7 for Sunday

The mind finds something it likes and wants more — not wealth, just more. A. A. Milne’s river, grown up now, moves slowly because it finally knows where it’s going and sees no reason to rush. Meanwhile, Seneca points out that hurrying from place to place is pointless when your troubles are traveling with you.

The summer heat slows everything and the instinct is to go still, which makes it worse. Comforts become necessities, and enough of them peel you away from common feeling with the rest of humanity. The trap isn’t the discomfort itself — it’s doubling it with criticism. Say the nice things out loud anyway.

The forest survives not because it’s orderly but because it’s diverse — and the systems-builder reads that sentence and files it under things he wished he’d learned thirty years ago. By the end, a list of “last times” starts losing words, then letters, then trails off entirely, the way moments do.

What transforms raw effort into ethical action? There was a time, not too long ago, when I had the work-ethic, grit, determination, bull-headed dial twisted to 11. I believe I understand the error, and sometimes I actually feel that a lower setting would be better. This is the fear, when people start being kind to […]

Is stopping failure, or wisdom? A friend once said, “Life is full of compromises which you cannot avoid. So don’t compromise with yourself.” But if aspiring was our true fulcrum, you’d be on your throne already. Here’s the truth: It’s not the heights we aspire to but the FLOOR WE PUT UP WITH that determines […]

Can I grow without clarity? I struggle to acknowledge my progress without big-picture clarity. I get a ton done, but it’s a blur. I grope for clarity, hoping it might empower me to continue. What are you working on? When will you change your mind? What can you learn, what can you challenge? ~ Seth Godin, […]

How much of my life is shaped by choice—and how much is an illusion of control? Twice I didn’t act upon his invitation. I had no idea the second time was my last chance. Then he died. We make countless decisions every day. Some seem trivial and some seem important, but often it’s only clear […]

When even flexibility wears you out, what’s left? With the power of hindsight I can see there was an age of fire. There was a long period—too long, probably—of trying to carve a path through the world. A period of trying to make a dent in the universe. Making my mark. I think it’s telling […]

Is this tension serving me? If you’re just reacting to whatever life throws at you, then any armchair philosophizing about life’s purpose or finding your Life’s Work is, frankly, pointless. I’m not criticizing going through life in reacting mode; if one is crushed by situation or station, then you necessarily have your work cut out […]

Can we invite insight instead of chasing it? I’m struck often by interesting relationships between how words are spelled and their meaning. Taken literally, the meaning of “sight” is what our eyes normally do, and things which can be seen are “in sight.” Now consider “insight,” which is about apprehending some new (to us) idea. […]