So I finished The Book of Delights: Essays by Ross Gay. In its place I have placed in the “meditation room” a book by Richard Carlson, Ph.D. entitled Don’t Sweat The Small Stuff… and it’s all small stuff. The title of the essay I read this morning was Imagine that Everyone Is Enlightened Except You. It immediately made me think of my first rule of driving: Everyone on the road is an idiot except me, AND I should not be too sure about myself.
The base premise of the essay is that every obnoxious driver, discourteous clerk, line cutter, etc is actually an enlightened person that is trying to teach you a necessary lesson. They are teaching you about patience, forbearance, acceptance, etc.
Part of me finds this an interesting concept of how to go through your day and deal with all the frustrations, big and little, that come our way. It would certainly help to maintain your blood pressure in an acceptable range. But it does remind me a bit of the old joke about the man who prayed for patience. Boy, did the deity send him some lessons to learn patience.
But then part of me thinks, “Well, Grasshopper, maybe you’re the enlightened person trying to teach them a lesson when you flip them off or get in their face…”
But then you say, “Oh Grasshopper, cannot you see that is two sides of the same coin?”
Must be a lot of us out there needing to get us some learning!
And so it goes…
Keep well.
I have always enjoyed the statue of David by Michelangelo. There are a number of reasons for this. First, it is a wonderful expression of human achievement by a master at the top of his game. The detail is phenomenal and exquisite. The statue looks like with just slightest of breathes he could come alive and jump down from the pedestal to begin a full human life. 