The gentle waves of reality

“Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.” ~ Lao Tzu

So, the thought  for today is what I strive for... currently my personal thinking about myself and my place in this world is captured in the ideas of mindfulness or in being present. While it is something I think I am pretty good at, it is also easy for me to forget and find myself wrapped in things like anger, bitterness, sloth, and even the good stuff like being happy.  Yes, happiness can be a very selfish place too, in certain situations.

Allowing myself to give in to the flow of how life arranges to present itself to me and be there for those moments without giving into extremes,  to "lean in" to life and do so in a manner that is not based on the multitude of roles that I serve in my life; a mother, wife, daughter, friend, volunteer and to stand straight and face it as a human among other humans, not as a certain type of human.

Recently a friend told me that I disappoint them when I act like "most people" the quotations theirs. I suppose I have no idea what that means though I infer that it means that there is a notion that there are "most people" and that there are "other people"... something so vital that it is almost like some form of speciation that makes this human so much different from that one. I have to think that because the only time I would consider that there is a most people and an other is when the other has particularly vile pathology that somehow removes them from being fully human (intentional violent murderers would most likely fall in this place of other humans). I try to respect the human condition and even when I hurt or celebrate I sense that the depth of those emotions is part of something that I share with other people. 

At the end of every day I know I am no different from anyone, my challenges are different, but so are my blessings. Like a snake, humans require the shedding of lessons learnt and a move onto new challenges and joys, I am not separate from others because of my temperament, experiences or even my curiosities. I am like them because of those things.

“The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die. As well the minds which are prevented from changing their opinions; they cease to be mind.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche

NaBloPoMo 25