September 21, 2020

02

I am sure you have noticed by now
that everything we want
comes with something we don't want attached.

There is no escaping it,
no denying it,
which leaves us with accepting it,
and letting it be
because it is.

There is nothing wrong anywhere in our life
that growing up some more again
won't make better.

Growing up some more again
in this instance
means being able to say a wholehearted "YES!"
to what we want,
AND to what we don't want!

"HELL YES!" To it all--
just as it comes right out of the box.

There is not a scalpel anywhere so sharp
as to allow us to cut out the good
and throw away the bad.
The good and the bad come to us as one thing.
We give up this to get that.
What is good for the lion
is bad for the antelope,
and can be bad for the lion
if the antelope is sick,
or staked out by hunters hiding in the bush.

YES! to it all!

Fran Tarkenton, the NFL quarterback
known for his scrambling ability,
was talking about his career on an ESPN interview.
"I loved it all so much," he said.
"The scrambling around and finding somebody open
for long gains and touchdowns.
And getting tackled for huge losses.
The completions and the incompletions.
The fumbles, and the mud, and the grime.
The penalties, and the missed field goals, and points after touchdowns.
The wins and the losses
and every single aspect of the game.
I miss it so."

That is saying YES! to it all!

Love your life the way Fran Tarkenton loved football! 
All of it!
Every bit of it!
It is passing so fast!
And when it is gone, it's gone!

–0–

01

You don't want to be living your life 
with an agenda in hand
and a schedule at the ready,
with every day being another bout
at implementation.

This is not to be in accord with the Tao.

People who think they know best--
particularly with regard
to how their life ought to be
(and yours)
are highly medicated
just to get through each day.
Or the people who live with them are.

People who are structured to the limit
(If only there were a limit!),
and bound to the task
of imposing their idea
of how things ought to be
on everything and everybody,
are a threat to the possibilities
for life worldwide,
and a danger to themselves 
and others.

Maintain a safe, healthy, distance
between you and them,
and by all means, 
do not marry one!
And if you are one,
take yourself out of circulation immediately!

Trust the world to find its way without you,
and trust yourself to find within
what it takes to meet the disappointments
of each day
without issuing orders,
writing pink slips,
threatening law suits,
or calling up plagues,
droughts,
earthquakes
and floods.

When given an opportunity,
life generally,
and our lives in particular,
are quite capable
of finding the way
winding through all situations
and circumstances
to equilibrium and harmony,
balance and peaceful accord.

They do not flourish under the burdens
of schedules and expectations,
time frames and stop watches.
But do best with their own rhythms
and purposes,
timing and patterns.

The stream finds the sea,
in its own time,
in its own way.