More questions...fewer answers...

 “… the race [is] not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong,…but time

 and chance happeneth to them all…” Ecclesiastes 9:11

Who are we?  What are we? What are we supposed to do? How do we find our way in life? What does it mean?

In the shallow water, these questions are answered in casual conversation.

 

We are a  <fill in the label>

We work for <fill in the job>

We have done <fill in the activity>

We have traveled to <fill in the place>

We have received <fill in the recognition>

The 'externals'

They are the markers we use to suggest our credibility and self-worth - the external and fleeting images reflected in the mirror of our lives.  These externals include:

- Property                  - Employment            - Status

- Reputation               - Environment           - Our very bodies

Importantly, we have little power or control over them. We cannot prevent the loss of any of them through unforeseen circumstance or unexpected events.

It’s odd how the externals drive us.  If we are successful, it is because of some action, skill or training: if we fail, we look for an explanation, obstacle, or weakness that blocked the path.  All of this is just background noise. 

While we may do our best to understand our life and move in certain directions, there is no way to predict what truly will or will not happen.  Machiavelli said, “…Fortune is the arbiter of half our actions, but… she still leaves the other half of them, more or less, to be governed by us.”  We may contribute then, but success or failure is not always the result of a clear-cut pathway.  

If we doubt this truth, look to failed predictions made by scholars or so called prophets of many eras and see the folly of thinking we understand the formula for the externals of life. 

The 'internals'

There are things, however, over which we do have control.  They are the internal things, and surprisingly few.

The Stoics say they include:

·      Our opinions,

·      Movement toward some goal in life or way from another

·      Thoughts we entertain, and

·      The body of information we grow in our minds

In short, we have control over the direction ‘of’ and conversation ‘in’ our minds – the internals.  They can be life promoting or life draining.  How they are planted and cultivated has everything to do with the quality and real success of our experience on the planet regardless of the externals!

There is the Biblical story of the farmer who hired men to plant his fields.  The workers planted good seeds, but weeds found their way in amongst the crop.  As the plants grew, the workers noticed the weeds.  They asked the farmer if they should pull them out.  He said, “no…wait until the plants grow more fully to discern the good crop from the weeds.”  He was saying, give the harvest time to mature so that choosing the right plants would be clearer.

Plant and grow productive thoughts

The internals shape and guide us, but must be cultivated to produce a good crop.  This was the task of our teachers, and this is our task for those we teach – helping them see the good and not so good in their (our) lives.  This is done by word and example: Two of my favorites are: 

“Upon the common theaters, indeed, the applause of the audience is of more importance to the actors than their own approbation (approval).  But on the stage of life, while conscience claps, let the world hiss!  On the contrary if conscience disapproves, the loudest applauses of the world are of little value.” – McCullough D, John Adam’s letter to Charles Cushing, John Adams

"The one thing that doesn't abide by majority rule is a person's conscience."
- Lee H, Atticus Finch to his daughter Scout, To Kill a Mockingbird

Our mind is an isolated space, the quiet place, and the sacred room into which no other can peer – Machiavelli again, “Everyone sees what you appear to be, few feel what you are.”  This is where we find comfort or distress…as it has been our entire lives, what we have chosen to build in our minds IS the world in which we live.  It IS the lens through which we see everything, and its perceptions ARE our reality.

This suggests we should focus our energies on the things over which we do have control – where our lives truly exist…because other than our thoughts and the drive that comes from within, little is truly under our control. 

What’s next?

These few words don’t answer the questions that began this week’s entry.  Considering the sheer volume of material that has been written about these subjects, it would be folly bordering on ignorant arrogance to think this writer might have any new insights.  Having said that, subsequent postings will address a sense of what they mean to me.  

Why bother?

Oliver Wendell Holmes said, "Many people die with their music still in them. Why is this so? Too often it is because they are always getting ready to live. Before they know it, time runs out." 

The clock is ticking…

- ted