“A Journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” Lao-Tzu
As I sit here, counting down the last hours of 2009, my thoughts go toward one thing… releasing old hurts and burdens so something new and exciting can take its place. A clean slate. Can I start the new year with a clean slate?
Change is uncomfortable and I have weathered the constant swells of unbalance and fear. I’m a little weary and bruised, but feel so much wiser for sticking it out. So as I close my eyes and release this past year…. I know when I awake, that anything is possible. It all starts with one single step. Just one step…..
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The step you’re contemplating is the step you already took, my friend, and it was a good one, so let go of the self-imposed pressure to start anew. You already have! Life was never about the destination. It’s always been about the journey … we just need to embrace that! Here’s to 2010, and may it bring wonderful things to us all.
Using the Tools We Were Given
Suffering occurs. So what tools do we have at our disposal to cope with the situation? As mammals we are also endowed with innate impulses toward generosity, kindness, compassion, and cooperation, which help counteract and at times override the more primal selfish instincts. More significantly, we also have a protruding prefrontal cortex capable of introspection, self-reflection, and mindfulness. Encouraging us to put this organ to work, the Buddha proceeds in our text to say:
He understands thus: “There has arisen in me what is agreeable, there has arisen what is disagreeable, there has arisen what is both agreeable and disagreeable.”
This observation might not sound like much, but it is a huge step. Bringing awareness to the inner life allows light to shine in the darkness. Seeing what arises and passes away in the mind and body each moment allows what we experience to become something known and understood, rather than something shaped entirely by invisible, unconscious conditioning. Such mindfulness provides the necessary prerequisite for the next transformative step pointed to by the Buddha: insight into the nature of phenomena.
- Andrew Olendzki, “In the Blink of an Eye” (Spring 2006)