Anger and frustration have held on to me the past couple of weeks. A certain situation has truly provoked my otherwise gentle little heart. The situation has raised a most interesting pondering. How to approach a difficult situation? I can sit and allow the emotions to pass through me. The practice of acceptance. But sometimes that feels so passive, as if I am simply letting what is to be without accepting either responsibility for cause or solution. I can sit and ask for a solution. Like acceptance, it feels as if I am again not only ignoring responsibility but passing the buck somewhere else.

I truly believe in the innate undeniable goodness of all life. A belief I will hold despite the world news. Whether we were kicked out of the garden or need to learn to release attachments isn’t always the appropriate question. All life is our teacher. Goodness in the world begins when I accept the learning process of releasing and clearing all that would inhibit my own goodness from unfolding.  As hate and anger’s infectious nature are immediate, so is the nature of Love and compassion. Begin with one is all that is required.

So what is the approach or question I should ask? Perchance it is a third alternative – teach me what I need to know to unfold. Ahhh, truly the dreaded poison dart. Sort of like praying for patience— watch out! To ask to learn what I need to unfold is to be willing to be schooled. It is the willingness to change. I transform. The situation may or may not. The schooling is in my change. I am the one that learns, releases, gains insight, not another or external circumstances. Knowing the way our goodness became so cluttered and covered will, in some ways, never address the true question of what will I do? … Passive acceptance? Wait for a miracle or solution? Or, instead of returning to the garden, as Joni Mitchell would say, I go to “school” and change. What, sweet Life, do I need to learn to unfold? As I shared in a little scrich the other day, the Tao says growth is a shock. We get schooled. Life is for learning…All gurus welcome…Then I can return to the garden.