We had a full week of cool damp rainy weather that culminated in severe flooding last week. I began to wonder if it would ever stop raining. Yet now I’m writing this outside on a sweltering sunny day. Even though it’s uncomfortable and I’m sweating, I’m grateful for it after the week we just had here. If it were early August, I’d probably be sitting in the air conditioning right now, grateful for that and thinking it was too hot to be outside.
“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” -Hamlet, Shakespeare
My intentions for this week are to practice non-judgement, to accept things as they are.
It is easy for me to see how easily I judge if I use the weather as an example. I am quick to label it good or bad depending on how much of it I’ve experienced. I can see that it isn’t really good or bad, it is just my perception at that moment. It is more difficult for me to apply that understanding to real-life circumstances.
It seems there are certain things that everyone would agree are good or bad. Kind, considerate people are good; rude, selfish people are bad. Love and prosperity are good; poverty and suffering are bad. But I’m slowly coming to the understanding that even real-life situations are not “good” or “bad.” They just “are.” I am beginning to accept that we can’t always see the “good” in a circumstance that seems “bad” when we are close to it. But with distance and a different perception, it can be “good.”
Leo Babauta posted this week on The Joy of Scarcity. After reading his post, I commented here, saying that some of the happiest times of my life were when I was a newly-divorced, single mother on welfare. At the time, it seemed like a “bad” circumstance, but with perspective, I see it as one of the greatest periods of my life. I recognize and appreciate the simplicity I had then, the time to read, write, and be with my two-year old son. It taught me strength and self-knowledge, determination and confidence. It helped me evolve to become the woman I am today.
Be content with what you have;
rejoice in the way things are.
When you realize there is nothing lacking,
the whole world belongs to you. -Verse 44, Tao Te Ching
What are you rejoicing in this week?