February 08, 2024 – A

Posted byjimwdollarPosted in06/25/2020
Lower Antelope Canyon 05/18/2010 — Lake Powell Navajo Tribal Park, LeChee, Arizona
Suffering is how we choose to look at things.
So is everything else.
Everything is how we choose to look at it.

The end of suffering
the Buddhists are so concerned about
is as easy as turning the light around
by changing how we see
what we look at.

Perspective, perception 
and attitude
are the Elder Wands
of personal adjustment
to circumstances.

And provide instant transformation
of the world,
changing all of it
with a wink
and a smile.

Life has never been so easy
as it becomes
when seen in the right way.

Leaving everyone who masters the art
wondering why we aren't taught
how to do it upon exiting the womb.

–0–

Published by jimwdollar

I'm retired, and still finding my way--but now, I don't have to pretend that I know what I'm doing. I retired after 40.5 years as a minister in the Presbyterian Church USA, serving churches in Louisiana, Mississippi and North Carolina. I graduated from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, in Austin, Texas, and Northwestern State University in Natchitoches, Louisiana. My wife, Judy, and I have three daughters, five granddaughters, one great granddaughter, and a great grandson on the way, within about ten minutes from where we live--and are enjoying our retirement as much as we have ever enjoyed anything.

5 thoughts on “February 08, 2024 – A”

  1. Regarding “why we aren’t taught how to do it upon exiting the womb”…
    I have always felt that babies are born innocent, clean and fresh, so left free to be themselves they may grow up wild, but ‘knowing’ how to have the right perspective and not suffer but deal with life as it comes with the right attitude. Perhaps it is the social conditioning through parents, families, teachers, media and our whole human civilization, which teaches them a misplaced emphasis, narrowing their perspective which leads them to suffering…and this sequence of chain continues through generations. The answer, as always, is in a balance.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. And knowing/sensing/intuiting/feeling when to step in and when to step out, which is ours at birth and soon to be taken away from us by the culture that tells us to “think about what you are doing”!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  2. “everyone who masters the art”…Also I doubt whether there is any absolute point, where one can feel its all done, we have arrived! In my experience so far, mastering this art of living the right way-
    is always an ongoing process, that likely continues until the last breath. The more we master the art, the more we are presented with more of what we are still clueless about. Like a carpet unrolling perennially under our feet, where life invites us to continue stepping forward, covering more and more ground…Never ending journey of a continuous mastering and recognizing the newly revealed fresh and unknown at every step!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment