Farsighted

The air is cool and clear, with a full moon setting on the sea.  She is beautiful, as always. The temperature is at 47 degrees fahrenheit and today is Wednesday, a day when many refer to this day of the week as "over the hump" day.  These days, every day feels like that.

Words come in the morning through different channels.  This morning, the word that came was "farsightedness".  The point is that now is all of eternity.  What happens today will have an effect on the next day, the next week, the next month, the next year - to forever.  

This seems to be the knowledge that activists for facing climate change want us to understand.  Our "now" has big implications for later.  And the later is coming whether we want it to happen, or not.  So what can be understood about human nature that makes it possible to ignore the consequences of our actions, modest as those actions may be, and keep moving to disasters?  

There are some who dedicate themselves to the task of making the world a better place by studying phenomenon in our environment; others, decide to engage systems we have built - finance, politics, communications.  Still others will choose to get closer to humanity itself, and become healers, teachers, and specialists in birthing new life and supporting transitions out of this life.  And each role taken has the common quality of having an opportunity to cultivate and refine oneself.  

Being farsighted probably also has the effect of reducing anxiety and fear because one knows that all things are truly impermanent.  Life as we know it terminates - no matter who you are, what you do and how much effort gets put into the living path one chooses.  So the real opportunity is to develop a capacity to care, to be grateful, to find a way to turn misery into a life worth living.

It was moving to read about a man with 4th stage colon cancer who is facing the end of life within months.  His attitude is that the cancer itself is a gift that is making the moments he has now, incredibly full of meaning and joy. Life events turned out well for this person.  He was a researcher, a teacher, a curious one who loved exploring the limits of consciousness. His research put him at a major university where he could study the medicinal effects of psychedelics. The work, he discovered, allows for the opening of healing paths for those with traumatic brain injuries, mental health conditions that render a person unable to function in daily life.  He does not hold an idealistic notion of what the use of psychedelics might offer. Some trips are bad, like life.  But with guidance, trips can open a whole new, undiscovered avenue toward accessing the meaning of life.  Wow.  

The man is curious about this walk to the end of this life.  He is unafraid, still in exploration about the entire process.  His attitude is not giving in to sadness and despair;  he is farsighted.  He sees, literally, a once in a lifetime experience and wants those around him to know that gratitude and love are where it's at – all the way to the end of the ride.