"When you begin to think outside the box, you often become some other "leaders" lousy follower. That usually costs something" (Andy Rayner)

"Our guardian angels are bored." (Mike Foster)

It's where I feel I'm at these days. “In the second half of life, it is good just to be a part of the general dance. We do not have to stand out, make defining moves, or be better than anyone else on the dance floor. Life is more participatory than assertive, and there is no need for strong or further self-definition” (Falling Upward. Richard Rohr.120).

Monday, January 6, 2014

Is Our Life Scripted Like A Travel Itinerary?

I thought this travel advice was wonderfully insightful. It might possibly be excellent advice for all of life too.... about the danger of writing down an Itinerary for a trip, or about our life.

I never thought of it before.... but to much of my life was an itinerary. The word perfectly describes how we script life in advance, and then are blinded to the reality in front of us. Not able to take time to enjoy it, because it was not planned.  
 "Just like it’s impossible to know what will happen in any future, near or far, it is impossible to police a trip with a piece of paper, no matter how bolded the font. It's like trying to reign in life with absurd expectations like wanting to be married by a certain age or have children by another..... it’s the happy acceptance of our ignorance and the subsequent open-mindedness and willingness to observe and learn as things come. To choose where to go and what to see once you're already there, once you’re present and more informed, dealing with the real and not the imagined situation... It's the idea that you will make your choices just before the branching of the road and not three miles back.... It’s easy to confuse a lack of planning with recklessness. But there is a difference between this perceived recklessness and recklessness of the moment. The difference is one of speculation and reality. In reality, I trust myself to make the responsible choices,.... . An itinerary is simply an absurdly high expectation – the expectation that the world is clockwork and you are the clockmaker.... And more often than not comes the implication that this choice of conduct is unsustainable, a by-product of the wishy-washiness of youth, when in reality, it’s the healthiest outlook I can imagine. With it, I allow myself the freedom of possibility, to know precisely what I can control and what I can’t – I am the pirate captain of my vessel and no one else’s – to open the cages and burn the blinders we affix. And to do all this, the itinerary must burn as well. .." (The Squeaky Robot)

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