Beyond Control

Good Day,

Last week many of you made notice that I did not post anything to The Daily Buddha for the days of Thursday and Friday. It was the first time in almost two years that I have missed a post (much less two!) and as much as I would have loved to not miss the opportunity, it simply was beyond my control.

You see I was downtown taking some classes at Emory University and staying at the local Emory Inn, a off site campus/hotel arrangement for visiting students and executives who attend special programs of study. I had settled in to my room and unpacked my laptop to see about connecting to the free internet hot spot. After several minutes of errors and locked up browser windows it was becoming apparent that me and my little MacBook were going to have trouble.

After a visit to the front desk it was confirmed that the Inn was not exactly MAC friendly. I decided to go back to the campus where I had access but once I arrived there the class rooms were locked up and the wifi point did not extend to the outside common areas!

It was apparent that the situation was beyond my current means, so I made the decision to let it go.

Life is very much the same way. We yearn to keep our routines intact as move through life and when the time comes that we must change, or move in a different direction we kick and squirm and go through all types of motions trying to preserve the order we have set up in our life. Sometimes we manage to put the train back on the tracks, other times we do nothing more than prolong the derailing, and some times we simply need to recognize the power and beauty of letting go.

Letting go can be tough, after all it's not an instinct but a disciplined choice. A choice that gets easier and clearer as we gain the experience recognizing what action to apply to each event as they occur in our life. Things are rarely ever in our control for more than a few seconds. It's how we respond to this that truly makes us pliable and more open to life.

I am back home safe, sound and just a little bit wiser in more ways than I could have imagined, but then that is always the way it goes when I allows things to leave my hands and go beyond my own control!

Peace and Love, Jim