I will soon return to my discussion on the Three Yes’s on My Deathbed. For now, though I simply share an internal struggle that I am currently waging.
I am currently faced with several deadlines of some projects that I must complete. Each of these projects requires a solitary, inward toil and deep personal, undistracted thought. In short, I must focus on the work alone Continue reading
For Father’s Day, I thought I would contemplate 10 lessons that I learned from my father. My relationship with him is good, and he is still alive and kicking. Like many sons, I generally don’t convey those things I appreciate about him often enough and tend to focus on the negatives far too often. The negatives are minor things, annoyances really, which means that I’ve been quite lucky to have a dad like him. So here they are. Continue reading
“So the question is not: How can we obtain love and understanding? The question is whether we have the capacity of generating love and understanding ourselves…true love is like that too. Loving one person is really an opportunity to learn to love all people. If you have the capacity to love and to understand, you can do that now, you don’t have to wait. When we succeed in this, our worry and fear go away, and we feel wonderful right away.” –Thich Nhat Hahn Answers from the Heart
I was planning to visit my son at college. He knew I was going to see him Thursday. My wife had sent him a text on Monday, telling him that we would be making the 3-hour drive to have lunch with him. He responded with his typical concise “ok.” We were very busy until Wednesday night, but my wife sent a text around 6 pm, “We are coming for lunch tomorrow.” He did not respond. No big deal, this is typical of my atypical son who does not check texts very often, and seems to reply even less. At 10:30 pm the night before our trip, I sent a text to him…no response. Again, this is typical, he was probably working and couldn’t check it. As we departed for his college Thursday morning, I sent a new text, “We are coming for lunch today.” I did not receive a reply. Continue reading
So, inevitably you must ask, “if I am not doing what I love then do I need to change it?” Should I just accept my fate, and stoically perform my duty? The short answer is “yes and no.” Take your career for example. Sometimes you are not in a position to immediately change it, your livelihood. There are externals that you have to consider like basic income, moving, family, children in school, etc. However, if you are not in a career that is healthy, wholesome, and completely virtuous (consistent with nature), eventually you must change it so you can “do what you love.” You can make yourself accept a career that is not what you love, you can love doing it by convincing yourself it is your fate, but… Eventually, you must find a career consistent with your virtue and one that at its very heart you can say, “I am glad I am doing this.” Continue reading
