Just Live

“While Eeyore frets …
… and Piglet hesitates
… and Rabbit calculates
… and Owl pontificates
…Pooh just is.”
~THE TAO OF POOH- Benjamin Hoff

How often have you been stuck at a point in your life when you couldn’t see the way forward? How many times have you had a less than desired result because you didn’t focus on the moment? Far too often I have worried about the ramifications of the future rather than living in the moment. It almost always reaches up to bite me in the you-know-what. Winnie the Pooh always lives in the moment, and while he makes mistakes, he always comes out on top because he is in everything with those around him.

” From the state of the Uncarved Block comes the ability to enjoy the simple and the quiet, the natural and the plain. Along with that comes the ability to do things spontaneously and have them work, odd as that may appear to others at times. As Piglet put it in Winnie-the-Pooh, “Pooh hasn’t much Brain, but he never comes to any harm. He does silly things and they turn out right.”
~ THE TAO OF POOH- Benjamin Hoff (12)

Being an “Uncarved Block” doesn’t mean that we don’t need to study our world or think of the effect of our actions. It means that we live in the now. We are aware of everything that is affected by our actions. It is like invisible webs connect us all to one and other. An Uncarved Block will rely on instinct and ancestral knowledge to make the right decision without thought. Like Piglet, we are amazed that Pooh comes to no harm, but if we looked deeper, we would find that he was never really in danger.

“You’d be surprised how many people violate this simple principle every day of their lives and try to fit square pegs into round holes, ignoring the clear reality that Things Are As They Are.”
~THE TAO OF POOH- Benjamin Hoff

We get back to my original thought. Living in the now. Over the years I have had a variety of soul killing jobs. I have been through corporate training for a variety of different large companies. As a manager and as a Marine, I have gone through leadership training. There is one thing that has stuck with me through all of these years.

BE HERE NOW

The basic concept is to throw yourself into whatever you are doing. Don’t allow your thoughts to stray. Don’t look at life like a chess master, always planning three moves ahead. I don’t mean that you don’t need a plan. But there is a time for that, and you should go at it with all of your concentration. If you are playing with your children, play with all of your heart. If you are taking a walk, focus on all of the things in your path, the smell of the fresh cut grass, the rush of the river as it runs by, the riffle of the breeze in your hair. If you are writing a book, like I am, set a schedule and follow it, setting your laser focus for a predetermined amount of time, until the book is written.

And if you are doing your job, do it with all of your heart. If a job is worth doing, devote all of your concentration to it. Devote your full attention to your employees or customers. Make your environment as pleasant and productive as possible. If your heart is not in it, by all means search for another. In fact, don’t just search, but chase a new job like your hair is on fire.

When you friends and family look upon you at the end of the day, the nicest thing they can say is “Pooh just was.” You lived your life to its fullest and you connected with everything that life had to offer. JUST LIVE and good things will come of it.