Skills

Skies are clear this morning, with blue coming into the day.  The temperature sits at 62 degrees fahrenheit, but feels warmer.  Today is Tuesday.

Listening to the voice of old teachers has opened doors to other times, before I was born. And it helps to know that over thousands of years, things change only slightly when it comes to human beings.  Maybe we are just "late bloomers.".

The experiences we have with life, trying so hard to control, plan, strategize, and manage takes so much life energy.  It's sometimes very enjoyable - when you are able to engage in this kind of activity with those who you feel are trustworthy, capable, and have that secret sauce that makes for a delicious encounter - whether the plans work or not.  

Then of course, there are the disappointments, setbacks, twists of fate that come along - uninvited and by definition, disruptive!  The strategy is not going to work; the careful attention to detail just went out the window; the cooperation turned into conflict in a blink of an eye.  Inexplicable, frustrating and the result is a loss of balance.

All the more reason to train oneself as best as one can - to expect, and yet don't expect. Go through life expecting the best, but don't expect things to turn out the way you want, wish, or would like.  It is great when things go smoothly – one should expect this becuase it's what you have worked so hard to ensure will happen. This is certainly the preferred way - and most of the time as a result of good planning, the desired result will appear.  Now and then, the result will not be what was intended.  And this is where the great training opportunity arises!

In the unexpected is where one has a chance to see what one has really "learned" in life.  It's the skill that is essential to living in wholeness.  We have all kinds of ways to explain how to get there - managing our energy output, watching our ego expansions, being aware of our insecurities.  The skill set that is never explicitly taught, and is constant in life's lessons being given free of charge, with no particular institution or teacher - except oneself.  The curriculum requires much more alignment between the body and mind and spirit.  Advancement in developing the skill doesn't get reflected in certificates, degrees, or awards.  The excellence in learning the lessons is reflected in how one meets the moment of outcomes not meant to happen after so much effort has been put into a plan.

And of course, the plan is equally capable of producing beautiful surprises that yield outcomes that one could not have imagined possible.  So how does one move through life with the non-existent, but very real "training program" of life?

Expect to encounter moments that lead to unintended outcomes with the appropriate human qualities of being happy, sad, angry, joyful, grateful, resenful, and so much more. Then, realize that it is the opportunity to engage in life itself, not the outcomes, that will lead to deep understanding.