One of my last Old Town pursuits before leaving Chicago was attending meditation services at the Midwest Buddhist Temple. I only had to walk 3 blocks to find myself in a sanctuary that was all-gold-everythang, and after one visit I immediately was all wtf– WHY haven’t I been going here for years? But that there-in lies the main thing I learned at the Buddhist Temple– rather than being angry with myself for not finding it sooner, I should just delight in having found it at all.

I’ve always been hard on myself and all the “mistakes” I’ve made. I wish I could do everything perfectly, and when I don’t (which is every time), I can’t stop running alternate scenarios through my mind. I do the same thing with the future, often futilely attempting to make decisions that will lead to a “mistake-free” path. That was paralyzing in the decision process to come out here. I enjoyed many cheerful, uplifting thoughts such as: wonder if its just not worth it?

But already I don’t live and breathe the mass fate of my life anymore. And I can only credit that to the oasis of living in the moment. So far I’ve had sad moments, elated moments, defeated moments, triumphant moments– but they’ve all been just that, moments. We have a lot of control over things, but we also don’t, and that’s just about the damn best. The sun would rise over the mountains tomorrow even if I wasn’t here to see it. But– I am.

Moment of Gratitude: Life can be easier than we choose to make it.