What's Important

How much do you engage yourself in what is truly real and important in life? That's the individual question.

Ted Danson
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Hello Bruce
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The questions might be rather what do we consider truly real and important, or how many things do we allow to get in the way of what is truly real and important? There's the laundry that has to be done, the dishes washed, a shopping list to be made, the kids off to school, the complexities of human relationships, the stress of work. Or do we just relax into a hum drum mentality and let the truly real and important things pass us by.

One day I went into Central Park in New York to watch the marathon. I was near the finish line. Behind me were two people, a man and a woman, standing on folding chairs watching the runners go by. They were waiting to see their daughter cross the finish line. While they were there the woman kept up a constant chatter about other people, the ones she knew, the ones she worked with, family members and neighbors. Her talk was all about fingernail polish, hair color, men's ties and shoes, this one's tone of voice and that one's mustache. I thought to myself "Doesn't this woman ever say something real and important?" But I suppose she thought it was all important, vital information in the over all cosmic scheme of things. The man said nothing except an occasional "Hm." Finally he said he thought he had seen the girl pass and went off to the finish line to find her. The woman became quiet, which was a blessed relief, but I'm sure her mind was working away at ties and hair color.

And how can we get to the point where we can look at all those busy chores that are interfering with any engagement with reality and importance. How do we get to the point where we can say "Stop." It is surely an individual moment. It happens according to certain circumstances, one of which is being ready. Admitting that we are ready for something else than the ordinary. It's like saying there must be more to life than this.

To some people the engagement of important ideas is an interruption in their life of daily tasks, rather than the tasks taking a back seat to the worlds true realities.

It is truly up to the individual how he approaches the obligation to be aware of the fancies and facts that float in the atmosphere of thought. We are not free from the duty of thinking. How we do it is either a drudge or a miracle.

DB - The Vagabond
Never give up.