Milton: Sonnet on his blindness

When I consider how my light is spent,
Ere half my days, in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide,
Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my maker, and present
My true account, lest he returning chide,
Doth God exact day-labour, light denied?
I fondly ask; but Patience to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, God doth not need
Either man's work or his own gifts, who best
Bear his mild yoke, they serve him best, his state
Is kingly. Thousands at his bidding speed
And post o'er land and ocean without rest:
They also serve who only stand and wait.

Crazy for You

We are all in this together. What I am experiencing, on some level, you are also experiencing. Any separation is an illusion. Even so, given the endless facets of experience, each person's perception of reality can take on a completely different appearance. I am speaking of the core beneath these seeming differences.

What I'm Not Thankful For, What I Didn't Do, and What Did Not Happen

I read another blogger's lists of what they accomplished, what they are grateful for and what happened in 2008.
I felt at once admiration, and consternation at the thought of creating my own list. It doesn't help that I have not been in a particularly positive mood lately. So I have decided to make lists of what I didn't do, what I am not grateful for, and what did not happen in 2008. Here goes:
WHAT I DIDN'T DO:
Go back to school
Volunteer my time more
Sustain my weight loss
Cut expenses more
Recycle everything possible
Make a commitment to much of anything
Work for pay
Cry enough
Finish NaNoWriMo (I got to about 30,000 words)
Spread the love enough

WHAT I AM NOT GRATEFUL FOR:
Okay this is not going to work, because I can't think of one thing that I am "not grateful" for that I cannot also see some sort of silver lining or positive aspect in. I guess I really am an incurable optimist.

WHAT DID NOT HAPPEN:
I was not able to sustain a contrarian attitude for an entire post. Go figure.

Trust

It is not always easy to trust in the process. At times, it may seem as though life is stalled, or that the place you are in is not all where you want to be. I wager that it is at those precise moments that you must trust that you are exactly where you need to be. Life lessons are most often learned at the most uncomfortable times. Whether that is pre-ordained is open to debate, but perhaps it is merely that we are more apt to pay attention then. There is a certain solace, in some sense, in knowing that we are in the right place at the right time. Creating the optimum conditions for learning does not mean we have to suffer. It only means we have to be aware.

Thought for the Day

Every road leads you somewhere.

Suffering

We human beings are attracted to pain and suffering. We believe that suffering must be part of the human condition. Some of us dwell in pain, others may derive pleasure from pain, a few even go through pain into peace.
We imagine that pain is necessary, that suffering is inevitable. Pain can be seductive when it appears as something else, like self-denial or sacrifice or cowardice or guilt. We may think we reject pain in these guises, but we always find pain to be a part of our lives in some form. Most of us think of pain as a purifier, something to be respected. We even use pain and suffering to justify the one thing that should bring only joy: love.
Can you imagine what it is to live without suffering?