Getting up early on a Saturday and having morning coffee outside on my patio. It was cool last Saturday morning so I made a cup of coffee and went outside and sat on my patio. My companions were a very busy squirrel, a few birds, and a collection of Thomas Merton's thoughts. Sometimes I stopped reading and simply sat. I was reminded of a quote that someone once sent me. It goes, "Sometimes I sit and think. Sometimes I just sit". I don't always think about doing stuff like this until it is too late. If I hadn't seized the moment when I did, I would have missed the morning coolness and been confronted later with the heat of the day. Seizing the moment is part of being an "awakened one". Every once in a while, I am awake.
This week I have been married for 36 years. Way back on August 3rd, 1974 I was a naive 23 year old boy and I married a naive 21 year old girl. I have been married longer than I was single. My wife and I have grown up together and we have survived a lot together, including raising our two sons from boys to men. It hasn't always been a walk in the park but I'm glad we are still together. My wife's parents were married 55 years and my parents were married 59 years when my father passed away. Compared to them we're just getting warmed up. Marriage, family life, and life in general, have been tougher than I ever imagined. However, it's been mostly good, I've been very blessed, and marriage has given me a stability in my life that I needed.
The Present. Yesterday's heat...102 degrees...and yesterday's problems are behind us. Today is a new day with new possibilities. We have a 50% chance of rain and a cool front will make today a chilly 90 degrees. I am a person who believes in the idea of living in the moment. I have a little sign in my cube that says "What, at this moment, is lacking"? A friend and former teacher of mine once said, "The moment is as perfect as it can be". Life is full of troubles, challenges, and disappointments. It is also full of moments that lack nothing and moments that are perfect. You will experience all of this in your life. An old monk and a young monk in training were meditating together. The young monk kept opening his eye and peeking at the old monk. Finally the old monk, sensing the young monk's stare, opened his eyes and said to the young monk, "This is it. Nothing else happens". Such is life....
Yesterday a friend at our corporate office sent this quote to me because they said it made them think of me.
Happiness cannot be traveled to, worn, or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace and gratitude.
-Denis Waitley
Happiness is today's awesome thing. You can't find happiness. It finds you. Sometimes we stumble over if when we think it is somewhere else. This reminds me of a Zen quote that goes something like this, "Zen is like looking for the glasses that are on your face". Happiness is not a destination. Happiness is a journey. To some extent I believe happiness is a choice. There are people who live in circumstances that most of us would find miserable, yet they are happy. On the other hand there are lots of miserable "rich" people. Choose to be happy and you will be. It's Friday so I know I am happy. 8-)
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