In the past days, how many times have we run this way and that, expending energy in places that don’t really align with the deepest sense of where we are going?
Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save;
they just stand there shining
Anne Lamott
If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you have a problem.
Everything else is an inconvenience.
Life is an inconvenience.
Learn to separate the inconveniences from the real problems.
You will live longer.
Robert Fulghum, American author and Unitarian Minister,
Uh-Oh: Some Observations from Both Sides of the Refrigerator Door
What will it be for you today?
It could be a meeting, a walk in nature, even just a cup of coffee…
To pay attention and be fully present is the key
Every day has something in
it whose name is forever.
Mary Oliver, Everything That Was Broken
It must be said that things do not always work out as we would like. This teaches us patience and trust.
However, sometimes we get news of reward after long effort that is richly deserved. We don’t expect it, find it hard to believe, and yet – as Heaney says – it is like a gust of wind that can catch “the heart off guard and blow it open”. This teaches us the unforced nature of joy:
Work. Keep digging your well.
Don’t think about giving up from work.
Water is there somewhere.
Keep knocking, and the joy inside
will eventually open a window
and look out to see who’s there.
Rumi
Gorgeous amazing things come into our lives when we are paying attention:
Mangoes, Grandchildren, Bach, ponds…
This happens more often when we have as little expectation as possible.
If you say, “Well, that’s pretty much what I thought I’d see,” you are in trouble. At that point you have to ask yourself why you are even here.
[…] Astonishing material and revelation appear in our lives all the time. Let it be. Unto us, so much is given. We just have to be open for business.
Anne Lamott, Help Thanks Wow: Three Essential Prayers
photo: laitche
If you find yourself doubting or hesitating today…
The next time you encounter fear, consider yourself lucky. This is where the courage comes in. Usually we think that brave people have no fear. The truth is that they are intimate with fear. When I was first married, my husband said I was one of the bravest people he knew. When I asked him why, he said because I was a complete coward but went ahead and did things anyhow.
Pema Chodron, When Things Fall Apart
photo dwight sipler
