Cowboy Wisdom

On Wyoming NPR this morning, they were talking about a Western songwriter who has some "trademark phrases," including the following: Always ride the horse in the direction it's going. I thought, "He's a Vedic cowboy!" A central tennet of the Veda is that happiness and a richer experience of life comes when you learn to detect, at every moment, where things are evolving forward in your world, and where the blocks and obstacles are, and when you choose to move in the direction of the former, not the latter. When you meditate, you begin to peel away the noise and distraction so you start to notice, at every moment, where this frictionless path is. It's already there; like a river that is flowing forward, things are always evolving, renewing, moving forward creatively. The problem is, we are often too caught up in our thoughts, expectations, and worries to notice where this "evolutionary path" lies. We end up getting into situations that are dead ends; relationships that repeat old funky patterns, jobs where we feel frustrated and stuck. From a quieter and less stressed state as a daily meditator, however, we find that we're naturally looking around our environment with sharper vision and more space in our awareness to notice, Where are things flowing more easily, where is there effortless opportunity and support? Where are the "coincidences" and "serendipity" happening to help our ideas come to pass? Where are there obstacles seemingly in the way, blocking us from getting things done? Nature is always organizing things to evolve and improve and refine. The nature of all things is to grow and keep creating. But there is an aspect of Nature, of course, which involves stasis—non-growth—and an aspect that, naturally, is about destruction, death, and decay. All these aspects exist in every moment of every day, and it's our choice where we align ourselves and our efforts. Going with the forward, creative, growth-oriented flow, or riding the horse in the direction it's already going, is one of the basic principles that begin to truly change your life, IMHE. (That's In My Humble Experience for you non-acronym types).