The universe is a random collection of events and circumstances. Cosmic order amounts to nothing more than settling dust after a lot of chaotic collisions among things seeking equilibrium and homeostasis, like water seeking its own level. We are all like that, seeking our own level, searching for our place, for where we belong, for what we belong doing. We mostly know where we do not belong, what we don't like, and spend a good bit of our time out of sorts because things are not how we wish they were. The forces of destabilization are real and the rest of us have to come to terms with that. There is that which likes to tear things down, blow things up, screw badly with people for the lack of anything better to do. There is no immunity, no protection, no safety... Look at all those old castles lying in ruins. They couldn't maintain their own peace and tranquility. Nothing can. Everyone is looking for something they can count on, for somewhere to turn in time of trouble. The age-old remedy is to become what you seek. Be the rock! By finding your inner foundation. Your fundamental integrity. "The face that was yours before you were born." Your essential/original nature. Your innate virtues/traits/characteristics/character. The unchanging, eternal, everlasting aspects of yourself. What you can count on to be the central truth, truths, of your existence. Start there by being that, consciously, mindfully, deliberately in the way you live your life. Become the anchor! Practice staring things down. Living unflinching. Reacting slowly. Responding intentionally. Diminish your reactivity. Increase your resiliency. Become the bough bending beneath the snow and springing back into place when the burden slides off or melts. Outlast the crap. Be untouched by it by having nothing to gain or lose, nothing at stake, and yet, living with everything on the line, giving your best to each situation as it arises. Master this ongoing, eternal and everlasting contradiction! Living as though you care deeply about the things that need to be cared about while not caring at all about any of it-- crazy as it sounds! It's the life of emergency room personnel. They bust it at their job, and let it go on their way home. To be back at it the next day. You can look at it as faking it, and you can look at it as maintaining your integrity the best way you can. Perspective is the only superpower. Learn to flip yours as needed in order to rise to any occasion, meet all circumstances, and do what needs to be done no matter what. "Singing and dancin' in the rain."
–0–
Jim Dollar's Photography and Philosophy 
One of your recent posts gave me the impetus to ask my Medicare provider how to handle a billing problem I have spent months procrastinating on. The issue turned out to be stunningly simple to resolve — who knew that just meeting a feared issue head on would bring such a sense of relief😉!?
Your posts have made a real world difference to help me deal head on with the many procrastination issues I have faced and I am so grateful to you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am more than glad/happy to pass along what I have received from the Old Taoists who lived with their eyes open 500 + years BCE. Their comprehension of how things are and what that means for us individually is direct and to the point: Seeing clearly and doing what needs to be done is all there is to it. We are not helped with that early on. We stumble our way to it over the course of our life (If we discover it at all). There is too much noise and mis-direction, false “information,” in our culture, in the cultures of the world. But, even here, “emptiness, stillness and silence,” continue to work their wonders for those who have eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart that understands–and no one can give us those things. They are “there” or not. So give yourself a hug for having what you need readily available so that you know what you need to hear when you hear it and have the courage to act in your own behalf! YOU are the one! Letting silence (etc.) lead the way! And I will take credit for not being quiet (silent) about what I have found to be helpful, and will spend the rest of my life saying things we cannot hear often enough–and appreciate your presence along the way!
LikeLiked by 1 person
And, I need to add, in behalf of procrastination, that all things wait for the propitious time, the right time, for acting, in a “Nothing before its time!” kind of way. Biding our time is a wonderful use of time, and enslaving ourselves to “Do it NOW!” is not a good use of our time. When to do what, where and how? Cannot be told in advance of the doing. It is a spontaneous unfolding of the self in action. We trust ourselves to know when/what/where/how in the time of its doing, and become increasingly sensitive to when/what/where/how that is over time spent watching/waiting/looking/listening/seeing/hearing. And no one is being graded. There is no merit gained in getting it right. There is only getting it right this time, and letting next time take care of itself.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I keep asking for inner guidance on how to float with the river’s current, or how to walk the path of the way. A constant shifting of inner balance.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Best advice ever, and delightful photo of moose!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Sandy, to your “How to walk the path of the way. A constant shifting of inner balance,” Ray Grigg said, in “The Tao of Zen,” “Balance is really balancing, not a static state but a dynamic process. It is a condition of perpetual arriving, of continual changing that is always adjusting to the shifting flow of circumstances. When balance becomes a reflexive reaction rather than a considered response, it is experienced s a stillness in the center of movement.”
LikeLike
As always, many thanks!
LikeLike
Very good. Keep it up. Happy belated birthday.
LikeLiked by 1 person