A Brief Message From The Joint Chiefs Of Staff; The Buddha, And Whitewater

Today's little message from me to myself.

Focus on the solution, not the problem.

No matter what your life is presenting to you at this moment, remember what the buddha taught:

The mind is the forerunner of all things. With our thoughts, we make the world.

Remember what the whitewater teaches. Don't look at the overhanging rock that will swallow you up. Keep looking where you want to go, and paddle like hell. It's the same thing you tell a kid who is learning to ride a bike. "Keep looking where you want to go. Don't look at the obstacle."

What else does the river teach? Each water molecule alone is insignificant. If the molecules get organized, and flow together, they carve the grand canyon. Given time, given gravity, given the absence of diversions, it's inevitable.

That's all I've got today. Clear your mind and be where you are right now, and focus on creating what you want to create. That is what we call inner work, and that inner work transforms the world.

Try to turn your face to the sun, take a deep breath and let that in.

Everything else is illusory, arising out of imagination, pulling us into fear and overwhelm, and rendering us impotent.

Pick a direction, and keep all your energy directed towards what you know is true, and you can engineer the impossible.

We have got to do our own inner work. Otherwise all we are is a mess of unfinished business.