Put Distractions Aside and Move Forward
The amount of information coming at us is immense and the impulse to get off focus intense. Thank goodness we have filters, lest our senses would be overwhelmed and we wouldn’t be able to make it down the street. Just sit at your computer for 15 minutes, and you’ll see yourself clicking around, checking email, or drifting off into an area that has nothing to do with the reason you sat down in the first place.
Then there are more substantive, unavoidable distractions—health. I recently had surgery on my toe that requires that no weight be put on that foot nor driving for three weeks. Things take longer—taking a shower, getting dressed, making meals, waiting for Uber, etc. And yet, I recall a story where the Zen monk said to “put the distractions aside and move forward.” Focus on living your life no matter the circumstance and moving forward. While I Uber around town and rely on my knee scooter, I am not stopping living, working, or loving.
Joseph Campbell tells a story of looking at a light bulb and the light radiating from the bulb, then asks, “are you the bulb or the light emanating from the bulb?” Are you more tuned into consciousness or the vehicle of consciousness? As we age, the vehicle will fall away (or surgeons will patch you up like an used car), and it will do us much more good to connect with the light of consciousness and less with the bulb-body vehicle. When we do, I believe we’ll be moving forward.
Yours in Success,
James
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