Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence,
and I learn, whatever state I may be in,
therein to be content
Helen Keller.
photo berit
Tag: growth
Not sorting things into good and bad
Each day we can encounter setbacks or difficulties, or simply things may happen which we did not expect. And sometimes they can reveal a lot, if they stir up our own mixture of unresolved issues linked to our past. Rather than regarding them as diversions or obstacles on the path, we are encouraged to see them as where we are called to go. The “bad” situation becomes something to be skillfully worked with:
A person who falls to the ground gets back up by using that ground.
To try to get up without relying on that ground would be impossible.
Chinul, 1158–1210,
Zen Master considered to be the most significant influence on the formation of Korean Zen
More about tasting
There is a fundamental paradox here. The less we are attached to life, the more alive we can become. The less we have preferences about life, the more deeply we can experience and participate in life. This is not to say that I don’t prefer raisin toast to blueberry muffins. It is to say that I don’t prefer raisin toast so much that I am unwilling to get out of bed unless I can have raisin toast, or that the absence of raisin toast ruins the whole day. Embracing life may be more about tasting than it is about either raisin toast or blueberry muffins. More about trusting one’s ability to take joy in the newness of the day and what it may bring. More about adventure than having your own way.
Rachel Naomi Remen, Embracing Life
photo SKopp
Setting out
There is a time for departure
even when there’s no certain place to go.
Tennessee Williams, Camino Real
photo MOs810
Following our dreams
What if, on the first sunny day,
on your way to work, a colorful bird
sweeps in front of you down a
street you’ve never heard of.
You might pause and smile,
a sweet beginning to your day.
Or you might step into that street
and realize there are many ways to work.
You might sense the bird knows some-
thing you don’t and wander after.
You might hesitate when the bird
turns down an alley. For now
there is a tension: Is what the
bird knows worth being late?
You might go another block or two,
thinking you can have it both ways.
But soon you arrive at the edge
of all your plans.
The bird circles back for you
and you must decide which
appointment you were
born to keep.
Mark Nepo, The Appointment
photo The Liliac Breasted Roller
How to open up infinite possibilities
When you become comfortable with uncertainty,
infinite possibilities open up in your life…fear is no longer a dominant factor in what you do,
and no longer prevents you from taking action to initiate change
Eckhart Tolle
photo neil ward
Mindfulbalance 