Friday, July 3, 2015

The art of waiting patiently and living well

Central to the Bhagvad Gita is this simple and yet unfollowable piece of advice: Do what you need to do (your duty----this book is big on "duty"), and then quit worrying/obsessing about how things will play out, since that is not in your piddly ability to influence.

Would'nt life be so much better if we could follow this, to the letter?

Courtesy Google Images
I am playing the waiting game with the US consulate, and I am trying to forget that I am waiting, and just use this time constructively. Ha.  Working on that.

Before Gauri came along, if you had asked me what I wanted, it would be to be a mother. Currently, if you ask me, I want an email from the consulate saying they will stamp my passport to get me a green card.

But beyond that? What do I need now to be happy, now that I have Gauri? I asked myself that a few days ago while meditating (I manage a very insignificant, yet helpful few minutes), and the answer surprised me: Not the perfect man, not so much money that I could give up worrying about the practicalities of life, but to be the best version of myself possible.

And here is the thing: it is a workable goal, but the very first step is discipline, and that I have to master, and ALL my life, I have had problems with that, outside of work.

I want to focus on this now in very small ways, mostly because this is time out of time as I wait, and I really need to be as fighting fit as possible before I get back on a plane to the US to begin the next phase of my life, whenever that happens. Wish me luck!