The Tibetans have a saying;
You will have to stand for a very long time
with your mouth wide open
before a roasted partridge will fly into it…
It is a rather droll way of expressing high levels of improbability, but nevertheless useful, in reminding us that some things that we may pine and hope for are simply ‘unrealistic.’
The fact is that we could stand outside ‘forever,’ with our mouths agape and there is no way in the world that a ‘roasted partridge’ will ever fly in!
The odds are completely against this ever happening and it is like this also with a lot of things that we may cling very vehemently to as aspirations, hopes, dreams and wishes.
This is not to say that we should not have any. It is only to point out that it is wiser to actually get out and take the needed steps that would enable an ‘outcome’ to eventuate.
We must measure our wishes against our ability to create the causes that will engender the hoped for ‘conditions.’
When we wait too long, the chances are we may miss out altogether.
If you are into ‘roasted partridges’ it makes more sense to scour the markets.
There is a huge advantage in learning to ‘surrender’ to life and accept what actually ‘is.’ Instead of dancing through our days like animated ‘puppets,’ tossed about here and there, in a relentless cycle of ‘hope and fear,’ we can simply learn to relax and allow our attention to fully greet exactly whatever arises before us.
Most of the time, we do exactly the opposite. Our ‘attention’ is fixed elsewhere; any where, but right ‘here’ and right ‘now.’
We need not live our lives as slaves to longings, hopes, desires or fear. We ALWAYS have a choice.
We can do ourselves the greatest possible favor and recognize the treasure of the ‘present moment.’
The ‘present moment’ deserves our closest attention, gratitude and even devotion.
Take the hint and look again more carefully at the very thing that you routinely take for granted. Things are seldom ever quite as they ‘appear’ to be.
This present moment, when it is just lived out for what it is, provides us with the supreme opportunity to discover an incredibly important truth.
If it were not for the present moment we could not exist at all.
Truly this present moment is precious indeed!