Lose Your Footing

 

With the taste of my two gummy vitamins fresh in my mouth, I notice how the temperature this morning is creeping up. So with a cup of decaf and a bottle of water I prepare my body for another hot and sunny spring day. My young buddy on the sidewalk waiting for his ride and the one lone cat hanging around his feet are my only entertainment as the morning sun casts its shadow on the 100 Building next door. I go through my normal itching and nose blowing in-between typing out nonsense until my point is made.

But what is the point? Writing without any set goal or reason other than to hear myself think makes for a pretty dull morning sometimes. So as it is for today, as the young man catches his ride and it’s only me and the black and white cat lying on the lawn. With no purpose, no focus, and in a way no home. Another sip of decaf through the straw tells me there’s a story to tell in that. Of how we focus on things, and obsess about things we cannot control. Like other people’s attitudes and the way they no longer feel about us. The longing we still carry and the way we believe it’s all us and not them.

Oh, what a tangled web we weave. Blaming ourselves, blaming others, blaming the cat on the ground. But when you allow your mind to move beyond the possessive and towards nonattachment, you get a sense that there’s nothing beyond yourself you can control. So work on yourself first and let the chips fall where they may. In my own life I own nothing but the worn clothes on my back and a few trinket objects, like my laptop and my phone. I pay for the privilege to use them, just like I do with the apartment and my borrowed car. I mean tomorrow I may have nothing, but what have I lost other than an old pair of sweatpants?

So ask yourself, what does it all matter? Are possessions the key to happiness? Is there any rich man out there that doesn’t want more? People are not possessions; you can’t make anyone love or even like you. It’s really all up to them. So do your best to live your best life. Look for balance, not an excess of joy or suffering. Tilting the scale either way causes imbalance and a loss of footing.

#Mindfulness #Balance #ThichHnatHanh #Grace #Zen