authority, it needs no other help to rescue those stolen moments. Nancy Reagan had the correct slogan, Just say No!, but tried to apply it to an area of society that just laughs at such puerile nonsense.
When applied to one’s own self, however, it becomes an invincible shield, protecting you from yet another waste of your time on other people’s behalf. Time is precious enough for us; we are mortal, and have only a finite amount of minutes here on this plane of existence. We each need to learn to protect those minutes, and keep them for use in service to our own goals and aspirations, instead of everybody else’s. You’ll be amazed at how much time you actually do have……
If I had thought thou couldst have died,
I might not weep for thee;
But I forgot, when by thy side,
That thou couldst mortal be.
— Charles Wolfe (1791-1823)
— To Mary
This little gem was another instance of serendipity. I was looking for a specific piece of information, and came across this in my search. I love that feeling, of getting a free gift from the universe. And when it is produced by something like this, that good feeling gets re-created at every reading. What I like about this one is the depth and breadth of the ideas being expressed, and how a few little words in the proper order can create in one’s mind an image that is richer and more detailed than could be surmised from just the words alone. Two little couplets strung together are enough to bring back the feelings one has when in the midst of infatuation, that first blush of love when the entire world assumes a compelling dream-like quality, and every sunrise is cause for joy. In this state, the mind is focused only on the object of desire, and any other perceptions are ignored, swept away from consciousness as if totally unimportant. It’s a very passionate time of life, and I find this little poem to be a truly exquisite conveyance back to those times……”There is no happiness like mine. I have been eating poetry.” — Mark Strand
Happiness is a state of mind. Not happy? Change your mind.
When I was in my teens, many, many moons ago, I read a book that is part of the sacred writings of Hinduism; it is titled, “The Bhagavad Gita. In the book, a young prince named Arjuna was entering a battle in ancient days in India, riding a chariot. His charioteer is none other than Krishna, the original Hindu god, from which all the others sprang, who then had a conversation with the young prince about life and philosophy. In answer to a question from Arjuna, Krishna replies, “All anger arises from obstructed desire. Thus all anger can be controlled, merely by altering the desire.” The concept works for happiness as well…..
What a powerful idea! To be able to control all of our anger with a small attitude change is a tool that every single human child should be given at birth, or at the very least, before they reach the age of reason. Imagine, an entire generation of people able to control and regulate the most passionate parts of their nature, with the power of their mind. Controversy and argument would vanish. War would be a distant memory. And humans would face life without fear, having replaced the passionate but unreliable emotions based on ignorance with a mind free of fear, and of the distraction of emotional turmoil. I can speak from experience to say that I know it is true, and really does work. I still experience anger and emotional turmoil, but it doesn’t last long in the face of reason and knowledge. This concept could very well be the next evolutionary step for our species; changing the way we deal with ourselves internally, rather than trying to modify the world to fit our image very well could be the answer for us. It couldn’t hurt…….
Whew! I could keep on writing on this subject for a long time, but I do have other stuff to do today. This is a good start though, and I may write more on this idea; it’s worth a second look. In the meantime, y’all take care out there……
Sometimes I sits and thinks,
and sometimes
I just sits.
gigoid
Kowabunga!
gigoid 