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If you could back in time, where would you go?
I’d go back to 1967 in Newark, NJ where I went to high school and grew up.
I’d go back
and say to myself Hey, I know the riots just ended and things look bleak. I
know when you take the bus home after dark you feel alone and scared, and girls
scare you a too because you’re in an all-boys school. And I know how it feels
like something’s going on someplace else and you’re missing out. And the political
assassinations nobody can explain. MLK, JFK, Bobby. I know it feels bad. But
believe me. It’s going to get weirder than this.
I’d go back
and say to myself Nothing’s ever definite. You’ll learn that someday. Everything’s
meant to be scary because that’s good. Because scary makes things fun. Not
normal. Not to vanilla. Scary’s got a whole lot of shake-up to it. That’s how
you survive. You embrace the shake-up. Shake-up can be funny, you know. It’s
what makes you funny. It’s how you make people laugh. That’s why when somebody
jumps you and tries taking your money and you say something funny, it eases the
situation. It keeps it calm. Do you remember when somebody tried jumping you
and you made him laugh. Both of them, you made them both laugh and they let you
go. Remember that happening to you? Or has it not happened yet? I’m not good at
keeping time straight in my head.
Just
remember, you’re only 14, and you think everything’s supposed to go a certain
well-polished way. Except dad’s laid off. And mom’s serving fish sticks at way
too many meals. And it makes you angry because you think it shouldn’t be going
this way. It should be more polished.
Except
nothing’s ever polished. That doesn’t mean it’s bad, either. What makes it bad
is your mind seeing it as something bad. Something that shouldn’t be happening
that you stew in and resent. You resent those who love you for things not being
polished enough.
Except
nothing’s polished.
Until you
polish it. Until you stop thinking Hey, things are supposed to be going better
than this. There is no “supposed to”.
There is only how things actually go.
It all
comes down to how your mind sees it.
You
should let your mind see things as they are for the simple reason that that’s
how they are. Do that and it wouldn’t eat you up so much.
There is
no ideal. There is nothing out there that’s the way it’s supposed to be.
There’s only what is now. Not how things should have been in the past. Not how
things should be in the future. Embrace
now. The pain gets better once you allow yourself walk into it. Once you accept
it.
Make
sense? Because, if not, I can always go back to when I came from.
Except
I’ve been there. And I been where you are now.
And I
just thought I’d tell you.
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4 Comments
Great guest post, Hidden Buddha sounds like an excellent book to read!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing it with me and have a spectacular day!
I would love to read this.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing your guest post, bio and book details, Hidden Buddha sounds like an excellent read and I am looking forward to it.
ReplyDeleteI just read Jim Ringel's book 'Wolf'...and I loved it. I can't wait to read 'Hidden Buddha' and '49 Buddhas'.
ReplyDeletePlease try not to spam posts with the same comments over and over again. Authors like seeing thoughtful comments about their books, not the same old, "I like the cover" or "sounds good" comments. While that is nice, putting some real thought and effort in is appreciated. Thank you.