June 04, 2023 – A

It occurs to me 
from time to time
that we alone are responsible
for our safety and well-being
throughout what remains of the time
that is ours upon the earth.

We make the decisions/choices
that produce the future
that is ours to live,
one decision/choice at a time.

We each know--or could know,
if we were interested in knowing--
what assists/enables our balance and harmony,
and what disrupts/destroys it.

We know, as Joseph Campbell was wont to say,
"when we are on the beam,
and when we are off it"--
where we belong
and where we have no business being.

We know what does it for us
and what doesn't.

What overrides what we know to be so
and leads us away from who we are
and what is ours to do
with the life that has yet to be lived?

What helps us, aids us
in being who we are,
doing what is ours to do,
and what hinders us,
blocking our way,
concealing our path?

What we spend our time doing
and thinking about
carries us into where we are going.

We help ourselves or hinder ourselves
all along road through our future.

We do our future to ourselves
by how we live in the present.

What we do today determines,
or strongly influences
what we do tomorrow.

What are we doing?
What are we thinking about?

How does that square with who we are
and what is ours yet to do?

Are we on the beam or off it? 

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