Rumble of the Heavens,
Shake us up!

When there’s a storm going on, there is no way we can forget how powerful Nature is. Sometimes we need this show of power, to remind us to wake up to what’s really going on. It can be easy to coast along, to waste time, to wallow in mediocrity. Let the sound of thunder be your wake up call. Let it shake you up and alert you to life right now.

You are always in the river of your life,
Stop resisting and flow! 

Enough said I think.

Full mind, empty life;
Empty mind, full life.

Those people who I know who live really full lives seem to me to be those who think very little. This is not a criticism, “oh, you don’t think..”, but a compliment, to live and act and be quiet in mind rather than identified with a constant stream of thought and that inner monologue. A full life doesn’t mean to have every second filled with activity, though you can be sure that without wasting so much time thinking there will be plenty more time for action - you’ll want to waste little, you’ll enjoy being active, pursuing interests, facing fears, meeting challenges.

If you have an empty life, if your life feels empty, it is probably because you are thinking so much that any connections you make are only on the level of mind, and not at the deeper level of being. Thinking about something is not the same as being with it. One is intimate, connected, full; the other an illusion, a phantom, and it can never bring you the fulfillment you crave.

So, embrace the principle of yin and yang, let your mind be empty and your life be full!

If there’s time to change your mind,
It isn’t yet time to decide. 

This is a very taoist way of looking at things. It’s called being flexible, and living in uncertainty. Now, most of us want to be certain. We want to know where we are going, to have plans in place and an order to things. But how do you know which plan is good, and which you are just clinging to out of habit? How do you know if the plan you made in the past is still applicable to who you are right now?

I love the following metaphor I’ve heard used about decision making, and the stress that we often cause ourselves, simply by trying to decide too early, before we have the relevant information: It can be like deciding which foot you are going to step off the curb of the pavement with, when that curb is down the road and round the corner from where you are now. It is plain to see, the time to make that decision is when you are at the curb and not before.

So it is with our lives. We can stay awake and open, and learn to live with the uncertainty that we do not know what we are going to do until we do it, until the time to act is upon us. We can make plans, we can even take care of business as if those plans are certain, but we can do so with flexibility in mind. We can change at the last moment if we suddenly realize it isn’t right for us.

So, make plans, but do not hold them too tightly. Set intentions, but stay open to surprises and the unexpected. Be willing to be uncertain, and you’ll be happy. You can be certain of that.