In Awe of Life

I work in the forecasting business. I make educated guesses about the future of economies,   politics and asset classes. I have my moments of brilliance, but sometimes I simply look  dumb as well. In search of perfection, I always feel I am so close, but somehow I never seem to be able to reach it. It is what it it is. At the end of each year I look back, tend to be  pretty happy with my accomplishments and get ready for the next one.

Are we here to get what we want? Are we here to be successful or to be happy? Are we here to transcend? Well, it depends on your perspective I guess. My goal is to stay connected with the Way and I can honestly say that life keeps you pretty busy with that goal in mind. I feel like a dancer who improvises spontaneously, performing to a song that he has never heard before, yet, that feels instinctively familiar.

As the dancer can't grow a belly with all his high-intensity dancing, we can't form a comfortable personality blanket as we aim to stay connected with the Way. Being in the Now, the ego somehow retreats. Being in awe of the complexity of life, you have no desire to scheme. And if you miss a step along the Way at time, you have no time for regrets as you are too busy focusing on the directions of your dancing partner who pushes you gently in the right direction.

We are in awe with life; we are in love with the divine music. Perfection exists, but we patiently wait for it to come our way. As a matter of fact, it is the perfect imperfection that keeps us experiencing Her every step of the Way.

Flipping Radio Stations

As many of you know, I am a positive thinker. Sure, I acknowledge it when the shit hits the fan and also don't consider myself too kosher to jump right in and clean it up. Yet when it comes to the outlook, my focus zooms immediately into the blue sky no matter whether it is raining or cloudy at the moment. That's what my spiritual journey has taught me. Get a blank piece of paper, sketch out a world you want to live in and it is in your will-power to get the job done - as long as you are willing to pay the price.

Some of you may also know that the lyrics of songs on the radio talk to me. So frequently when either the tune of a song or its lyrics didn't quite feel right, I used to flip channels until I found a better one. However, one fine day my six year old son remarked while we were driving, "Papa, you are switching the songs too often." Wow, these words hit me like a sledge hammer. Sure, I will still switch when the tune of a song doesn't talk to me, but I am now thinking twice before I change a song only because its message is an inconvenient one. After a conversation with my friend Su Zhen I understood what was going on: you can be a positive thinker as much as you want, but unless you acknowledge the negative sentiments that are floating inside of you, the Tao will have to remind you of what's really going on.

Today was an example in that direction. When I left for school with the boys, Miley Cyrus's Wrecking Ball was playing. Normally I would always switch this song even though its tune immediately caught me. To see that beautiful woman sitting naked on a wrecking ball, crashing into walls is just a little too much for me. Yet, immediately when I turned on the car, my son started singing along so there was little I could do about it. After I had dropped off the kids at school the song was playing again and guess what, I turned up the volume and just accepted whatever sentiment there was in me. Get the frictio