Compassion for Change

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It's cliche but true...
CHANGE IS THE ONLY CONSTANT!
Life is about cycles and the changes brought into being as a result. These cycles, whether great or small, offer us an opportunity to reflect and expand our knowledge and awareness. I'd say this applies to just about anything considered a "life experience"...pretty vague but all encompassing,
we can find hidden and obvious lessons, bits of information, sweetness, inspiration, deep-seated fears...what-have-you, by merely acknowledging they happened. What might that mean?
I invite you right now, to take a deep breath in, exhale completely, and consider...

The human condition is to easily become attached to the world, attached to the material, and resistant to change. Yes, relationships and jobs and possessions are real, animating our worlds with amazing-ness. Yet, some day, when we least expect it, we are removed from these things and the soul is taken on a journey to a different life with different circumstances...taking off one cloak and putting on another, if you will.
Ya see...nothing ever stays the same and that's the truth. External validation, attachments to the world, and dependency on the approval from others for happiness only takes us so far.
We come into this life alone, and we go out alone. This is fact. Why do we hardly ever discuss it?

These ideas frighten most folk, so instead we distract ourselves by focusing on trivial, mundane satisfaction-makers like play-stations, crazy-staged drama real-life TV, celebrity distraction, professional sports....this is life. Don't get me wrong....I love a good mindless TV show like everyone else. But to stay in this kind of comfort zone all of the time is disheartening and numbing to the human spirit and our heart of hearts. 

The inevitable is that ALL THINGS WILL CHANGE AND TRANSFORM! We want to avoid it and ignore it, but everyone will die at some point, and ya can't take your winning status from that video game with you! If we have this idea stuck in our minds think we only get one shot at life, are we less likely to find compassion for what's going on and give meaning to the subtleties? We are negating an iceberg the size of the universe when we close ourselves off to this idea. I think great wisdom comes from pondering death and considering the depth of wisdom death may bring. It seems like when people find out they might die soon, they start to change, they reassess their lives, they do stuff they never thought they would.
Maybe it's because remembering that we will all die, even me, even you, someday....shifts how we live our lives right now.

The reason this topic has come on so strong is that I recently received the news my dear and beloved grandmother (who had an equal hand in raising my brother and me as youngsters) has a mass of tumors wrapped around her pancreas and kidneys, thus given a life-expectancy of 3 weeks to 6 months. She's almost 90, has survived the dust-bowl and poverty, worked a tough life on a farm, raised 4 children, could beat anybody at Wheel of Fortune, can shoot a gun and bake a cake in the same day, and is still as sharp as a tack. This woman was a pioneer, an herbalist a naturalist, and didn't even claim it. She is wry and witty and real. And honestly, I know she's ready to go. Yes, it's sad to think of her leaving, sad to think of how long my 98-year-old grandfather might make it after she passes, heart-wrenching to see my mother lose her mother... but at the end of the day...all things must change.

So, we find our happiness within. We cannot control what happens to our lovers or our mothers or anyone, and when we realize this we can reflect on an internal sense of gratitude and compassion. The paradox of all of this is, is our EGO...necessary for the human experience yet such a blockade in the mind about what potentially exists. However, when we stitch the fabric between our EGO, our individual self, with the heart, the seat of compassion, we acknowledge that there's something more.
This is my intrigue right now. Compassion is not just given...receiving compassion is equal in importance. This is the balance within the heart that overrides the fear and doubt of the mind, the fear and doubt of life and death. Purpose and fulfillment are found when compassion is in one's heart.
This is fact.
Why do we hardly ever discuss it?
It's seems as though it's easier to distract our minds rather than find the courage in our hearts to face these fears; because these types of ideas frighten most folk. We then push these fears deep down inside of ourselves and wonder why our lives are so chaotic and full of anxiety and stress!?


It all reminds me of the fabulous movie, Harold and Maude, which illustrates the beauty of living and the beauty of death. Check it out if you have not already and L-I-V-E......LIVE! Live now because all things must change and there's no sense in waiting.

From my heart to yours,
THE WISE OWL