Breaking News

In a stunning turn of events, peace has broken out. All over the world.  In fact, it has always been here and gone unnoticed! Story at 11:00.

The news is incredulous, I know. How is it we have been so blind to the presence of peace? How is it we have walked right past it into discord, conflict, wars and violence? The Holy Wars? The Inquisition? The World Wars? Peace was there and unseen.  Countless wars, battles, attacks, skirmishes, acts of revenge, acts of aggression, murder, mayhem, brutality and oppression. Peace was there and ignored. And that's just the roster of obviously horrendous events. Don't forget disagreement, contention, quarrels, grudges and just plain everyday "I'm right, you're wrong" stubbornness-- disharmony, it seems, is hardwired into human behavior. How, then, could peace have been here all along?

Peace is the spacious, patient, ever present and all allowing environment out of which all conflict arises. And why does it arise? Simple. It arises because people believe the thoughts in their heads. These thoughts tell us, quite frequently and incessantly, that the way things are is not the way things should be. Every head has a different set of thoughts, we all want to be right and have our way, and we're off to the races. We stray from peace, our natural state of existence, intentionally. Now, I want you to consider this-- just because a thought comes up in your head doesn't mean it's true and yet even given the obvious contradiction of sometimes having conflicting thoughts and confusing thoughts, most people give their thoughts gospel status and identify deeply with them. Isn't a thought, after all, just a symbol for something else, just a collection of words spoken in the head? A flag is a symbol for a country, yet we don't take the flag to be the country do we? Thoughts come and go like clouds in the sky and who knows from where or how they suddenly appear. We would be wise to stand back a bit and watch them to gain a better understanding of the hypnotic effect they have on us and the power they hold to predispose us to conflict and discord and suffering.

 Could our personal happiness or even world peace be as simple as understanding how our minds work and moving beyond that to whatever state allows us to simply observe and experience this wonder of wonders we call Life? What if it just took that realization? What if, one by one, we commit to peace and do not waver even in the face of others choosing conflict all around us? To achieve world peace, it would eventually take, of course, all of us. But, that has to begin with some of us making the choice. Right now. Today. We can't make peace happen, peace already is when we make a conscious choice to live it.

Play Dough

Remember how exciting it was as a child to be given a brand new set of Play Dough? The colors were so bright and beautiful, just waiting for childhood creativity to design and mold a million things. We were enthralled and excited; the possibilities were endless! We dug in with the vibrant energy of childhood enthusiasm, creating flowers, animals, houses, people, crazy designs, oh, just anything we could think of. Soon, though, the inevitable happened and the colors became intermixed. Eventually, sadly, the dough became a big gray mess of a blob which usually ended up at the bottom of the toy chest, a hard and crumbly shadow of its former self. 

In life there are times we see so much potential, we feel the passion to create, we are in love with life. We form satisfying relationships, start projects, see everything with fresh eyes. We are alive with all the vibrant colors of life. The trouble is, we often dart from one thing to another in our endless quest to top what has gone before. Inevitably, we reach that place where our lives can seemingly become big gray blob- like, and we do the adult equivalent of tossing the Play Dough into the dark recesses of the toy chest - we become depressed, disenchanted, disengaged and disconnected. We wonder what went amiss, where we made the wrong turn, and how things got so far off track. We thought we knew what we wanted but once we got it we soon wanted something else. We are not satisfied. We are never satisfied. Why? Somehow on the way from the carefree play mode of childhood we got hooked into expectation mode, into one day I will have the experience that makes me happy forever mode. We got stuck in our thoughts of what we might have in the future and forgot to experience what was in front of us at the moment. Our lives are not always new cans of Play Dough exciting but most of the time there are lovely surprises when we are paying attention, when we cultivate gratefulness for each new day, when we smile and say this moment is enough. This has always been enough.

Excerpt from "The Quest" by Leonard Jacobson

"What can you offer me?" he asked the sage.
"Only what is present in this moment," answered the sage.
"Is that all?" asked the man.
"Nothing more than that." said the sage.
The man thought for a while.
"No contest!" the voice said triumphantly inside the man's head. "No contest!"
"There is nothing here," said the man. "Just a few trees, some flowers and the distant mountain."
With that the man continued on his way, in pursuit of that which his mind had promised him.
The sage watched as the man disappeared down the road.
"No contest," said the sage to the trees and the flowers and the distant mountain.
"No contest."

Pollyanna Proliferation

Remember the old classic Disney film Pollyanna? I remember loving it as a child and taking its very wise message to heart. Pollyanna’s father taught her “The Glad Game” which was, in essence, to find the good in every situation. This game saw her through the toughest of circumstances. When Pollyanna was orphaned and living with stern old Aunt Polly she persisted in finding the good in every situation and seeing the good in the people around her despite their negative outlooks on life and habitually ingrained grumpiness. Sent to the attic as punishment, she admired the beautiful view it afforded. Given only bread and milk for supper she realizes she does, indeed, love bread and milk. Soon, with her youthful enthusiasm and unending gratitude for all life brought her, she melted the hearts of those around her and, by teaching them her secrets to enjoying life, enriched their lives immeasurably. Her perceptions of life changed the lives of those around her. Simple really, and yet a lesson I think we need to revisit time and time again.

 The term “Pollyanna” has entered our language as a description for someone who unfailingly finds the good in life, no matter the circumstances. In today’s fast paced, success-oriented, sophisticated and sometimes jaded world it often takes on a negative connotation, as if finding the good was hopelessly naïve and ignorantly unrealistic. I beg to differ.

 What if we all absolutely insisted on seeing the best in each other? What if we would take each person as they were, each situation as it came without trying to judge? What if we always looked for silver linings and knew, just knew they would be there? What if we took it upon ourselves to always bring good cheer, always lend a hand when needed, and always, without fail, without regard for what was in it for us, love others? Life would be transformed, that’s what, for us and for those around us.

 I aspire to be a card carrying, certified, state of the art Pollyanna. Yes, indeed, that is my new year’s resolution! Anyone else?