Milestone

I'm about to hit my 1 000th post. In fact, the next post will be my thousandth. To someone who writes on and off, it is not much of a milestone.

My writing habits are erratic, just like the way I think. I see life as a single event with simultaneous occurrences which do not make much sense in general. I'm not an illogical person but I prefer to see it that way.

Another reason for avoiding linear sequencing is to avoid the "blame game." It is often easy to say that we are going to look forward and forget the past but few people actually manage to.

Allow me to share a little story that I've read some time back.

A young Buddhist monk walked with an elder monk on their way back to their temple after several days of travel. On the way, they came to a creek bed, the banks of which had softened to a wet, slushy mess. At the edge of the creek stood an attractive young woman dressed in traditional gowns, who was obviously wanting to cross the water but had no idea how to contend with the mud. If she attempted to traverse it, her legs would surely sink shin-deep into the muck.

As they approached the young lady, the younger monk averted his eyes and looked down, for theirs was a stern discipline, and monks were not allowed to gaze upon a woman, let alone speak to or interact with her, particularly when the woman was as fetching and young as this one. To his horror, however, the older monk walked straight toward the woman and asked her if she needed to cross. The woman shyly said yes, and without another word, he hoisted her piggy-style onto his back and carried the woman across the creek. The younger monk followed them across the creek, stunned. Once on the other side, the woman profusely thanked her new friend, shook his hand, and resumed her journey, disappearing into the trees.

The young man was aghast, but respectful of his elder, he held his tongue. For three hours they walked side by side, all the while the student confused as to how his companion could so flagrantly violate one of the cardinal rules of their temple. The older one had, after all, not only engaged the woman, he had spoken to her, and then not only did he touch her, he carried her on his back! How could such a thing be justified?!

For another hour they walked in total silence, and finally came the point when the young man could stand it no longer. He stepped forward two paces and then whirled on his walking companion to face him in anger. "How could you do that?!" he shouted.

"Do what?" asked the older monk, looking at him.

He rolled his eyes. "It is a sin to touch a woman, a violation to even gaze upon her, and yet you spoke with her. You...you...shook her hand!" He sputtered in his anger. "You carried her across the creek! YOU CARRIED HER!!"

"And you still carry her," said his older friend, smiling the faintest of smiles and bowing slightly. "I left her back at the river."

Many of us carry things in our hearts and to let these things down can be really very hard. However, I had a pleasant surprise at a little gathering recently when a friend reminded me that a colleague actually offended me a lot some time ago and I went, "What? I don't remember. What did he do?" And the friend had to remind me.

This was interesting because I used to think I would forgive but never forget. These days, I am so lazy to even remember. Ok, I admit: I'm finding that taking offense requires too much work. So, I'm just letting a lot of crap slide off my back once the issue is resolved.

And there is another thing I realized. When one is unhappy with the situation, one can either tackle the situation or change one's attitude. I'm leaning more towards the former. If a situation sucks, then work towards changing the situation. No point trying to be the nice guy and tolerate the unreasonable.

Even if it means some toes will have to be chopped off, a diplomatic retaliation is far superior to staying mum about things. I'm past the point where I can tolerate any more nonsense. Like I've blogged before, I am now unwilling to suffer any fools. If my hitting back hurts you, how about YOU change the situation or your attitude for a change? It takes two hands to clap and if you are just out to take advantage of the situation, then you've really got to hope that the person you're messing with have IQ lower than yours. And mostly, I doubt you can find someone like that.

That is why I am eternally thankful to those I call my friends. These are the only people in my life where I'll let them remind me if I need to change my attitude. Hey, these advisors are just about the best people I have in my life and I treasure them a lot.

So, so much is written. But what do I really want? I am wondering if I should begin a new blog or should I carry on over here. It's nice to have an ever growing blog but it gets a little predictable after a while. This is the Aquarius side of me talking - there is nothing I embrace and resist more than change. And let me think about it. Perhaps I might just start another blog.

I'll keep you all informed.