Home Again

I returned home from rafting refreshed, strong, and ready to take on the world.

That lasted for about ten minutes, before I remembered that the world isn't real concerned with what I think. Why had I needed that (pricey) jolt of perspective? Oh yeah, now I remember. I wavered.

Then I got this in my e-mail from Tricycle's Daily Dharma, and I perked up for a bit. At least for another ten minutes.

Those Fireworks in Your Head? Not a Problem

Somewhere in this process, you will come face to face with the sudden and shocking realization that you are completely crazy. Your mind is a shrieking, gibbering madhouse on wheels barreling pell-mell down the hill, utterly out of control and hopeless. No problem. You are not crazier than you were yesterday. It has always been this way, and you just never noticed. You also are no crazier than anybody else around you. The real difference is that you have confronted the situation; they have not. So they still feel relatively comfortable. That does not mean that they are better off. Ignorance may be bliss, but it does not lead to Liberation. So don’t let this realization unsettle you. It is a milestone actually, a sign of real progress. The very fact that you have looked at the problem straight in the eye means that you are on your way up and out of it.