September 13, 2020

02

We have to be right about what is important
and live as though it is
in each situation as it arises,
no matter what.

It is never more difficult than that.
It is always that difficult.

In order to pull it off,
we have to be mindfully aware
of what matters most to us
and whether it deserves its rank
in our life.

Are we right about the value
of what we value?

This requires intense self-examination,
objective scrutiny,
ruthless evaluation,
on-going introspection,
seeing what we are seeing,
hearing what we are hearing,
knowing how we are responding,
moment-to-moment-to-moment.
No sleeping at the wheel
for those who think being awake
to being awake
to the time and place of our living
is the most important thing.

–0–

01

I do not know where we go
to find what we are looking for
in terms of the best humanity has to offer.

Where would we have to go to surround ourselves
with kindness, 
grace, 
compassion,
wisdom,
generosity,
forthrightness,
integrity,
sincerity,
humility,
honesty,
truth,
and the rest of the list
we say we admire
and strive to be?

What strata of society
is best representative
of the way 
we say
we are 
supposed to be?

Where would we be
least likely 
to encounter
contrivance,
conniving,
double-dealing,
lying,
greed,
duplicity,
cheating,
and the entire list 
of things
held to be deplorable
and despised?

Or, narrow it down to stupidity.
Where would we go to be free 
of the burden of stupid people--
with stupidity having nothing to do with
the amount of education a person has
or the degree of their intelligence?

Face it.
"We have met the enemy
and they are us!"
(Walt Kelly).

The people who talk the most about
the importance of
"expanding consciousness"
and "being awake to the moment
of our living,"
are as blind to their blind-side
as any other group of people on the planet.

Their arrogance,
hubris,
duplicity
and lack of self-transparency
(For all their talk about being transparent!),
is as high as that of any other 
segment of society.

Where do we go to find 
people like the people we say we want to be?

Do not spend much time 
with this question.
It will only depress you.

Just devote yourself to the life-long work
of being more like you need to be tomorrow
than you are today,
and step into the day!