Ever get stung by anticipation? Meditation for 1/13/14

Seabrook Island; SC

“I am in the action business – I don’t worry about outcomes.”  -  Anon

“Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”  - Don Quixote

     How often do we find ourselves waiting for the outcome of some circumstance at the expense of all else?  It may be a job or a school we applied for, a potential love interest, a possible promotion, an inheritance or some other situation we feel might turn into a windfall for us.  We await the pending outcome, and meanwhile we put many of our other opportunities on hold.  And it seems as often as not some glitch we did not anticipate comes along and our best laid plans are for naught.  Now we are angry about two things – that what we wanted didn't happen and that we are now stagnant – we have no momentum and we have no plan.  Sound familiar?

     At first glance, the notion of “being in the action business” and “staying out of outcomes” seems naïve at best.  Isn't it proper to be attentive to what the future holds?  Don’t we hear about the genius of the top business strategists who correctly predict materials and markets?      Well, we have to ask ourselves this question.  What more can we do than the best we can do?  Beyond seeking wise guidance and taking the proper actions to the best of our ability, what could we possibly do more?   What circumstance is ever improved by stressing or fussing over it?  And the answer of course is zilch.  We try to rationalize anxiety and worry because our ego desperately wants to control the future, and anyone who observes themselves and is the least bit honest realizes that this is one of the furthest things from reality.  We have no control – the unexpected will almost always happen and even if it doesn't, today’s windfall or crisis usually becomes irrelevant in a short period of time anyway.

     You sow what you reap goes the biblical saying.  And so it makes sense to keep sowing the best seeds possible in the most fertile soil.  It makes sense to keep the weeds pulled so they don’t choke the seeds we planted yesterday.  And it makes sense to till the next field rather than sit and watch yesterday’s crop grow- or wither.  So what are we waiting for?  What are we in anticipation of at the expense of what we could be doing today?  Because in this way anticipation and hope can rob us of the hours and days that might have been just as surely as anxiety and fear do.  And besides, if our concerns are kept to the simple three – Cleaning our own house, trusting God and helping others, the future just isn't all that relevant.

Today, may I take care of the business at hand. 

Have a great Tuesday !!

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David