Open Your Eyes

Open Your Eyes

Attention! Attention! Attention! This is what is wrong with this place. We don’t pay attention enough to our external circumstances. Yes, the inner life is vastly more real. But the outer life informs that reality. We look in mirrors when we look out there. There can be no compromise on this. One informs the other.

When you get up in the morning do you dress yourself with eyes closed? No, of course not. You look at what you’re doing. You choose colors according to your mood. You look forward to the day and prepare to present yourself in the best possible light. Plaids do not go with polka dots.

So how is it that we still forget and choose to block certain things out? Are we not blinding ourselves to some essential reality? Of course we are. It’s a survival mechanism. We’ve been doing it since the dawn of time. Children do it all the time. Blocking out unpleasantness is a favorite pastime of ours, until we meet it again, and again, and again.

These things recycle you know, and you are responsible for your life once you reach adult maturity. Adulthood says “you can take care of yourself now.” So what do you do if you feel you can’t? Do you rely on others? Well, they have their lessons too. So what we have to do is work at this together.

We share with each other what we can. The rest we set aside for another day when we are better able to handle the bigger challenges. For now, we concentrate on what’s in front of us. And the key to getting there is sharing. Sharing! Sharing! Sharing!