Ripples #863: Liking Living!
Dec 7, 2015
PEBBLE
I like living.
I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that just to be alive is a grand thing.
-Agatha Christie, shared by Sandy in Minneapolis, MN
BOULDER
One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon-instead of enjoying the roses blooming outside our windows today.
-Dale Carnegie, shared by Dana in Salt Lake City, UT
PONDER
It seems like we are *always* busy.
The weekdays are busy with work and school and meetings and practice and go, go, GO! The weekends are just as busy but with different stuff: games and errands and socials and dates and chores and catching up on all the stuff we didn’t get done during the week. Our vacations often get crammed with lines and waits and schedules and forced smiles and selfies and such.
How many times you have paused in the midst of a massive swirl of overwhelmedness and made a wish or pledged an oath to slow down and savor life? If you’re like me, this has happened many, MANY times and is often followed by a brief period of mindfulness and present momentness before the chaotic symphony gradually resumes.
I don’t think the answer is to sequester ourselves in a deep, dark cave of solitude; we’d probably get bored anyway! Instead, I think it is more realistic and more useful to practice embracing the fabulous ups and the challenging downs and even the confusing sidewaysness of our adventures and perhaps create temporary islands of seclusion that briefly allow us to catch our breath before resuming our lives with a bit more calm and a bit more focus. Breathe in, breathe out, let go…
Peace,
Paul
The Ripples Guy
