A Good Life
from 
JoeUser Forums
JoeUser Forums
Good Morning Everyone,
A good life is never quite what we expect. We dream about this sort of life or that sort of life: kids gathering around or kids moving away; puppies curled at the feet; respect and high pay at work; or just a dreamy vacation. Then reality sets in and as the kids gather we have a need to go to the bookstore or as they move away we have a need to follow. The puppy is demanding. High pay and respect require our all leaving little time for anything else. And that dream vacation really should have stayed in dreamland.
A good life, on the other hand, is a life lived not dreamed about. It is a life in the present. A good life is an authentic life lived with an open heart and mind, a life where we are our own light. This life makes stones in our path opportunities to learn, to explore outside of our normal experience. Stones in the path require faith in the path. My faith is in my practice of zen. My wife finds her faith in the practice of Judaism. In either case, it is the practice that counts. We might believe we are free and there should be no stones in our path, but our freedom is not like that. Freedom occurs when we clearly understand "problems" are a result of the contrast between what we think our life should be and what it actually is. So, belief itself can be a serious obstacle. On the other hand, practice teaches us that regardless of how life is, it is our life and we should live it.
We are outside of that expectation just now. Our rental property is vacant, advertising costs money we really don't have to spend and there is no rental income: things are a tad tight and consequently tense. In such a period we can only do so much. We advertise, we show the place, clean the place, make is sparkle. We wait by the phone. We talk a lot.
Through the stress of the financial tightness, we discover that we really don't "need" what we often "want". We discover that we have resources within ourselves. We have opportunities to get out of the box: go walking, running, exploring. Read a new book. Write a new piece. Cook a new kind of meal on a simple budget. Yes, a good life is never quite what we expect. What makes it good is just that,
Be well.
A good life is never quite what we expect. We dream about this sort of life or that sort of life: kids gathering around or kids moving away; puppies curled at the feet; respect and high pay at work; or just a dreamy vacation. Then reality sets in and as the kids gather we have a need to go to the bookstore or as they move away we have a need to follow. The puppy is demanding. High pay and respect require our all leaving little time for anything else. And that dream vacation really should have stayed in dreamland.
A good life, on the other hand, is a life lived not dreamed about. It is a life in the present. A good life is an authentic life lived with an open heart and mind, a life where we are our own light. This life makes stones in our path opportunities to learn, to explore outside of our normal experience. Stones in the path require faith in the path. My faith is in my practice of zen. My wife finds her faith in the practice of Judaism. In either case, it is the practice that counts. We might believe we are free and there should be no stones in our path, but our freedom is not like that. Freedom occurs when we clearly understand "problems" are a result of the contrast between what we think our life should be and what it actually is. So, belief itself can be a serious obstacle. On the other hand, practice teaches us that regardless of how life is, it is our life and we should live it.
We are outside of that expectation just now. Our rental property is vacant, advertising costs money we really don't have to spend and there is no rental income: things are a tad tight and consequently tense. In such a period we can only do so much. We advertise, we show the place, clean the place, make is sparkle. We wait by the phone. We talk a lot.
Through the stress of the financial tightness, we discover that we really don't "need" what we often "want". We discover that we have resources within ourselves. We have opportunities to get out of the box: go walking, running, exploring. Read a new book. Write a new piece. Cook a new kind of meal on a simple budget. Yes, a good life is never quite what we expect. What makes it good is just that,
Be well.