Going with the flow.

Home from the Sea.

I had no time at all to paint yesterday having spent the day in Edinburgh.  I visited the Art gallery very early in the morning then spent the whole day walking around clothes shops with my wife. Now, this is not something I enjoy, not at all and would normally by the second or third shop be complaining. I was putting the Tao into practice in a real way, testing my learning and practice to the point or verge of breaking.

It seemed like a fairly fruitless expedition, going from shop to shop and just one small item purchased. I joined another man waiting as his wife visited the fitting room. He took no time at all to tell me how he just hated this.

After trying on many items that I even took time to help select we left and walked the long distance back to where we thought there was a newsagent. Eventually, we stood at the bus stop waiting for the bus due in five minutes. It was then that my wife said she wished she had purchased one of the dresses she had tried on. We made the long return journey and made the purchase.

On the bus home, I quietly thanked the world for what had turned out to be a successful day.

Living in the Tao means going with the flow I had experienced that in a feeling of calm like I had never sensed before.

There is the tale of the man who made a journey.He was a peasant farmer who wanted more of everything. 

One day he received a novel offer. For 1000 rubles, he could buy all the land he could walk around in a day. The only catch in the deal was that he had to be back at his starting point by sundown. 

Early the next morning he started out walking at a fast pace. By midday, he was very tired, but he kept going, covering more and more ground. Well into the afternoon he realized that his greed had taken him far from the starting point. 

He quickened his pace and as the sun began to sink low in the sky, he began to run, knowing that if he did not make it back by sundown the opportunity to become an even bigger landholder would be lost. As the sun began to sink below the horizon he came within sight of the finish line. Gasping for breath, his heart pounding, he called upon every bit of strength left in his body and staggered across the line just before the sun disappeared. 

He immediately collapsed, blood streaming from his mouth. In a few minutes, he was dead. 

Afterwards, his servants dug a grave. It was not much over six feet long and three feet wide.

How Much Land Does a Man Need? In the end, not a great deal.

A recent survey discovered the following facts about how far people would go to fulfil their needs and to hang with anybody else.

 They were asked what they would be prepared to do for £10,000,000? 

Would abandon their entire family (25%)

Would abandon their faith (25%)

Would become prostitutes for a week or more (23%)

Would give up their  citizenships (16%)

Would leave their spouses (16%)

Would withhold testimony and let a murderer go free (10%)

Would kill a stranger (7%)

Would put their children up for adoption (3%)

What does it profit to gain the world and lose your own peace? Have a wonderful day my friends.