Imagine a life where the sun rises at the same time every day, the temperature is always 72 degrees, the sun is always shining, the moon is always full and beautiful, and all the people of the world think alike.
There are no car wrecks, no crime, everyone is well-fed, and a homeless person only exists in fiction.
All attend the same church, everyone says their prayers at night, and all are good and just and go to heaven.
Pretty boring, right?
It is never going to happen. There is no Utopian rainbow on the horizon. There are going to be inclement days, mean people, injustice, and unexpected expenses.
There are going to be days when you oversleep, when the car doesn’t start, when the kids are sick, when the milk goes sour, when the pizza is an hour overdue, when your team loses a game they should have won.
How do you react?
Anger, resignation, stress, rage, tears?
It is life’s little hiccups that make life interesting. Sure, it is nice to have a routine that goes uninterrupted on most days. You’ll have that one day out of ten when you run into a traffic jam or have a flat tire. Did you leave early enough to allow for it? How do you handle the unexpected?
I say sieze it. Make it yours.
A person is unexpectedly mean to you, give them a smile. Chances are they are having a bad day. If you don’t know them it can’t be personal, right?
The guy at the drive-thru messes up your order. How do you react? Do you lash out in anger? Do you call the corporate office? Do you never eat at that restaurant again? I have had all of those reactions. Now I view it as fate. I got to the window at the wrong time. I took the wrong route. I should have brought my lunch.
I should have brought my lunch.
A lot of the little glitches in our life can be avoided if we do the right thing.
We are an instant gratification, over-consuming society. We expect top-shelf service from minimum-wage employees and get angry when we don’t get it. Do you really need that over-priced over-caloried sandwich anyway?
When you run into that traffic jam on 270 do you get road rage? Did you give yourself enough time to absorb it? Do you think the cars in the wreck did this on purpose, just to make you late. Turn up the radio, throw in your favorite cd, kick back and enjoy the rare moment that you have to yourself. Meditate on the joy that the rest of the days holds.
And next time, leave a little earlier, and by all means pack that lunch.
Namaste, friends
wb
The Tao Of Brother T 