Daily meditation for February 6th, 2016
Adapting
As animals, we all have the ability to adapt to our environment as it changes or as we move through it. When we get cold we can put on a jacket. When we get warm we can take a layer of clothing off. Even in the man made world we can adapt to different systems and ways other people do things. As humans we also have the technology and no how to change the environment to suit our needs.
When we make the environment adapt to our needs, we are being viruses. If we always have to fiddle with the thermostat to make the temperature perfect, if we have to adjust our seats in cars, the way things at work need to be just so are all ways we make the environment adjust to us. This is selfish and extremely human.
Just let go. Just be cold. Just sit. Just do the job the best way possible in the situation you are in. Try adapting to the environment. Try to accept the world around you as it is now. Not how it used to be, or how you wish it would be, but as it is right now.
When you change the environment to suit your needs, that means someone else either has to adapt to your new environment or has to change it to how they would like it. This is how wars start. This is how the Spanish Inquisition or the Holocaust started, some Jew kept turning down the heat to save some money and some Spanish Catholic or Nazi, or Nazi collaborator sent all the Jews to the racks and ovens. Just adapt.
Prayer
God of People Who Say They Have OCD and Probably Don’t, But Try to Act Like They Do,
Hear my prayer,
for your followers are changing everything,
so that they can be as close to happiness as they’ll let themselves be,
but being really annoying to anyone that has to share space with him or her,
and let me have the patience to handle those people.
God of HVAC and Water Heater Kings,
may I be okay with the way things are,
instead of turning dials, shifting seats, changing procedures, washing hands, upset if the muffin they get everyday isn’t there, making things go in some order especially an order that it isn’t in right now, turning things down and turning things up, making decisions that things should be just so and not anything else even if someone would benefit from it being not just so, rearrange things right after someone arranges something…
and just let things be.
God of the Fool,
let me carry the things I need,
in one bag,
that will allow me to adapt to most situations,
and let me travel fearless and be a friend wherever I go.
Amen.
Craft
Someday you might need to get out of town quick. I’m not really going to go through why one might need to get out of town, but sometimes we can’t say goodbye or have our favorite slice of pizza for the last time, but we just need to be on a plane, a train or a car driven by someone from the Greek or Lebanese community that specializes in delivering people to different places without all the troublesome ID and paperwork that sometimes go with getting into places.
You must have a backpack that is small. Don’t get a backpacking backpack, but a nice one you’d get for school. Black or some neutral color that doesn’t attract attention from behind. You are going to need to walk through crowds of people anonymously. The most popular brand and make is perfect.
A pair of wool socks – it must be wool so you can wash and dry quickly.
A rolled up pant and jacket – they make travel suits that are wrinkle free, but it’ll still look crumpled, but you are on the move, not at a photo shoot for JCrew.
One wrinkle free button down shirt. An anonymous color.
Toiletries: Toothpaste, toothbrush, travel body soap, shampoo, conditioner, shaving cream with razor. You don’t need a lot because you can steal or buy these items anywhere in the world.
Cash. A good amount in small bills in varied amounts. Also a Visa that you don’t use. This card is just for this situation. The amount varies to situation to situation. $20,000 to 50,000 is ideal for undetermined amount of time gone.
Passport and Social Security card. This is just for dealing with anything when you set up your new life. You can get a new identity from the Greek or Lebanese friends if you are literally disappearing or pulling an insurance scam.
I always like to have a journal, stationary, envelopes and stamps.
A small caliber pistol if you don’t need to move in and out of airports.
Have this not in plain sight, but somewhere that is very easily grabbed but won’t get stolen. I chose a place that won’t change, like where I live or where I work, but somewhere that will be constant.
If you don’t think you’ll ever need to disappear quickly and silently you are not living a full enough life.
Goal
It is important to be able to roll with whatever life brings to you. Instead of bemoaning the weather because it doesn’t suit your needs, change your needs to match the weather. If you no longer care about hiking and now you are more interested in your book that you are reading you won’t care that it is raining. See? Life is easy when you stop expecting the world to cater to your needs.