Musing

5C/45F, overcast, steady breeze ruffles leaves on this last day of summer; our morning walk uneventful, Gusta is enjoying these cooler days

the earth goes around & round, goes around the sun & never changes its basic direction – but it tilts back & forth bringing balance, change & renewal

today is the end of a season, tomorrow brings another; what will change for you?

if you do nothing, the answer is easy; if you tilt in another direction – a deliberate one – some things will change, in part the things you seek to change but more importantly the ones you’ve not considered that will happen when you look a different way, explore new ideas, tackle new projects

it would be easy to settle for the hand we are dealt, adjusting to it, rationalizing that we do not have choices; it is far more difficult to make changes in the simplest of things let alone major elements of values, direction & how we spend our energy

I’ve written lately about changing focus, changing direction & rethinking some things; I came across this quote which said it so well, so very well, so very long ago:

‘If you do not change direction, you may end up where you are heading.’ – Lao Tzu (600-531BC)

perhaps Lao Tzu had fewer things on his plate so he had more time to think things through or maybe his words were directed at one person about one particular thing, however when I read these words they seem so pure, so timeless, so fitting in many circumstances

over the past number of months I’ve addressed direction, focus & ‘results expected’ in each element of my life, lifestyle, work & play; 8 stickies on the wall now from an original 50+, as I read them regularly they fit with my mind, fit with my belly – but I know new ones will go up, old ones will come down each time I change direction, or try to

a muser wrote to me yesterday - inquiring if it was OK to fix me up with some of her friends (not hard to answer that question) - she followed up with questions of what I was looking for; a better question might have been: 'who are you & where are you headed?'

direction doesn’t mean we will arrive at a particular destination, it simply describes where we are headed

do you know, have you ever sat still long enough to think about it, to recognize what pleases you vis-à-vis what doesn’t?

more than attitude, more than values, more than routine & resignation, more than acceptance of how things are, I/we need to regularly examine our direction; where are we headed?

is it a direction that will fulfill a dream, achieve a goal, do good, bring happiness to us – to others, or will it disappoint?

charting a new direction is not simple, charting a new direction is hard

the best fruit is out there on the skinny branches, hard to reach but worth the stretch

Mark

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