Monday, December 15, 2014

Passion Party #536 - Danger and Courage

There is danger everywhere
and there is danger nowhere.
It takes a lot to be courageous
and all it takes is getting out of bed in the morning.
 
Danger and courage are not for someone else,
someone more courageous,
a big risk-taker with medals on her lapels.
Danger and courage is given to all of us
Life is full of danger
and living life to the fullest is a courageous act.
 
The fight-or-flight instinct,
the reptilian mind may want you to hide under a rock
or become invisible because it feels easy and safe.
It feels easy to play small, just punch the clock, just do the least to get by.
 
But if we must face danger
(and we must, every day)
it feels better to play by one's wits,
to play with courage and an open heart -
the courage to lead
the courage to accept my responsibility
the courage to choose my next action.

Friday, December 12, 2014

Passion Party #535 - Busy-ness and Worthiness

"Let's stop the glorification of busy.  We don't need to use our busy-ness as a measure of worthiness."
- Jennifer Pastiloff

We have certain addictions in our society
that are acceptable.
Its bad to be an alcoholic
but its acceptable to be a workaholic.
Being addicted to poverty is bad
but being addicted to money is good
(of course, who's to say how much in enough?)

In a way, we are addicted to "busy".
We worship at the Temple of Busy
and we teach our children Busy
We fill our time with Busy
and many of us get paid based on how busy we are.

"Busy" does not make you a better person, it just makes you a more busy person.
Perhaps the questions to ask are,
"Does my busy-ness add to the solution or add to the problem?"
and
"Does my busy-ness make me a better person?"
It is time to stop measuring worthiness
based on how busy the person is
and start finding time to ask the important questions.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

Passion Party #534 - Another Year

There is no keeping up with it.
We can do our best to hold on
but the carousel keeps speeding up.
The excitement and fear
that you may be thrown off the horse
as we race around the track.
It is the home stretch now
rushing into the holiday season
holding on for dear life
take a deep breath
remember 20 acres of desert
the vistas and space
There is space for us all
and I have the choice to dismount
and just walk.