Put a little tolerance in yer heart :)

“Every one of us is, in the cosmic perspective, precious. If a human disagrees with you, let him live. In a hundred billion galaxies, you will not find another.”

Carl Sagan

Ask me no questions

And I'll try really hard not to tell you any lies.

I wonder why people think they have the absolute right to know everything about you. Today, I was struck by just how many things people ask you at first meeting, expecting you be willing to divulge without discrimination. This bit of world wisdom struck me today as I met someone new, and in the spirit of cordiality, asked her where she last worked. This unleashed a barrage of questions: How long have I worked, when am I leaving, where am I going, is this my first job, what was my first, blah, blah blah, blah, blah. As I brilliantly diverted her, my mind wandered.

Is it because, now, in the age of "sharing" everything, keeping info to yourself makes you an "introvert", even "a little shy, weird you know", "closed up"? We seem to be expected to tell all-who we  work with, what we do EXACTLY please, how much we make, what we want to do in life, where we WANT TO BE, who we're with, for how long, what the sex is like.We're even expected to rationalize our life choices and beliefs, explain why we go to our churches, give money to beggars, wear our hair this way, decide to not study, not marry, not have a happy brood of kids by the tender age of 22.

Someone called me "closed up" recently. A good friend too, at that. Well, hell, if I don't want to divulge it, you can't do a good damn thing about it :)

But tell me, really, where do you SEE yourself in 10 years? ;)

Wisdom

 "So we keep on waiting, waiting, waiting on the world to change"...John Mayer is crooning in to my ears. He's a wise dude. Been hearing wisdom from some strange corners today.

One says that you must look at where you want to be in another 10 years, and aim from there onward. Sometimes even given up on the vague ambitions of "what I really love to do" to achieve that picket fence, the cheery patter of little feet, the security of home, family and a steady income.

One says that you should always, always make the right connections. Be interested in people, talk to people, and one day, one of them will point you in the direction of where you need to be. That it will always come, no matter what.

So young, these people, and yet so wise. It's fascinating to think of where they have come from, and where they have been in life to come to terms with these (sure, both) truths.

  Everybody is making their own change because the world ain't changing for us.

Content?

Over a long overdue visit, a Wise Teacher told us that she stays happy and content by not expecting anything from anyone. That way, no body disappoints, and no expectations fall so far short that one ends up feeling silly in the first place for expecting.

Mulled this over. It's really a superb plan. Very sensible, and one of the precepts of most wide-spread religious doctrines.

But really, we're only human. Expectation seems to be the in-built feature of the human psyche. One can try not to expect, or have low expectations but invariably you bounce right back to your happy state of what ideally should be. And it's dangerous, and it hurts terribly when things/places/mostly people don;t live up to your expectations.
But really, who are we to complain? What would life be without expectations? It would clearer, yes. It would be less cluttered, fewer of us would suffer from the renowned "I want to bank my head hard against the wall| syndrome, but it would be, unreal. I can't imagine a life without unrealistic expectations.
It seems vaguely unnatural and relevant only for higher states of consciousness.