It was the beginning of autumn, a hint of the cold hung in the air.
I gathered my collar around my neck, pulled it snug and exhaled.
"Maybe it's not what you think," I said.
"No, they're always mad about something. Just too much hate."
"But what if I told you the only reason I could be here today is some of their readers donated so I could attend this yoga conference? That what they want more than anything else is to help veterans find their way?"
The guy shrugged. Sometimes the realization that things aren't what they appear comes at you when you think you know everything.
It happens to all of us.
We're still friends.
When I came into this milblogging world, it was different terrain. Even the sky was changed. It sounded different, the people were covered with dust and action. While there were times I felt like fleeing back to my quieter world of books, editing, reviews and poetry, I knew... here I
am, make of it what I can. So I did and I like this world very much.I've come to see the military world not so much as a different terrain, but as one that completes my other life.
Jon Kabat-Zinn, M.D.
From Jon Kabat-Zinn's book Wherever You Go There You Are"When it comes right down to it, wherever you go, there you are. Whatever you wind up doing, that's what you've wound up doing. Whatever you are thinking right now, that's what's on your mind. Whatever has happened to you, it has already happened. The important question is, how are you going to handle it? In other words, "Now what?"Buy, read a passage each day.
Like it or not, this moment is all we really have to work with."
Posts
6 comments:
Kanani,
I can't believe you're quoting J K-Z! I just listened to a podcast featuring his studies on meditation and stress...and was so thinking about you and about contacting you to see if you were aware of his work. Synchronicity at work again. Anyway, the show is on NPR...called "Being" (used to be Speaking of Faith) with Krista Tippet. Very interesting stuff.
He has a newish book.
I like this: "It sounded different, the people were covered with dust and action." Reminds me of Hemingway.
thanks!
Yes, the wisdom of living in the moment appears where I least expect it.
Your move to the milblogging world is a fine example of how we should all grow. In one way or another, we either grow or stagnate and die. We need to take steps into the unknown, to take risks. That's really living life, don't you think? Your steps into the military world is foreign to me. I have appreciated the insights you have given me.
Pam, I didn't know how else to describe them, so I just let it fly. Dust and action is apropos. It follows and sometimes preceeds them even when they are retired!
Ferd, I think back to all the patients who seemed so locked into controlling everything, never accepting the reality they had right then and there, even though they were very ill. The ones who always got better were the ones who accepted the news, then did everything they could to get better. They had such a peace about them. It was often beautiful to watch.
I really liked that book.
When I took off for India to become "enlightened", I actually thought that when I touched down I would be a different person - holy, full of peace and have all of my vices drop off as an egg shell over a hard boiled egg. Guess what? I came with me - vice, passion and ignorance all included. It took a lot of cracking of the shell to see what was under it - an egg - and I never did change until much later but that is a different story. I'll have to pick up the book. Thanks for the review.
Bought the book after reading this post and so happy I did. Thanks for sharing, as always!
Post a Comment
Thank you for leaving a comment! Comments left on posts older than 1 week, are sent to me for moderation. Again, thank you.