The Buddhists have a saying: "Speak and act from unwise thoughts, and sorrow will follow you as surely as the wheel follows the ox who draws the cart. Speak and act from wise thoughts and happiness will follow you as closely as your shadow, unshakable."
So, let's just do that, okay? Let's do the second part, choose the wise stuff and experience happiness as unshakable.
Well, I've been experimenting with this for awhile now and can say with some confidence, it takes a helluva lot of choosing--because I have a whole lot of unwise thoughts.
On the other hand, I've been able to notice that when I go with the flow of my usual thinking patterns 'sorrow,' or its cousins disappointment, confusion, frustration, regret, etc., etc., etc., keep coming like a whole parade of carts. And when I do make an effort to notice unwise thoughts, let 'em go and make room for something saner-wiser-healthier, the results make me a lot happier.
So it makes a whole lot of sense to me to keep working with this--because happiness is a wonderful thing.
Nothing is more helpful in this work than the 'Sacred Pause.' The Sacred Pause is a momentary time-out. Whatever it is we're thinking and about to do, we don't do it. Instead, we pause. Simple as that. We let go of the 'usual' in order make room for 'something-else'.
And in this moment of flexibility and openness, we bring a certain understandable bias for this 'something else' to be helpful, healthy, positive, wise.
Each time we enter one of these small moments of a sacred pause it's like coming to a fork in the road--or five forks in the road. Without the pause we almost always go our usual way--and wind up getting where we usually get. Pausing--and being open to a new direction--we wind up going somewhere else. Going the usual way we keep getting what we always got. Going a different way gets us something different.
In Proverbs, Wisdom calls aloud from crossroads. Taking a moment to listen is transformational. Just like in the Buddhist saying above--Speak and act from wise thoughts and happiness will follow you as closely as your shadow, unshakable.
Add one Sacred Pause today. Several tomorrow. More next week. Notice new forks in the road. Trust that Wisdom will speak. Wait for Wisdom to speak. Choose a few new ways--just for the fun of it. Learn from 'mistakes,' give yourself a pat on the back for being curious, adventurous.
Smile....
Five roads diverged in a yellow wood,
and you? You paused and trusted and listened--
and chose a new way.
And that, sisters and brothers,
will make a difference.
