Saturday, November 19, 2011

Don't wish your life away

As you can probably tell by my lapse in posts, I've been busy. I'm wrapping up my quarter in the Five Mountain Seminary, writing two final papers, and trying to finish all of my grades as a high school teacher.

So I was sitting and talking to my wife a couple of minutes ago when I caught myself saying, "Let's just make it through the holidays; then everything will work itself out." Meaning, once the holidays are over, we will find some equilibrium.

My wife looked up and said, "Don't wish your life away."

I bit my tongue before I shot back some snide remark, when I realized that she was totally right.

I was dreaming about how calm things will be in a couple of weeks and overlooking the present moment. Sure things are hectic and complex, but they don't need to be complicated. We complicate matters when we resist what's actually happening and drift off into some mental fantasy about how we wish things would be.

So my wife woke me up, like a koan cutting through delusion. Don't wish your life away--a very Buddhist teaching. Most of us spend half of our time wishing we were somewhere else doing something else. But tomorrow is guaranteed to no one.

Bodhisattva's take the form of a kind friend, an angry boss, or a loving wife.

Thanks honey for shaking me awake!

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