Today I noticed that someone had written on top of the toilet paper dispenser: "Reality... F@#$% it" I was very tempted to make a comment saying: "Which reality?" The writing made me think about how we create our own reality moment to moment and forget that if we just pause for a second, we might make a different, better choice. We might see that there are other "realities" we could choose for ourselves that may be more "acceptable" to what we need. Before we "act", we are holding the strings of many choices to pull on. Sometimes we ignore that and just choose the one that is most easily accessible. The other thought that came to my mind is how we often react rather than respond to a situation we do not have control over. When we react, it is out of control and we easily get stressed, muscles tense up, breathing gets faster, heart palpitations, etc. Reaction is often ego-led. Responding to the situation is to accept, surrender, and make the best out of the situation. I am not saying it is always easy. Sometimes just being aware how we react to certain things is a good first step. So the person who wrote this must have been frustrated with her present reality not seeing any alternatives. Or did she mean just getting lost in illusion and dreams is better?
There is not only your reality, there is mine, that of the person in the car in front of me or the man standing in the grocery line. Sometimes those realities overlap. I am not even talking about reality in terms of other dimensions here, that is a different topic.
“Wanderer, your footsteps are the road, and nothing more; wanderer, there is no road, the road is made by walking. By walking one makes the road, and upon glancing behind one sees the path that never will be trod again. Wanderer, there is no road-- Only wakes upon the sea."
ReplyDeleteCaminante, son tus huellas el camino, y nada más; caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar. Al andar se hace camino, y al volver la vista atrás se ve la senda que nunca se ha de volver a pisar. Caminante, no hay camino, sino estelas en la mar.”
― Antonio Machado, Campos de Castilla
Love it! Thank you! Beautiful words!
ReplyDeleteMy teacher introduced me to this poem. He has it written in the frontpiece of the book we are learning now.
ReplyDelete"Is this true?" I asked him. "Don't we follow in the footsteps of our teachers going all the way back to Moshe Rabbenu?"
"We can only follow our own path," he said. "But the signposts left by our teachers are there to show us that we are going in the right direction. They can't tell us exactly how to get there, only show us that we are not alone on the journey."
Well said, and what a wonderful addition to my blog lesson! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteIt gives me new ways to look at life.....it's awe inspiring
ReplyDelete