"Bubbling up in our own good time-- online."
Groundwaters Publishing, LLC
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Volume 6 Issue 2
Page 5
Page 5
Almost two thousand years ago, a man named Paul penned these words, “Be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind.” His words made a deep impression on
me when I first read them in my long-ago teen years. Throughout the following
decades, they have not lost any of their perceived sense of necessity or promise.
My journey through life has been an evolution of thought centered on the stuff of
change. In the beginning, I really did not comprehend the real depth of Paul’s words;
the yearning for change revolved my need for drastic changes in my environment, my
circumstances. In short, in order for me to experience a better life, I needed other
people to change. That need for change, at times, seemed to overwhelm all else.
Over time, things did change, but most often, the change that came brought neither
the escape nor the relief I sought. Things changed all right, but seldom for my
obvious benefit. However, I began to perceive the persistence of change. Change
happens; it seems to be the one constant in the universe. Therefore, I must somehow
find a way to really influence the changes around me or find ways to cope within ever-
changing circumstances.
Then one morning in my twenty-first year, a meaning deeper than I had previously
presumed dawned and I began to understand Paul’s words in a new light. I
remember the event clearly and memory of it has served me well over the years.
I was selling women’s shoes and all the accoutrements – polish, brushes, hosiery,
slippers and purses. And if I do say so myself, I was pretty darned good at it – except
for that morning. Everything was going wrong; every customer had an attitude! Each
in their own way was being difficult and they were ruining my day! After I finished with
one particularly difficult woman, I took the unsold shoes back into the long aisle of
shelves behind the sales floor. I slammed each box back into its slot, somehow
turning my frustration to anger. Finished, I stood for a moment as the anger began to
boil over. Like a cowboy reaching for his six-shooter, I whipped my metal shoehorn
from my belt and flung as hard as I could down the aisle. It arced through the air and
smashed a light bulb before clattering nosily onto the floor. “Great!” I thought, “Not
only do I have to go retrieve the shoehorn, but I have to clean up the broken glass
too!” As I walked to the other end of the aisle, a light dawned – it was one of those
cartoon moments when the character has a bright light bulb hanging over its head –
in that moment I knew what the problem was. It was not the customers, it was… me. It
was a moment of personal transformation brought about by a new way of thinking
about what had been happening.
I guess I have been really slow to learn – really learn – life’s lessons. Over the years
there were many shoehorn moments wherein I had to relearn that simple lesson... it
is not about “it” or “them,” it is about me. In these, the latter days, I have become
more keenly aware that so much of life is about a misperception of reality. It is not
about what’s going on out there, it is about what I think is going on. It is not about
what is happening to me, it is about what I think, and therefore feel, is happening to
me.
A wise teacher once said, “All is illusion” implying that reality is really the stuff of
perception. This idea, for me, has proven to be pregnant with infinite possibilities.
Another teacher said, “Everything is an illusion and the hard thing about that is that it
all seems so real!” Yes it is, sometimes overwhelmingly so. Experience and
contemplation have worked together in me to recognize the stuff of perception and
illusion. I have developed a catch phrase to remind me of that from time to time; I
remind myself that, “There are no one-sided coins …”
It has been my experience that each moment contains the seeds of transformation,
the opportunity to experience the moment differently. There is another perspective –
another way to react, to feel, to act, to understand what is happening. I can and do
choose (consciously or unconsciously) how I will experience the moment.
Sometimes the choice is hard; nevertheless, we always choose what we experience.
I have finally come to the understanding that the journey along life’s pathways is as
much about change as it is about the choices we must continually make. I am
thankful for the memory of that long ago frustrated shoe salesman and for the good
seed of Paul’s words planted in the fertile garden of mind.
As I write these words, I am sitting in the Shilo Inn restaurant near the Portland airport
having breakfast. I am waiting. There was a time in my life when waiting was difficult,
was extremely frustrating. In this moment, my pickup is in the shop and I am stranded
here until it is finished; at this moment, I do not know if the wait will be three hours or
seven hours. And, you know what? That’s okay. I came prepared. I brought along a
couple of books, my spiral notebook and pens. My time waiting need not be wasted
time. Each moment of the day will be what I make of it. In this moment, I chose to
have a pen, not a shoehorn, to express what is going on.
Life is a journey and the journey will be exactly what you make of it. Circumstances
are little more than the infinitely variable perceptions by which we choose to know the
evolving moment.
transformed by the renewing of your mind.” His words made a deep impression on
me when I first read them in my long-ago teen years. Throughout the following
decades, they have not lost any of their perceived sense of necessity or promise.
My journey through life has been an evolution of thought centered on the stuff of
change. In the beginning, I really did not comprehend the real depth of Paul’s words;
the yearning for change revolved my need for drastic changes in my environment, my
circumstances. In short, in order for me to experience a better life, I needed other
people to change. That need for change, at times, seemed to overwhelm all else.
Over time, things did change, but most often, the change that came brought neither
the escape nor the relief I sought. Things changed all right, but seldom for my
obvious benefit. However, I began to perceive the persistence of change. Change
happens; it seems to be the one constant in the universe. Therefore, I must somehow
find a way to really influence the changes around me or find ways to cope within ever-
changing circumstances.
Then one morning in my twenty-first year, a meaning deeper than I had previously
presumed dawned and I began to understand Paul’s words in a new light. I
remember the event clearly and memory of it has served me well over the years.
I was selling women’s shoes and all the accoutrements – polish, brushes, hosiery,
slippers and purses. And if I do say so myself, I was pretty darned good at it – except
for that morning. Everything was going wrong; every customer had an attitude! Each
in their own way was being difficult and they were ruining my day! After I finished with
one particularly difficult woman, I took the unsold shoes back into the long aisle of
shelves behind the sales floor. I slammed each box back into its slot, somehow
turning my frustration to anger. Finished, I stood for a moment as the anger began to
boil over. Like a cowboy reaching for his six-shooter, I whipped my metal shoehorn
from my belt and flung as hard as I could down the aisle. It arced through the air and
smashed a light bulb before clattering nosily onto the floor. “Great!” I thought, “Not
only do I have to go retrieve the shoehorn, but I have to clean up the broken glass
too!” As I walked to the other end of the aisle, a light dawned – it was one of those
cartoon moments when the character has a bright light bulb hanging over its head –
in that moment I knew what the problem was. It was not the customers, it was… me. It
was a moment of personal transformation brought about by a new way of thinking
about what had been happening.
I guess I have been really slow to learn – really learn – life’s lessons. Over the years
there were many shoehorn moments wherein I had to relearn that simple lesson... it
is not about “it” or “them,” it is about me. In these, the latter days, I have become
more keenly aware that so much of life is about a misperception of reality. It is not
about what’s going on out there, it is about what I think is going on. It is not about
what is happening to me, it is about what I think, and therefore feel, is happening to
me.
A wise teacher once said, “All is illusion” implying that reality is really the stuff of
perception. This idea, for me, has proven to be pregnant with infinite possibilities.
Another teacher said, “Everything is an illusion and the hard thing about that is that it
all seems so real!” Yes it is, sometimes overwhelmingly so. Experience and
contemplation have worked together in me to recognize the stuff of perception and
illusion. I have developed a catch phrase to remind me of that from time to time; I
remind myself that, “There are no one-sided coins …”
It has been my experience that each moment contains the seeds of transformation,
the opportunity to experience the moment differently. There is another perspective –
another way to react, to feel, to act, to understand what is happening. I can and do
choose (consciously or unconsciously) how I will experience the moment.
Sometimes the choice is hard; nevertheless, we always choose what we experience.
I have finally come to the understanding that the journey along life’s pathways is as
much about change as it is about the choices we must continually make. I am
thankful for the memory of that long ago frustrated shoe salesman and for the good
seed of Paul’s words planted in the fertile garden of mind.
As I write these words, I am sitting in the Shilo Inn restaurant near the Portland airport
having breakfast. I am waiting. There was a time in my life when waiting was difficult,
was extremely frustrating. In this moment, my pickup is in the shop and I am stranded
here until it is finished; at this moment, I do not know if the wait will be three hours or
seven hours. And, you know what? That’s okay. I came prepared. I brought along a
couple of books, my spiral notebook and pens. My time waiting need not be wasted
time. Each moment of the day will be what I make of it. In this moment, I chose to
have a pen, not a shoehorn, to express what is going on.
Life is a journey and the journey will be exactly what you make of it. Circumstances
are little more than the infinitely variable perceptions by which we choose to know the
evolving moment.
| The Philosopher's Corner: My Journey; Perception of Change By Jimminy Cricket |